We're shooting fish in a barrel with some of these holdout handcuff picks in our Week 1 DraftKings cash lineup. If Ezekiel Elliott and Melvin Gordon continue their holdouts for another week, then we can fit Julio Jones and Travis Kelce in our Sunday NFL DFS main slate lineup. You see where I'm going with this.
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Hopefully this holds and we can capitalize on DraftKings setting the prices before some key Week 1 roles were solidified. Otherwise, we'll react to news in the lead-up and adjust as necessary.
NFL DFS Week 1: DraftKings Cash Lineup Picks
QB Jacoby Brissett, Colts @ Chargers ($4,400). Free square -- and thank you very much! We need a Frank Reich offense to manage just 13 points to get us 3x value. As road dogs, Indy likely can't afford to run an obscene amount, which means more opportunities for Brissett.
RB Kerryon Johnson, Lions @ Cardinals ($5,800): Reading the tea leaves, Matt Patricia wants to dictate a relatively run-heavy offense, and the favored Lions project to avoid negative game script. With Theo Riddick out of the picture, Johnson could see a bigger share of backfield receiving, too.
RB Austin Ekeler, Chargers vs. Colts ($5,500). As long as Melvin Gordon is holding out, this mid-tier price remains a discount. Justin Jackson can cut into the workload, but Gordon vacating 64 percent of the RB touch share will bolster Ekeler's outlook as an RB1.
WR Julio Jones, Falcons @ Vikings ($8,000). The handcuffs allow us to pay up for the most productive per-route receiver of the past four years.
WR Tyler Boyd, Bengals @ Seahawks ($5,800): A.J. Green is out, but DK didn't fully adjust for this. Dial up Andy Dalton's favorite target in a sans-A.J. ecosystem.
WR Sterling Shepard, Giants @ Cowboys ($5,000): Not fully adjusted for the Golden Tate suspension, we can safely slot in Shepard as Eli Manning's favorite target based on last year's splits. Again, thanks to DK for releasing prices so early!
TE Travis Kelce, Chiefs @ Jaguars ($7,100): Love the news that Jalen Ramsey will be shadowing Tyreek Hill after Ramsey held him to two catches in their meeting last season. The league’s best offense is incentivized to funnel even more work to its tight end.
FLEX Tony Pollard, Cowboys vs. Giants ($4,500): Travis Frederick's return signals the Cowboys' re-entry into the discussion for best run-blocking offensive line in the league. Whether it was Zeke or Darren McFadden, Jason Garrett's squad has always made a workhorse of their No. 1 on the depth chart.
D/ST Eagles vs. Lions ($3,600). With no Trent Williams or Ty Nsekhe to fend off a team that ranked 11th in sacks last season, I don't love Case Keenum's chances. And now the Eagles return perhaps their most dangerous edge rusher in Derek Barnett.