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Welcome to the start of the 2013 NFL and Fantasy Football seasons! We've waited through the long summer months of baseball, and it's all finally about to pay off as we prepare our lineups for week 1 of Fanduel's NFL fantasy football games.
Whether you are playing in heads-up matchups, or in larger tournaments, you won't want to miss our exclusive weekly fantasy football daily league analysis and lineups picks, including the top "strong" vs. "value" plays at the Quarterback, Running Back and Wide Receiver positions. Sp without further ado, we present our week 1 list and daily league lineups picks:
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NFL Lineup Picks for Week 1 – Fantasy Football Daily Leagues
Quarterback
QB (Strong) - Matt Ryan $8,800 - As one of the most consistent performers of 2012 at quarterback, Matt Ryan averaged a very solid 19.9 FP per game during his breakout campaign, which was good for 6th overall per week. Because we don't only look at a player's abilities when we pick our daily league lineups, it is also important to look at the deficiencies of their opponents to measure their ability to succeed on any given week. Facing the notoriously bad New Orleans Saints defense in Week 1, the Falcons are scheduled for an in-division shoot out with the 25th ranked defense, leaving Matty Ice and his extremely high powered offense in position for a dominant opening game. Take his 20+ projected fantasy points to the bank, as he is our #3 ranked QB by a tiny margin of projected points, but by a substantial margin in price.
QB (Value) - Andrew Luck $8,500 - Facing the 29th overall ranked defense (Oakland) in week 1, Andrew Luck looks poised to have an even better sophomore campaign. Luck enters the first contest of the NFL season projected to pass for almost 300 yards, with receivers T.Y. Hilton and Reggie Wayne as his #1 and #1A receivers, already looking to be in mid-season form. Luck's price tag may not be the cheapest, but he has some of the most upside to score big points at the quarterback position for week 1. Take his almost 20+ projected fantasy points, and once-a-decade pedigree, and run with it on Sunday!
BONUS PICK - QB (Value) - Robert Griffin III $8,600 - We've all heard about the risk of using RG3 in his week 1 matchup, coming back from a serious knee injury that he sustained at the end of last season which required surgery. The one thing some of us may not have realized though is that he's in perfect health, and ready to face the 22nd ranked Eagle's defense, who he's averaged 22.96 fantasy points per game against over his first 2 career meetings. Those are some pretty strong numbers for a high upside quarterback, and we love his week 1 matchup and price tag.
Running Back
RB (Strong) - Adrian Peterson $9,500 - The obvious every week choice for fantasy football daily leagues, right? Wrong! But for week 1 of the 2013 NFL season, Peterson is a very nice option as he goes up against the Detroit Lion's 30th ranked defense, and is projected to rush for well over 100 yards and score at least 1 rushing touchdown. A.P. is by far the best projected points scoring option at the running back position for week 1 (at over 21 FP). Just to be clear, All Day is our slam dunk option to go bonkers in week 1, and almost 100% lock to score a TD. He should be budgeted into your daily league lineup at almost any cost.
RB (Value) - Jamaal Charles $8,800 - With huge things expected Jamaal Charles, the NFL's all time YPC leader with 5.8 for over his career, we like the Kansas City star running back to go wild on the Jaguars pathetic and worst ranked defense (32nd overall). Don't be scared to pull the trigger on one of the most underrated running backs in the game today, as his 13.9 fantasy points per game last season will surely be improved upon with the change of offensive scheme and another year removed from his knee surgery. Projected as our #2 RB right behind AP, we have Jamaal Charles projected to score well over 15 fantasy points, and we like his chances to break out even more on Sunday when the clock starts ticking and defenses start collapsing around his screen passes.
BONUS PICK - RB (Value) - LeSean McCoy $8,300 - Poised for a huge comeback season, and looking very good thus far in the preseason, Shady McCoy gets to face the Redskin's 20th ranked defense in week 1. He averaged 14.45 fantasy points against Washington in his 2 matchups last year, under a far inferior offensive scheme, so we like his potential to do some huge damage as he enters this game projected to catch more passes than any other running back in week 1.
Wide Receiver
WR (Strong) - Calvin Johnson $8,800 - Less than 15% of your budget is not too much to spend on the best wide receiver in the game, especially when he also averaged 17.7 fantasy points per contest in 2012, which was best amongst his piers. The last time he faced the Vikings' 25th ranked pass defense (from 2012), he torched them for an absurd 30.7 fantasy points. Projected as the strongest WR on the list for Sunday's NFL matchups, Megatron is expected to score close to 15 fantasy points, with well over a 50% probability of tap dancing into the end zone. Net-net, bottom line: Megatron should be in your lineup for week 1, by hook or by crook.
WR (Value) - Julio Jones $8,000 - As the big play receiver in Atlanta, the former #1 overall pick has become the explosive down field option for Matty Ice in the Falcons high powered offense. Having averaged 13.9 fantasy points per game last season, the Alabama native was also tied for 5th in the league with 10 receiving touchdowns, and led the top-10 touchdown scorers of 2012 with a very nice 15.2 yards per catch average. Projected with around a 75% probability of scoring a TD against the Saints secondary, if you want a very high upside option for week 1, then Quintorris Lopez "Julio" Jones is definitely your man.
BONUS PICK - WR (Value) - Victor Cruz $7,000 - Our favorite NFL salsa dancer has been a little banged up this preseason, but we are confident that he will be ready to go against his in-division rivals for week 1. The Cowboys have the 27th ranked defense coming into the 2013 season, and after catching 86 passes for over a thousand yards and 10 TDs last year, it shouldn't be too hard to understand why we like the fair priced Cruz as one of your week 1 wide receivers choices.
Please note that the dollar values listed above are Fanduel pricing, as most of our readers tend to use Fanduel. The player dollar values may differ between dailyleague sites, but our overall player analysis still holds true across sites.
As always, remember to check your fantasy football daily lineups before they lock, and make sure you are doing your own research too for optimal performance! The most successful daily leaguers are grinders who are constantly tweaking their lineups as the day goes on and fantasy news gets released. Good luck, RotoBallers!
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