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You may or may not have noticed, but there is a transition taking place on Daily Fantasy Live and now in this column.
In fact, it's not just here at CBS Sports but nearly everywhere. Baseball is slowly fading away and football is coming to the forefront.
With that in mind I'm going to try to put together some general strategy articles by position, using Week 1 as the example. Now this isn't going to be anywhere close to as in-depth as our weekly content (that is going to blow your socks off) but it will hopefully provide an appetizer that holds you over until September.
I've already been asked by some who started DFS with baseball if quarterbacks are the equivalent of starting pitchers. There are clear differences in that the ratio of pricing isn't close and the selection remains the same most every week.
That being said, there are some similarities.
I think it's especially important in cash games to get a solid performance from your quarterback. You're going to need 120-plus points in cash games to place and it's difficult to do that without at least 20 coming from your quarterback.
That doesn't always mean that you need to start Andrew Luck or Aaron Rodgers, but I do want a high-volume quarterback with a good matchup. Cash games are not the place to get cute betting on getting good Andy Dalton ($7,100) or one of the rookies. Those guys might make fine tournament plays, but there's just no reason to use them when you need to finish in just the top half of the field.
With Week 1 in mind, I can't see a quarterback for less than $8,000 who I would seriously consider for cash games. Sam Bradford ($7,500) may be the one exception because Vegas loves that game against the Falcons.
Yes, we're still using Vegas.
In Week 1 Vegas has the Packers as the highest-scoring offense but the Cowboys, Broncos, Eagles and Falcons are all right behind them. I'm still a little spooked by the way Peyton Manning ($9,100) looked down the stretch in 2014 so I can't see paying up for him. Aaron Rodgers ($9,700) was priced with Jordy Nelson in his stable so I'm not sure that's a great value either.
That leaves us with Matt Ryan ($8,800) and Tony Romo ($8,700) as the top options in cash games. Both have stud receivers going up against poor defenses in high-scoring games. I'd likely choose Ryan today simply because I think there's at least a small chance the Giants/Cowboys game turns into an ugly intra-divisional match while I see Philly and Atlanta in a shootout almost for sure.
Of course, if you've played DFS you know a tournament strategy opens up a lot more possibilities. I try to focus on where I think Vegas is wrong. Everyone is going to have Cowboys stacks and Packers stacks. There will even be some Colts stacks even though they're going against the Bills. Who will the public largely avoid that I think could be big values?
Jay Cutler, CHI ($7,900): The Bears are going to have to play catch-up for most of this game and their defense can't stop anyone. Cutler also comes with a built-in stack of either Alshon Jeffery or Martellus Bennett.
Jameis Winston, TB ($6,900) and Marcus Mariota, TEN ($7,100): I'm not sure these guys will be great values because there's enough intrigue to garner unwarranted attention. Still, I don't believe in either of these secondaries, especially the Titans without McCourty.
Andy Dalton, CIN ($7,100): Hating Dalton is somewhat of a national pastime at this point, which really helps his DFS value. Dalton is so hated in seasonal leagues because of his inconsistency but that's exactly what makes him a good DFS play.
