Yahoo NFL DFS Picks – Week 1

Finding the best anchors for your DFS lineup is the best way to start lineup construction, so each week in this space, I’ll be taking a look at a skill-position breakdown of players who stick out on Yahoo. Whether it’s because of matchup or usage or anything else, these are players who should feature heavily in lineups.

Quarterbacks | Yahoo Week 1 picks

Kyler Murray is an excellent NFL DFS pick among the elite signal callers

($34, at Tennessee)

Nine signal-callers are priced at $30 or more in Yahoo, and to me, no one sticks out more than the fifth-most expensive option, Kyler Murray. According to the FTN Daily DFS Optimizer, Murray clocks in as the second-best option for the week. Week 1 starts with a bang, as the Arizona Cardinals travel to the new-look Titans for a potential shootout in Nashville. This game currently sports a 52.5 over/under, and in terms of pace, the Cardinals are one of football’s fastest offense in terms of situation-neutral pace, logging a mark of 25 seconds per play. If the Cardinals really do play out as underdogs, that builds to Murray’s overall value that could be tied here.

Jalen Hurts is an outstanding salary-saving DFS option on Yahoo

($26, at Atlanta)

Finally named his team’s starter (despite it being the assumed result for months), Jalen Hurts comes off an outstanding-for-fantasy rookie season where he was named the starter after a Carson Wentz injury, and he gets to begin his second season against the Falcons, who ranked as the league’s worst defense against the pass. If we take a look at our Optimizer, we have Hurts forecasted as the fifth-best play, but he’s the 14th-most expensive on the slate. This makes him an incredible value we should consider moving forward. 

Running back | Yahoo Week 1 picks

Grab Alvin Kamara at the top of the heap in Yahoo DFS

($34, vs. Green Bay Packers)

After an offseason with a lot of change, including a new signal-caller following Drew Brees’ retirement, Alvin Kamara has been the one constant. Averaging 21.58 points per game last season on Yahoo, Kamara is ranked as our second-best running back play, but he’s only the fourth-most expensive back. Kamara shredded Green Bay for 38.2 points in Week 3, and he racked up 13 catches for 139 yards against the pack. Pay up with supreme confidence.

Austin Ekeler looks to be an extreme Yahoo DFS value

($21, at Washington)

When it comes to Week 1 running backs, you have to scroll all the way down to the value range to find Austin Ekeler‘s name. And why? Well, the Washington Football Team certainly sports a very stout defense we need to be concerned about, and yet, our Optimizer loves Ekeler. He ranks fifth best among runners, and don’t forget, this solid defense was third worst against the run last season. Especially if you are looking for an opportunity to differentiate yourself, Ekeler could be a home run play.

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Wide receiver | Yahoo Week 1 picks

Did Yahoo forget how good Keenan Allen is?

($18, at Washington)

Look, there’s no doubting that this Washington defense is elite. Like really elite. But I think some folks are overvaluing the effect of the return of Austin Ekeler on Keenan Allen — if we peek at our splits tool, we can see that with Ekeler in the lineup, Allen’s targets actually rose with him in the lineup. That’s pretty nice. And, Allen already commands a large majority of the passing game volume — Allen commanded a whopping 23.4% of the target market share from the Chargers passing attack a season ago. Ride with Allen and you should be thrilled.

D.J. Moore could start 2021 with a bang

($16, vs. NYJ)

Facing the bottom-feeding Jets defense, is there a better home run play for tournaments than the Panthers’ D.J. Moore? Moore is a massive presence on the field — we can see from our advanced receiving stats that Moore commands a hefty target market share (22.09%), and his average depth of target of 13.05 yards is pretty impressive with his strong target market share. There’s some very solid value here.

Tight end | Yahoo Week 1 picks

T.J. Hockenson could be a big-time value this week

($15, vs. San Francisco)

After ending the season with a bit of a dud, catching only nine passes combined for 66 yards in his last three games, what should we expect out of T.J. Hockenson in Week 1? It’s a fair question to ask, but this should be a week of hefty volume. There’s a lot of positives here — in using our pace tool, the Lions played very quickly, ranking third in situation-neutral pace. The game script would appear to be highly preferential to Hockenson as well, as the Lions are over a touchdown underdog. Priced outside of the top-10, he’s definitely worth your attention.