Every week, the first step of your DFS homework should be to examine the opening Vegas odds on all the NFL games for that week. Through some fairly simple algebra, it is easy to derive a spreadsheet that predicts team totals for every game, thereby allowing you to develop a rudimentary game script to help narrow down your decisions for the week.
Once the appealing (and unappealing) games have been highlighted, it becomes easier to focus on those games to help build your core of players for that week; the caveat, however, is that the NFL is a dynamic league, and anything is subject to change from Tuesday to Sunday...so keep that in mind as the week progresses and always monitor player injuries, weather conditions, and potential roster moves. Let's take a look.
[Blue font indicates games *not* on the DFS main slate.]
UPDATED SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5th @ 6 PM (EST)
BYE WEEK: Philadelphia, LA Chargers, Detroit, Tennessee
Three Stars
Quarterbacks
- Brock Purdy (49ers)
Running Backs
- Jordan Mason (49ers)
Receivers
Team Defense
- Broncos
Two Stars
Quarterbacks
- Jordan Love (Packers)
Running Backs
- Josh Jacobs (Packers)
- Ken Walker III (Seahawks)
Receivers
- Jayden Reed/Dontayvion Wicks/Tucker Kraft (Packers)
Team Defense
- Dolphins
- Seahawks
One Star
Quarterbacks
- Lamar Jackson (Ravens)
- Geno Smith (Seahawks)
- Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars)
- Patrick Mahomes II (Chiefs)
- C.J. Stroud (Texans)
Running Backs
- Derrick Henry (Ravens)
- Travis Etienne Jr./Tank Bigsby (Jaguars)
- Kareem Hunt (Chiefs)
- Cam Akers (Texans)
Receivers
- Zay Flowers/Rashod Bateman/Mark Andrews/Isaiah Likely (Ravens)
- DK Metcalf/Tyler Lockett/Jaxon Smith-Njigba/Noah Fant (Seahawks)
- Brian Thomas Jr./Christian Kirk/Gabe Davis/Evan Engram (Jaguars)
- Xavier Worthy/Justin Watson/Travis Kelce (Chiefs)
- Nico Collins/Stefon Diggs/Tank Dell/Dalton Schultz (Texans)
Team Defense
- Patriots
- Bears
- Chiefs
