Daily Fantasy Football Week 1: Top Picks, Lineup Advice for DraftKings, FanDuel

Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season is here.

There's even a game in the books already.

If you play daily fantasy football, then hopefully you had a piece of said contest—or part of the passing game, at least. Tom Brady and Dak Prescott combined for 782 passing yards and seven touchdowns in Thursday's shootout, while five different pass-catchers tallied at least 90 receiving yards and a score.

If you missed out on the fun or just have new contests going this weekend, have no fear. There will still be major value to find, and we're here to help uncover those players with some play-or-pass recommendations.

Roster Cost: $8,400 on FanDuel; $7,600 on DraftKings

Those planning to bargain shop at quarterback can look elsewhere. Among quarterbacks, only Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson will set you back more than Kyler Murray in Week 1.

If you're ready to splurge, though, this might be the major move to make.

Murray was all-caps AWESOME last season. Only Josh Allen scored more fantasy points on the season, per FantasyPros. Murray can pass his way to a monster week, rush to the same or do a lot of both for an enormous fantasy score.

Now that he's had a full offseason with DeAndre Hopkins, those two should be even more dynamic together. Murray also has new weapons at receiver and running back, plus a beefed-up offensive line, so he might be worth the cost in all but the toughest matchups this season. The Titans are on the opposite end of the spectrum, having allowed the fifth-most yards and ninth-most points last season.

Roster Cost: $8,400 on FanDuel; $7,600 on DraftKings

With his 36th birthday behind him, Matt Ryan is at the age where the game could pass him by at any moment.

There's no real reason to think that's a major threat yet. He threw for better than 4,500 yards and 26 touchdowns just last season. But it's something to keep in the back of your mind.

More pressing is the concern of how quickly he'll adjust to the new-look offense around him. His safety blanket, Julio Jones, is gone. So is his Pro Bowl center, Alex Mack, who started all but two of the team's games the past five seasons. All three of the Falcons' top three rushers from last season are out, too. While Atlanta made a splash with No. 4 pick Kyle Pitts, the rookie tight end might need a minute to get his feet wet.

The Eagles aren't a bad matchup for Ryan, but I would want to see him in this new offense before possibly investing at a later date.

Roster Cost: $8,600 on FanDuel; $8,600 on DraftKings

With Drew Brees off into retirement and Michael Thomas on the physically unable to perform list, New Orleans' offense could quickly become the Alvin Kamara show.

Fantasy managers should be all over the price of admission in Week 1.

Kamara is one of the best players in fantasy football regardless of matchup. It just so happens that on Sunday he'll get a chance to carve up one of the league's most exploitable defenses.

Last season, the Packers allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to running backs, per NFL.com. As ESPN's Al Zeidenfeld noted, Green Bay also gave up the second-highest completion percentage on passes to running backs and the fourth-most yards per catch after the reception to the position. As Zeidenfeld put it, "This is an absolute smash spot for Kamara."