Fantasy Football: 4 Things We Learned From Week 1

Secondaries to Target

One of the most important facets of good lineup creation in daily fantasy football -- and season-long, too -- is targeting games that are projected to be high scoring and having an intimate knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of your rostered players' opposing teams.

After Week 1, three teams in particular figure to fit the bill for producing habitually high-scoring scoring games, both on their side of the ball through their strength in the passing game, and on the defensive side of the ball due to their vulnerabilities in the defensive passing game. Those teams are the New Orleans Saints, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Atlanta Falcons.

Perhaps the Saints being on this list isn't very surprising at all. In 2015, the Saints put together the worst season since the turn of the century in terms of schedule-adjusted Defensive Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) on a per-play basis. Adding insult to injury, the Saints lost their best cornerback in Delvin Breaux to injury, and he will be sidelined for the next six weeks. And anytime the Saints play in the Superdome, they're liable to point up a ton of points through the air, requiring their opponent to do the same.

The Colts ranked 20th in pass defense last year, per our metrics, and three of their top four defensive backs are nursing injuries right now. Their stellar offensive performance to open the year also supports the theory that they'll end up in a few shootouts. Making sure you have stack exposure with Andrew Luck, one of his receivers, and an opposing teams receiver will always carry with it major upside.

The Falcons were also a middling defensive squad at defending the pass in 2015, and they do have one of the better corners in the league in Desmond Trufant in their stable. But what's worrisome for them -- and good for daily fantasy players -- is that they gave up four passing touchdowns on their home turf to Jameis Winston.

With Julio Jones as his number-one option and an improved WR2 situation with Mohamed Sanu, Matt Ryan looked great through the air. So if Ryan can continue his improved throwing moving forward, the Falcons could end up in a lot of shootouts as well given their weak secondary. Continue targeting the Falcons' secondary until they prove you shouldn't.