CFB DFS Top Plays: Week 1 – Friday

Editor’s Note: We may not write up every player we consider to be a top play. Be sure to consult the chart at the bottom of the page. This page will be updated as necessary.

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Understanding optimal lineups for cash games is extremely important, even if you only play tournaments. Players in our cash pool are the ones we believe are the most underpriced, have the best floor/ceiling combo, and typically feature a relatively tight range of outcomes. These are the best plays on the board when considering price, context, and positional scarcity. These are usually pretty good options for GPPs as well.

The optimal GPP lineup will typically mix some of these cash-type plays with higher-variance options, often in correlated lineups. In cash games (where roughly 50% of the field gets paid out), we don’t worry about ownership, game stacks, or correlation. In large-field tournaments, we should be much more mindful of ownership. For more tournament content, check out our projections, and Friday’s live show, Establish The Show: The College Years, with Alex Hardin and Sean Newsham.

With all that said, these are our Top Plays considering the following factors: mean projection, matchup, upside, and value. Ownership is NOT considered here. Generally speaking, these players are what we consider to be “head-to-head and 50/50 considerations”.

They are listed in price descending order (NOT ranked by “best play”). At the bottom, you’ll find suggested rankings by site once salary is accounted for.

Quarterback

Jalon Daniels (KU – DK $9,000, FD $12,000) – Despite battling some back issues the last few weeks, it seems as though Daniels is good to go for opening day. Given that this is a five-game slate with many question marks at QB and limited options, Daniels clearly sticks out as the top option of the slate even if he doesn’t play the entire game. Jason Bean is likely to spell Daniels for a series or two, or just take some mop-up run at the end, but Daniels’ dual-threat upside should be on display in a favorable matchup versus an FCS opponent. With Daniels’ mobility, you do not need to stack him with a WR, although that is a perfectly reasonable approach. On a large slate, I would limit Daniels to one pass catcher, but on this short slate, I am fine with a double if one of the pass catchers is on the cheaper side.

Running Back