After a very exciting kick off to the season, that was literally decided by a toe, we get bonus football on Friday. The Packers and Eagles have traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil for tonight’s matchup. As of Friday morning, the Eagles are -2 home favorites with game total of 49.5.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $2.25 Friday Night Millionaire [$1M to 1st] (GB@PHI)
Captain’s Picks
Jordan Love ($14,700 CP): Love is the third-most expensive option at the captain spot at $14,700. Above him is A.J. Brown ($16,500), who is likely going to be a low-owned captain option, and Jalen Hurts ($15,900). While Hurts has the rushing upside, I like the idea of Love playing from behind and throwing against this Eagles secondary. Last season, it was one of their biggest weaknesses and they tried to alleviate that in the offseason. The Eagles drafted Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, while bringing back safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. DeJean may not play a lot after dealing with a hamstring injury earlier this year. Nonetheless, the jury remains out on how this Eagles secondary will look.
For Love, he’ll have his full complement of weapons at his disposal, as well as Josh Jacobs. Christian Watson ($5,600) Jayden Reed ($6,400) and Romeo Doubs ($6,800) are all inexpensive and can easily be paired with Love. This will allow you to take at least two Packers receivers. For me, this make Love an optimal captain, as you can easily pair him with at least two pass catchers. If you captain Hurts and pair him with Brown, you limit your lineup to an average of $5,775 for the remaining four roster spots. Value is going to be hard to come by on this slate, so that’s not an ideal situation I want to take be in. With what we saw from Love last year, especially from Week 7 on, I’m comfortable with him as my captain.
UTIL Plays
Josh Jacobs ($8,200): It’s going to be hard to ignore the role that Jacobs will have in this game. The Packers backfield is completely different from last year, as Aaron Jones is gone and A.J. Dillon will miss the entire season. This leaves Jacob as the top dog while his two backups are questionable. Both Marshawn Lloyd ($3,000) and Emanuel Wilson ($2,400) are banged up, opening up a potential huge opportunity for Jacobs. I think we can wipe away whatever we remember recently from Jacobs, who was on a horrific Raiders team last season.
With the move to Green Bay, I think Jacobs will be heavily involved in the passing game. Last season, Love targeted his running backs an average of 5.5 times per game. Because of this, we could easily say Jacobs surpass 20 touches in what is expected to be a high-scoring affair. At a $1,200 discount from Saquon Barkley, I think Jacobs is a great play tonight.
DeVonta Smith ($9,000): No one was likely more excited about OC Kellen More coming to the Eagles than Smith. Last season, Smith’s snaps were dominated out wide, lining up 74% of the time. Only 24% was lined up in the slot. There have been plenty of rumblings that Smith will see A LOT more time in the slot, which would free him up immensely in this game. Smith would avoid CB Jaire Alexander, who very rarely travels there. Last year, the Packers were torched by slot receivers and that looks like it could be the case once again. Last season, CB Keisean Nixon, who mainly covered the slot, allowed 63 catches on 78 targets for an average of 10 YPR.
Luke Musgrave ($4,600): If you are looking to spend down a bit, Musgrave looks to be one of the more solid options. Tucker Kraft is questionable to play tonight, which would keep Musgrave on the field. Last season, the Eagles allowed an average of 12.5 DKFP and 51 receiving yards to the tight end position. It’s not a slam dunk spot by any means but the choices for value, as I mentioned, are quite slim. Musgrave and Jahan Dotson ($3,200) will likely draw the most attention in this range.
Fades
Dontayvion Wicks ($5,400): A lot of people are high on Wicks, as his talent could easily carve a bigger role in this offense. However, with all of the Packers receivers healthy for Week 1, Wicks could see a very limited number of snaps tonight. Wicks priced at $5,400, which is only $200 less than Watson, who will be playing a full-time role, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. If Wicks was down in the high $3K range, he would be one of the better value plays on this slate. But, with his current salary, I would look at him as nothing more than a potential dart throw to catch a long pass from Love. I firmly believe we’ll be talking a lot more about Wicks later in the season but not here in Week 1.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $2.25 Friday Night Millionaire [$1M to 1st] (GB@PHI)
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