4 NFL FanDuel Tournament Pivots for Week 1

Quarterback

Chalk

The New Orleans Saints take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and boast an implied total of 29.5, highest on the slate. As such, it's no surprise that a lot of people are likely to be drawn toward using Drew Brees this week, who just so happens to be our top-projected quarterback this week.

Brees not only gets to play at home this week, but he gets to do so against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team who we rank as the third-worst passing defense this season.

People will also likely be looking strongly at the New England Patriots/Houston Texans game this week for their daily fantasy quarterbacking needs. Tom Brady leads an offense with the second-highest implied total on the slate, and people will be looking for Deshaun Watson to pick up where he left off last season.

Watson's 25.27 FanDuel points per game were 2.84 higher than Russell Wilson, who clocked in second. He scored 22.14 FanDuel points when the two teams met last season, so fantasy owners will have at least those heights in their minds when building their rosters.

Pivot

Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals: $6,800 (at Indianapolis Colts)

I love targeting the Cincinnati Bengals this week. If you don't believe me, go forward another two slides. While a lot of eyes will be on Brees and the Houston/New England game, mine will be on Andy Dalton.

Dalton should have high ownership given the matchup against the Indianapolis Colts--a team who we project as the worst defense in the league this year--but his 2017 season likely left a bad taste in people's mouths.

He finished as the FanDuel QB18 last season, but that was only because he played a full 16 games. His 13.92-point per-game averaged ranked 25th; C.J. Beathard averaged almost two points per game more than him.

Dalton threw for 242 yards and two scores when the two teams played each other last October, finishing with a respectable 18.7 FanDuel points, 0.2 points below out projections for him this week.

That output combined with his $6,800 salary (a $600 discount on his Week 1 2017 salary) gives him a projected value of 2.78 FanDuel points per $1,000, second only to Brees in our projections. We have his upside value this week at 4.79 points per $1,000.

He may not reach that level of daily fantasy awesomeness, but he is still a player who can be a difference maker for your team this week. Don't shun the Red Rifle.