Draft Kings Strategy Week 1: Best Bargains At Each Position
The best way to cash on weekly fantasy football sites is to load up on as many stars with good matchups as possible. Due to budget restraints, however, fantasy players must sacrifice other positions to nab the stars they want.
Here, you'll find the top bargains at each position on Draft Kings that will let you splurge elsewhere. And remember, scoring is IMPORTANT. Here is Draft Kings’ scoring system.
The bargains are listed in the order I like them.
Quarterbacks
Kirk Cousins, Vikings ($5,550): Cousins is so underhyped entering 2019 it’s crazy. This guy threw for 4,298 yards last season and 30 touchdowns. More importantly, he attempted 606 passes. While some have been scared off by the midseason offensive coordinator switch that led to more of a run-heavy approach, the fact remains that Cousins still has arguably the top receiving corps in the NFL (Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen) at his disposal. Both of those guys, as well as Cousins, are highly paid to do their thing, so he’ll be throwing plenty. Mix in a matchup with the Falcons, one of the NFL’s most porous defenses from last season and also one of the best offenses, and this has the makings of a classic shootout. Cousins is my man this week for sure.
Matthew Stafford, Lions ($5,400): So if you like some higher-end players elsewhere, and you really need to find $100 in your budget, you’ll be okay with Stafford. He doesn’t excite me this season, but his matchup with the Cardinals in Week 1 does. I don’t anticipate the Cardinals suddenly having a monster defense, and new head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s Air Raid attack might create an extremely positive game script for Stafford. We’ve seen Stafford have monster games when he has enough volume, and his weapons should be able to take advantage of the matchup, especially with top CB Patrick Peterson suspended.
Running Backs
Mark Ingram, Ravens ($5,100): Ingram’s price is low enough that I’m suspicious, but willing to bite. He’s the starting RB on a Ravens team that has no choice but to run the ball down everyone’s throat; they don’t have a single notable wide receiver, and their QB can’t throw. He’s up against the Dolphins, an openly tanking team that ranked dead last in FootballOutsiders.com’s weighted defense metric. Perhaps people are concerned about rookie Justice Hill eating into some of Ingram’s playing time, or 2018 breakout Gus Edwards getting in on the action, but if Ingram is a workhorse back this price is an absolute steal. Use him now before he costs more in future weeks.
Jordan Howard, Eagles ($4,200): Howard was paid this offseason by the Eagles and figures to at least be their choice on the goal line. That makes him a perfect, low-cost RB2 to complement a Tier 1 type such as Christian McCaffery. His matchup is posh; Washington figures to be one of the worst teams in football, and they ranked 28th vs. the run last year per FootballOutsiders. Howard probably will be giving up a chunk of work to rookie Miles Sanders, but if he does find himself with something like 75-80% of the work, he actually carries big upside too as well as a high floor.
Miles Sanders, Eagles ($3,900): It’s rare for me to ever have two RBs in the same backfield in my DraftKings bargains, but there’s a huge opportunity here against the Redskins, and we don’t know how the Eagles plan to deploy their backs. While I’d prefer Howard this week because I believe he has more TD upside, there’s no question that Sanders has more overall upside. If the carry split is closer to 50-50, I think it’s likely Sanders does more with his opportunities. He’s also a better pass-catcher, which is noteworthy for DraftKings, as they reward receptions.
Wide Receivers
Sterling Shepard, Giants ($5,000): Shepard is being criminally underrated entering this season. We all can plainly see Eli Manning isn’t the QB he once was, but the guy’s not dead. He still put up more than 4,000 passing yards, and his top WR plays for the Browns now. Maybe we see Eli’s numbers dip, but the vast majority of those targets are now going to Shepard, who has proven he can produce when given the opportunity. Shepard saw seven or more targets 10 times last season, surpassing 70 yards in half of them, and reaching 67 yards in a sixth game. He exploded for more than 100 yards twice. Shepard has also proven he can pile up touchdowns, and he becomes Eli’s No. 1 red zone target with Beckham departed. In fact, looking at the rest of the Giants’ receiving corps, I believe Shepard might be one of the most-targeted WRs in all of football this year, so he won’t be available for $5,000 much longer.
Christian Kirk, Cardinals ($4,700): Kirk was impressive last season, which wasn’t easy when dealing with easily the NFL’s worst offensive line and woeful quarterback play. New coach Kliff Kingsbury is an unknown; he’s bringing a college offense to the NFL, and he wasn’t even a .500 coach at the NCAA level. Still, the pace alone he plans to play at should do wonders for Kirk reaching his potential, as will playing with No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray. Sprinkle in a super positive matchup with the Lions, who ranked second to last in pass defense last season per FootballOutsiders, and we have a possible blowup game.
Dante Pettis, 49ers ($5,400): Pettis has weathered a weird training camp in which he was openly challenged multiple times by head coach Kyle Shanahan, and had his No. 1 receiver status questioned regularly. He’s banged up too, but a quick look at the 49ers receiving corps reveals no threats. Marquise Goodwin is one-dimensional, Deebo Samuel is a rookie operating mostly out of the slot. No one possesses Pettis’ big play ability and ability to run routes all over the field. He’s clearly their best WR at this point, and he will once again have an actual NFL QB throwing passes with Jimmy Garoppolo back. Maybe Pettis won’t be a weekly WR1, but I’m happy to use him vs. the Buccaneers’ awful defense.
Tight Ends
Evan Engram, Giants ($4,800): Much like Shepard, Engram is going to be peppered with targets all season long. Last season was a disappointment, and it was mostly derailed by injury. As a rookie, however, Engram was targeted 115 times, turning those looks into 64 receptions, 722 yards and six scores. With Odell Beckham completely out of the picture, and Sterling Shepard as the only threat at WR, Engram should put up those rookie numbers as a baseline assuming health. Dallas was a middle of the road defense vs. the pass last season, and also middle of the road vs. TEs (19th). Engram isn’t the cheapest TE, but he is certainly among the highest-upside for the week and for the whole season.
Mark Andrews, Ravens ($3,000): Andrews is a gamble, yes, but he has more upside than probably any Ravens pass-catcher in Week 1. While Andrews isn’t even guaranteed to be a starter, his 16.2 yards per reception last season make him arguably Baltimore’s best receiving option. Willie Snead is an afterthought, and Marquise Brown and Miles Boykin are raw rookies. Plus, QB Lamar Jackson isn’t much of a passer. The Ravens’ passing game is going to be more of a tool to move chains, rather than a focal point. Andrews can be that reliable target for Jackson, while also possessing the athleticism to hurt teams downfield every now and then. Against Miami, there’s a good chance he’ll hurt them.