DraftKings Main Slate

Welcome to our Week 1 write-up for DraftKings' 16-game main slate that kicks of Saturday afternoon. There are several great games to target, such as Oklahoma versus Florida Atlantic and Texas Tech versus Ole Miss. For this article, I broke down a mix of value plays and building blocks at each position. If you've got specific strategy questions, feel free to sound off in the comments. Also, our weekly rankings should give you an idea of how we're valuing players for this week, and our lineup optimizer is up and running.

Quarterback

He's a true freshman making his collegiate debut and yet he's priced ahead of several well-established options...and with good reason. Daniels is supremely talented in his own right and his supporting cast is ridiculous, starting with Tyler Vaughns all the way down to his high school teammate and fellow freshman Amon-Ra St. Brown. This matchup sets up extremely well for Daniels, too. UNLV was 111th in S&P+ against the pass last season, and even with a new defensive coordinator in place, this is not the spot for the Rebs to suddenly turn everything around on that side of the ball.

Jordan Ta'amu, Mississippi ($9,900) at Texas Tech

This is a matchup I've had circled since it was announced that DraftKings was bringing back college football. There will be pace and there will be points. Ta'amu is the trigger man for the Rebels and is at the helm of one of the SEC's most dangerous offenses that features a receiving corps chock full of future NFL talent. This figures to be a back-and-forth game, which portends to a high-volume outing from Ta'amu. And when you factor in Ta'amu's 9.7 YPA mark, a high volume day will net some major results. An Ole Miss stack is advisable for cash games, with Ta'amu profiling as an excellent building block.

Running back

This is the lowest salary we'll see associated with Singletary this season without a doubt. The Owls are three-touchdown dogs so it makes sense to an extent in the sense that Singletary won't get the carry volume he'll be seeing in other games. However, it's not like Florida Atlantic's best player is simply going to disappear from the game plan. The Owls ran the ball at the 15th highest clip (63.9 percent) in the nation last season, and while they'll likely be more balanced this year with better quarterback options, this is still a run-first offense. Getting exposure to this game is crucial, as has far and away the biggest implied total (72.5) of any game on this slate. Singletary might be highly owned, which drives down his tournament appeal, but he's definitely a building block for cash.

Antonio Williams, North Carolina ($4,600) at California

Michael Carter's wrist injury opens up some carries for Williams, a former blue-chip recruit who transferred over from Ohio State this summer. Williams never carved out much of a role as a Buckeye with J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber seeing most of the work, but Williams still averaged 5.1 yards per carry over 57 rushes in 2017. He won't be working behind as good of a line at North Carolina, but he's clearly the best back on the roster -- at least the best healthy one. *whispers* Williams is north of $8K on other sites.

Nico Evans, Wyoming ($4,500) vs. Washington State

After watching Thursday's beatdown by Minnesota, it's clear that most teams won't have much of a problem running on New Mexico State. That shouldn't necessarily detract from what Evans did last weekend when he racked up 204 yards against the Aggies. This weekend he draws a matchup against Washington State. Now, the Cougs aren't the sieve on defense they once were on defense, but part of that was attributed to defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. Well, Grinch is at Ohio State now, and there might be some growing pains for the Cougars as they adjust to Tracy Claeys' new system. There's also the matter of Washington State having to replace nearly 40 percent of its defensive production from a year ago. So we have a new coordinator and a lot of new parts going against a Wyoming team that already has a game under its belt. Evans is in a prime spot to take advantage, and at $4,500, he's one of the best values on the board.

Wide Receiver

South Carolina is a hefty favorite, so there's a bit of risk in terms of Samuel and Edwards playing a full four quarters. But if the Gamecocks have the luxury of sitting their starters late in the game, Samuel and Edwards will have a lot to do with the implied lopsided score. Samuel is the pricier option of course, but he's worth it. Samuel has a high floor with a huge role coming in the passing game, and an improved Jake Bentley makes this a passing game to target this week and beyond. Toss in the fact that Samuel is the most dangerous returner in the nation going against a team that gave up an FBS-high four kick returns for touchdowns last year and we have some icing on the cake potential. As for Edwards, he's arguably more talented than Samuel as a receiver, so at $6,900, he's a reasonably priced way of getting exposure to the South Carolina side of this game.

Malcolm Williams, Coastal Carolina ($4,800) at South Carolina

Coastal Carolina isn't going to put a ton of points on the board this week. Williams, however, is the focal point of the Chanticleer offense. He was targeted on 24 percent of Coastal Carolina's pass attempts last season and should see a similarly large share Saturday. I wouldn't expect an explosive output from Williams, but he's a clear No.1 at under $5K when most of the other options in that price range are the No.3 or worse.

Grant Calcaterra, Oklahoma ($4,800) vs. Florida Atlantic

With DraftKings lumping tight ends in with receivers, there's usually no reason to roster a tight end. Calcaterra is a special case, though. He's stepping into a starting role in arguably the best-designed offense in all of college football. Calcaterra gets to absorb the targets left behind by Mark Andrews, who saw 91 targets in 2017. I don't expect Calcaterra to see that high of a volume immediately, but he's already shown what he can do when given the opportunity, as evidenced by the small but impressive 10-catch, 162-yard, three-touchdown sample from last season. OU is going to put up points in bunches Saturday and Calcaterra at $4,800 is a great way to get in on the action for cheap.

Devin Duvernay, Texas ($3,600) at Maryland

Duvernay is locked into one of the starting spots on the outside in Texas' up-tempo offense that averaged 79.7 plays per game in 2017, which ranked 8th in the nation. He had a promising freshman season in 2016 (20 receptions, 412 yards, three touchdowns) before falling out of favor last season. Fortunately, he has worked his way back into a role and should see more than enough volume to outperform his near-minimum price tag. And, for what it's worth, Maryland's defense lost nearly half of its production from 2017 and the unit itself ranked 95th against the pass in terms of S&P+. Texas will be putting up some points.