Week 1 of the 2025-26 NFL season has finally arrived, folks! The football gods have blessed us with Sunday football for the next four months, and it begins today. DraftKings Sportsbook wants you to start the new season off on the right foot, which is why they’ve introduced their new Ghost Leg promotion!
It is self-explanatory. You must create a parlay, same game parlay (SGP) or same game parlay extra (SGPx) with at least three legs for the Week 1 NFL Sunday slate, apply your ghost leg token, and voila! The token will “ghost” the losing leg of your parlay, resulting in a payout on the remaining legs. We’ve all experienced the pain of missing out on a sweet payday from a high-odds parlay because of one leg, and it’s usually the one you were most confident in, too.
Using the new promotion, let’s take a look at the Week 1 NFL Sunday slate and identify the best three-leg parlay. There are numerous strategies for attacking this limited promotion, but a combination of one low-risk, one medium-risk, and one high-risk play appears to be the best approach entering a new season.
Let’s get to it, and may the odds be ever in your favor this season.
Best Ghost Leg Picks on DraftKings Sportsbook for NFL Week 1
- MIA Dolphins Moneyline (at IND)
- ARI Cardinals -6.5 (at NO)
- Tee Higgins 60+ Receiving Yards (at CLE)
- Stefon Diggs 5+ Receptions (vs LV)
MIA Dolphins Moneyline
Disclaimer: The fact that 69% of the bets and 74% of the money on DraftKings Sportsbook have been placed on Dolphins Moneyline (-110) scares me a bit and makes this a riskier play. However, the disrespect around the Dolphins and early-season Tua Tagovailoa has gotten a bit extreme, and that’s coming from a Bills fan. While Tagovailoa struggles to stay healthy, he dominates early in the season. He appeared in just the first two games of last season before missing the following four games with a concussion. However, in his previous two seasons, from Weeks 1-4, Tagovailoa has produced 2,341 passing yards, along with 17 touchdowns and six interceptions. The game will also take place in Indianapolis in a dome, so Tua won’t have to worry about weather conditions.
ARI Cardinals -6.5
Similar to the Dolphins, the Cardinals are usually a solid early-season team, and they draw a Week 1 matchup against what is expected to be the worst team in the NFL this season in the Saints. Kyler Murray is similar to Tagovailoa, too, as they both tend to regress as the season progresses, which suggests that we should see some Kyler magic in Week 1. The spread sits at the magic number of -6.5, too, and New Orleans named Spencer Rattler its starting quarterback, and he looked rather unprepared in limited action last season. The Cardinals feel like a sneaky team that could make some noise this season, and those talks will begin following a statement win on the road to start the season.
Tee Higgins 60+ Receiving Yards
I’m going to be targeting Bengals’ wide receiver lines all season long, and it begins with Tee Higgins in Week 1. I’m fading Ja’Marr Chase because Denzel Ward is one of those cornerbacks who seem to give him problems separating and making the usual highly-contested catches. Plus, I’m operating under the assumption that Chase will demand so much attention that Higgins will see plenty of opportunities as a result. The Bengals are a puzzling early-season team, but I trust an offense commanded by Joe Burrow. Cincinnati’s defense ranked 27th in EPA per play last season, and its offense ranked second in passing attempts. Cleveland’s secondary was weak last season, too, ranking 28th and 30th, respectively, in receiving yards and touchdowns allowed to opposing wide receivers. Higgins cleared this line in 8-of-12 games last season and once against the Browns, falling short by two yards in the second matchup.
Stefon Diggs 5+ Receptions
While Stefon Diggs is a 31-year-old coming off a torn ACL injury, he has looked good throughout training camp. New England’s wide receiver room is interesting, to say the least, but Diggs is clearly the most talented. Diggs remains one of the NFL’s best route runners and will provide Maye and the offense with consistent separation from opposing cornerbacks. He averaged just 10.6 yards per reception last season –– second-lowest season average of his career –– with Houston before tearing his ACL in Week 8. I’d expect New England to utilize him similarly by getting him the ball often to take advantage of short-yardage situations. The 4x Pro-Bowler hauled in at least five receptions in 7-of-8 games last season as WR2. There’s no reason to assume that trend won’t continue when he’s WR1 in New England.
