Five NFL daily fantasy plays for Week 1, and the Chiefs’ pick of the week

I have added a new daily fantasy football article to my repertoire for the 2018 season.

In these articles, I will select five players throughout the NFL as fantasy players to watch out for in the upcoming week. I will also throw in an additional Chiefs player to keep an eye on as well.

I am hopeful this article can be used to help some people finish making decisions regarding their roster, as well as an outlet for fantasy football fans to comment and share ideas leading up to their daily (or weekly) drafts.

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James Conner - RB Steelers

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

With Le’Veon Bell holding out for the start of the season, the rookie James Conner will take the majority of the Steelers’ snaps at running back. Conner should be had relatively cheap and he will be running behind a decent offensive line.

It is true the Browns did have one of the better run defenses in 2017, but in this case, I have Conner targeted because of the rare instance in which he’s being thrust into a starting role and he is a rookie.

Conner was also placed onto PFF’s All-Preseason team, so he does have some momentum going his way.

Rex Burkhead - RB Patriots

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

With Sony Michel sitting out the first week of the season for New England, expect Rex Burkhead to have a pretty decent workload in Week 1.

Burkhead did have some nagging injury issues during the preseason, but I do not see that as a large concern — especially because Las Vegas has pegged the Patriots/Texans game as a shootout with the line sitting at 51 points.

Cooper Kupp - WR Rams

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

I know a lot of people that were quite impressed with Cooper Kupp’s 2017 season — I was one of them. I happen to like Kupp’s skill set and he should be able to build on a strong 2017 season.

I have chosen Kupp as one of my targeted players because he will be facing the Raiders on Monday night. If you didn’t know, the Raiders had one of the worst adjusted (NY/A) passing yards per attempt defense in the NFL in 2017.

With the loss of Khalil Mack, as well as several other dysfunctional qualities surround the Raiders, I believe Kupp (and the rest of the Rams offense) can have a big game.

Trey Burton - TE Bears

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Trey Burton has caught the attention of several fantasy gurus during the preseason. I suspect this is due to the relation Burton’s coach, Matt Nagy, has with another prolific tight end we all know and love, Travis Kelce.

Many believe Nagy will utilize Burton in a similar manner to Kelce, and this could lead to a large number of targets for Burton. I believe Burton will see many targets and will act as a security blanket for Mitch Trubisky.

Burton will be facing a Green Bay defense that did not perform well against the pass in 2017 which is another indicator to keep an eye out for Burton.

John Ross - WR Bengals

Cincinnati Enquirer-USA TODAY NE

I view this as a fairly risky pick, but if John Ross gets his hands on a deep ball against the Colts, he’s probably going to do some damage.

Currently, Ross is playing WR2 in the Bengals offense opposite to A.J. Green. The main reason I have pegged Ross as potentially having a good game is because he will be facing a very below average Colts defense — The Colts finished dead last in the NFL in 2017 when it comes to defensive passing NY/A.

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Every week, I will include a Chiefs player to keep an eye on. This weeks player is...

Chiefs D/ST

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

OK, so maybe it’s not a player, but it’s still technically a fantasy option, right?

Many pundits think the Chiefs defense will be very bad in 2018, and they very well could be correct. This week however, the Chiefs will be facing a Chargers offense — particularly Philip Rivers — whom Bob Sutton has done a great job containing.

It also shouldn’t be overlooked that Tyreek Hill is returning punts for the Chiefs and is always capable of breaking a TD on a punt return.

It could be a value play to pick the Chiefs D/ST against the Chargers.