Quarterback Evaluation this Week

Dak Prescott- $5,000 
On FanDuel this week, Dak Prescott will be the highest owned quarterback. Historically, I have fallen into the trap of blindly playing the cheapest new quarterback because they had a great college career, or a great preseason. I even played Zach Mettenberger in the 2014 Fantasy Aces Football Championship. I have played Johnny Manziel, Tim Tebow, Case Keenum, the list goes on and on, but I will not be playing Dak Prescott this week. It is a risky strategy, as if he has a great game I will lose every contest week one, but let's look at the facts here.

• 8th quarterback selected in the 2016 NFL Draft.
• Dallas was last in tempo last year at 29.95 seconds per play, this is a big dropoff once Romo went out. Expect Dallas to continue this slow pace as they drafted Ezekiel Elliott and brought in Alfred Morris.
• The last four quarterbacks that have started their first game have not been statistically impressive. These were all the top two quarterbacks taken in the draft (Bortles, Winston, Mariota, Manuel). They all failed to go over 225 yards and only one threw the ball more than 30 times (Winston). These quarterbacks were more NFL ready than Dak.

What should we honestly expect from Dak? I am expecting 16/24 for 195 yards, one touchdown, and a turnover.  These are not awful numbers considering the salary, but with all the value that is out there this week on FanDuel you do not need to take the risk with Dak this week.

Quarterbacks I will be targeting

Cash Games

Matthew Stafford-$7,400

If you haven't heard by now, Indianapolis defense is decimated with injuries. Footballguys Injury Expert and IDP guru Dr. Jene Bramel had this to say about the Colts defense in week one.

No Davis, Anderson, Moore, Geathers. Langford, Butler less than full strength. Colts defense a total mess in W1. https://t.co/8QILUSipqD

— Jene Bramel (@JeneBramel) September 8, 2016

The Lions are going to have to keep pace with the Colts in what is expected to be one of the higher scoring games of the week. This is a great opportunity for a high volume quarterback like Stafford to come in and have a big opening game as while the game is on the road, it is still indoors leading to what should be a productive passing attack.

Drew Brees-$8,700

Brees is an every week staple in my cash games when he is at home. He is just so consistent when playing in New Orleans, and is facing a weak secondary this week in the Oakland Raiders who allowed the seventh most passing yards in 2015. He is expensive as he should be, but if you aren't starting Dak Prescott this week you are looking for consistency, and that is exactly what Brees brings to the table.

GPP

Kirk Cousins- $7,800

For GPP's no one is talking about Kirk Cousins this week, and I'm not really sure why. The Redskins have absolutely no one to run the ball, as both Matt Jones and Chris Thompson are questionable this week. While both should play, the question is how effective they will be, and will the Redskins just abandon the run altogether. This seems likely as they are facing a secondary that was third worst in the NFL and while the Steelers used a first-round pick on a corner, it is unlikely that it will significantly change the defense that quickly. This game is expected to be a high-scoring matchup, and for Washington to stay close as Vegas thinks they will, Cousins will have to play a major role in this. He is a great GPP stack with Jordan Reed this week.