Week 1 of the NFL regular season is finally here! We have spent months focusing on seasonal fantasy football drafts, but now it’s time to turn our attention to some NFL DFS for Week 1. The first week of the season always makes for an interesting week of DFS action as we don’t have as much current data to go off of. We can make our best guesses on workloads and volume, but until we get a couple weeks into the season, there’s no way to know for sure. However, it’s also a great week for running backs as injuries haven’t started happening yet and players are fresh, but that also means we lack value plays at this position and are more than likely going to want to spend-up. Let’s dive into the top plays, values and fades for NFL DFS Week 1.

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NFL DFS RB Top Plays

Jonathan Taylor, Colts

Taylor was the RB1 last year and he is in a great spot to start the year off in a similar fashion as the Colts will take on the lowly Texans. The Texans are going to be one of the worst teams in the league this year and ranked as a top-5 matchup for backs last season. Game flow should be in Taylor’s favor and he is going to be fed the football. I would not be surprised if he finds the end zone a time or two in Week 1 and he has an elite DFS day. The price tag is a little rough though, but try and fit him into your build. 

 

Christian McCaffrey, Panthers

CMC has struggled mightily with staying on the field over the past couple years, but he has still been as elite as they come when on the field. He is healthy right now and ready for Week 1, but his price tag is not anywhere near where it will be after a week or two. He should be the highest cost of any back and not only is he not that, but he isn’t even priced as the number two back. He is a great play in Week 1 against a Browns team that probably won’t be very good while Watson is suspended. 

 

NFL DFS RB Mid-Tier Plays

Najee Harris, Steelers

Harris had a monster rookie season and he should be able to kickoff 2022 with a strong game in a matchup against the Bengals. Their defense is far from anything special and Harris should be able to get plenty of work in this one. We know he will be heavily used in the passing game (barring a drastic change in the Steelers game plan from last year) and he should also receive the goal line work. He is a good cash game play at this price, but there are better directions for GPP action. 

 

Saquon Barkley, Giants

Barkley is back and healthy and ready to showcase that he is still the elite back that we saw a few years ago. He has massive upside and will be used plentiful both on the ground and in the passing game. He is a steal in the mid-tier, especially in the full PPR scoring formats. His FanDuel price is borderline criminal and feels like stealing with how cheap he is (cheaper than guys like Josh Jacobs and J.K. Dobbins). I have a feeling he will not be in the mid-tier for very long, so let’s take advantage of it while we can. His ceiling is huge and he makes for a great play in all formats. 

 

NFL DFS RB Value Plays

Dameon Pierce, Texans

Pierce is not someone I would have originally envisioned being in the Week 1 DFS coach, but it’s hard to ignore his price tag and expected volume. He is currently cheaper than plenty of backup running backs, who will barely even see the field this week. That being said, we don’t know for sure what his volume will look like, so he’s not a “set it and forget it” or “free square” but he does have enough upside to make for a strong play at this price tag. The Colts were a tough matchup last year though and we can expect similar this season. Pierce is a value play that allows you to spend up in places and this slate really lacks strong value backs. 

 

NFL DFS RB Fades

Cordarrelle Patterson, Falcons

Patterson fell off down the stretch last year, failing to reach double-digit fantasy points in any of his final four games of the season. His usage cratered and he wasn’t targeted more than twice in any of those four games. Will that be the case to start the year and be more of where he left off? Remains to be seen, but it’s not a risk worth taking in Week 1 in my opinion. On top of that, the Saints were THE toughest matchup in football last year for running backs. 

 

Breece Hall, Jets

Hall is an easy fade in Week 1 for me as there are too many things working against him. For starters, this is not a good matchup against the Ravens as they ranked as a negative matchup for backs last year. On top of that, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding what type of usage Hall is going to be getting early on in the season and is currently not even the starter. It’s Week 1 of the season and we have so many studs to choose from, there is simply no reason to pay this price on Hall and the limited upside that he brings to the table. 

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