NFL is back and our first Sunday (or Monday in NZ) has some cracker games and a big $20,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool over at Moneyball. All pricing is Moneyball values.

Quarterbacks 

Marcus Mariota ($7,700) – Mariota’s Titans take on the Oakland Raiders in what should be the shootout of the week with plenty of points on offer. I like Derek Carr too in this but Mariota gets the edge through his ability to run. The Raiders also were tied for most Rushing TDs given up to QBs last year so I pick Mariota to run one in. Look to pair him up with either Delanie Walker at Tight End ($6,200) or Eric Decker at WR ($6,600) who is a new signing in Tennessee and a Touchdown machine.

Carson Palmer ($7,400) – The old gun slinger is healthy again and whilst only the 14th ranked QB this week faces off with Detroit which should be a pourous D and there will be plenty of points. With a strong recieving core and David Johnson the beast taking passes out of the backfield, Palmer should have a big day.

Carson Wentz ($7,200) – And to finish, another Carson but this time the 2nd year signal caller from Philly. He faces Washington who have given up the 2nd most 300 yard Offensive games since 2014, and with two new great Wide Recievers to throw to in Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffrey I am picking a big day for Wentz. In cash games he could be a great stack with TE Zach Ertz but I think Ertz will go pretty heavily owned, so in GPP I reckon Torrey Smith ($5,000) is a cheeky play and super cheap given Jeffrey may be shadowed by shutdown Washington corner Josh Norman.

Running Backs

David Johnson  ($9,500) and Le’veon Bell ($9,200) are about as close as you get to guaranteed Fantasy points so in cash games you probably need to play at least one of them, but below are a couple of RBs who should be lesser owned who may give you an edge in the big GPP and free up some salary cap to use elsewhere.

Todd Gurley ($7,200) – From Offensive Rookie Of The Year in 2015 to probably the biggest bust of the year last season, Gurley will be hoping to bounce back with the help of a new coach Sean McVay, a 2nd year QB Jarred Goff who has (hopefully) improved and some exciting new recievers in Sammy Watkins and Cooper Cupp. The Colts are looking to be a pretty terrible Defensive unit and with Andrew Luck still out they will be rolling Scott Tolzien out at QB which could see gameflow favouring the Rams and a tonne of work for Gurley.

Jeremy Hill ($5,600) – The world is going crazy for Rookie Running Backs this year, and the Bengals now have their own exciting young running in Joe Mixon, but Hill is still likely to get a lot of run in this first week. Whilst unlikely to keep his starting job all season, Hill gets a lot of work on the goalline and could easily punch a couple in Sunday.

Eddie Lacy ($6,400) – Another unsexy pick Eddie “Fat Eddie” Lacy, hasnt really impressed in the pre-season in his new Seattle home, but running mate Thomas Rawls has been battling a high ankle sprain and is a game time decision. Rawls is a game day decision but if he was ruled out I like Lacy as an outside play to get some good early down work in a game vs Green Bay which should see a lot of points scored.

Wide Recievers 

Once again there are a couple of studs at the top that you basically cant go wrong with in Antonio Brown ($9,200) and Julio Jones ($8,900) but Wide Reciever is crazy deep this year so if I am trying to save some salary cap this week it is going to be here, with the likes of these guys below.

Michael Crabtree ($6,800) – Crabtree is $900 cheaper than his partner in crime Amari Cooper, but Crabtree has outscored Cooper the last 2 seasons and has great redzone rapport with Derek Carr so I like him getting in the endzone Monday in the shootout with Tennessee.

Kelvin Benjamin and Martavis Bryant (both $6,400) – Two physical beasts with size/ speed combinations which give them a mismatch anywhere on the field, at a depressed price based of bad last years. Bryant was suspended all year, and Benjamin was coming off a season ending ACL where he showed flashes of his stellar Rookie year but was inconsistent. Both are in for big days.

Stirling Shepard ($5,700) – Superstar Giants Reciever OBJ hasnt trained all week due to an ankle injury and is a game day decision, but even if he plays I still like Shepard to pick up some slack. In his Rookie year last season he scored 8 touchdowns and whilst he has another big reciever Brandon Marshall in town who will get his share of looks, I like Sherpard to have a solid day.

Paul Richardson ($5,100) -More gutfeel than anything but for a cheap outsider with a chance of picking up big plays I like the speedster from Seattle as Russell Wilson works hard to keep up with Rodgers and the Packers.

Tight Ends

Zach Ertz ($5,800) – I like Ertz in cash games especially stacked with Wentz but think he will be highly owned so you may want to look elsewhere for the GPP.

Tyler Eifert ($6,000) – He struggles to stay healthy and is massively Touchdown dependent, but with 18 TDs in his last 21 games played that makes him pretty dependable. I reckon he is good to make it 19 in 22 tomorrow/

Evan Engram ($5,000) – Whilst Rookie Tight Ends hardly ever do much, for reasons mentioned above with OBJ banged up I like Engram as a sneaky cheap play. He has had a great preseason and at 6″3 and crazy fast (4.4 sec 40) he could do some damage.

Defenses

Los Angeles Rams ($4,200) – The Scott Tolzien led Colts shouldnt scare anyone and even with Aaron Donald not playing the Rams have a solid Defensive Unit and should benefit from a strong game flow.

Pittsburgh Steelers ($4,000) -Another cheap Defense is Pittsburgh who are taking on Cleveland. Whilst Browns Rookie QB DeShone Kizer has looked a Superstar in the pre-season it will be a different story in Week 1 of the regular season, and with Cleveland likely having to chase the game to keep up with the Pittsburgh Offensive firepower I see some good Defensive scoring opportunities late in the game.

Kickers

Gregg Zuerlein ($4,500) – Hard to get too excited about Kickers but I am getting behind “Legatron” to knock over a few long distance Field Goals against the Colts.

GET AMONGST IT OVER AT MONEYBALL NOW!!!!