Weekend Preseason wk 1 DFS Picks fantasy football

By Jen Ryan

There are two full slates left in Week 1 of the preseason. DraftKings has broken the games up over each night, giving you three separate chances to have some preseason fun and build your bankroll. Here are a few players who are worth rostering this weekend. Remember, pricing is fixed for the preseason and all players cost $5,500.

Quarterbacks

Landry Jones – Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Detroit Lions – Friday 8/12/16
The word around Heinz Field is that Jones should see significant playing time in the first half tonight. He figures to win the backup job and Ben Roethlisberger, who still practices with a knee brace, will play very little. When Roethlisberger missed time last season we saw a dose of Landry and that seems to be the plan if Big Ben were to miss time this year. This would make sense in terms of Jones playing time tonight, who gets home field advantage with a 35.5 Vegas line.

Nick Foles – Kansas City Chiefs vs. Seattle Seahawks – Saturday 8/13/16
Wait, Foles against the Seahawks? I like him this weekend in a tough-on-paper matchup. Foles was a starting quarterback once upon a time and has reunited with his old coach Andy Reid. The first preseason game is the perfect time for him to brush up on the Chiefs’ offensive playbook. He is most appealing because he figures to be low owned, and if he comes out and throws a touchdown or two he could separate you from the competition.

Running Backs

Darius Jackson – Dallas Cowboys @ Los Angeles Rams – Saturday 8/13/16
There are currently three running backs ahead of Jackson on the Cowboys’ depth chart and two of them, Ezekiel Elliot and Darren McFadden, aren’t expected to play at all tomorrow. Jackson could not only get a ton of opportunity but he could wind up being the back to own this weekend. Preseason DFS is tricky enough to predict, so I am looking for a running back who could get a bulk of opportunity. Jackson fits the mold for me this weekend.

Damien Williams – Miami Dolphins @ New York Giants – Friday 8/12/16
With all the hype of Arian Foster, Jay Ajayi, and Kenyan Drake, Williams appears to be the odd man out in Miami. The third year player is on the roster bubble and the Dolphins will have a chance to get a good look at him tonight against the New York Giants. Williams has the upside tonight due to the fact that we will see very little, if any of Foster, Ajayi, or Drake who is nursing a hamstring injury.

Wide Receivers

Rashard Higgins – Cleveland Browns @Green Bay Packers – Friday 8/12/16
Higgins is the receiver I will have the most exposure to this weekend. There are so many players ahead of him not suiting up tonight that it really comes down to him or Terrelle Pryor for me. The Cleveland coaching staff knows what they have in Pryor at this point but are still learning about their rookie receiver not named Corey Coleman. I also believe Robert Griffin III could be in there for more than a few series and have the Griffin/Higgins stack in more than one lineup.

Jaron Brown – Arizona Cardinals vs. Oakland Raiders – Friday 8/12/16
My Jaron Brown over J.J. Nelson pick is mainly beat writer influenced. He has been working ahead of Nelson. There are so many receiving weapons at the Cardinals disposal that there may not be room for both Nelson and Brown. I could have flipped a coin for which one to play tonight, but I am leaning Brown due to the recent beat writer buzz.

Tight End

C.J. Uzomah – Cincinnati Bengals vs. Minnesota Vikings – Friday 8/12/16
Uzmoah is starting to feel like the chalk play of the weekend, if you can have a chalk play in Week 1 of preseason DFS. This play will be a popular one and it is opportunity based. Everyone ahead of him is dinged up. The 6’6” second year player could shine tonight, especially if he gets a look in the red zone.

Blake Bell – San Francisco 49ers vs. Houston Texans – Sunday 8/14/16
I am interested to see what Chip Kelly will do in the passing game in San Francisco. This includes at the tight end position. Bell is another second year player buried deep on his teams’ depth chart. Surprising stud-in-the-making will get his playing time as will Garrett Celek and Bruce Miller but when Chip rests his vets in the second half we could get two quarters of Bell. Besides, I had to sneak in one player from Sunday to keep the action alive throughout the weekend.

Defense

I will be looking mostly at the Titans defense and the Cardinals defense this weekend. The Titans second and third stringers could beat up on the San Diego Chargers first team so I like their chances of getting sacks and turnovers. The Cardinals are a stout defense up and down their depth chart and I will be taking advantage of their even pricing at home against the Oakland Raiders.

Pay attention to Twitter and local reports before lineup locks, but have some fun and take chances during this first week of the preseason. No one really “knows” anything yet anyway, so you might as well take advantage and get an edge anywhere you can. Hopefully you can put a few dollars in your bankroll for next week, where playing time pictures become clearer.