Week 1 NFL DFS: Money Makers and Heart Breakers

I’m back, baby! The NFL season is also back. You know what that means, right? Money Makers and Heart Breakers is also back for the 2025 NFL season. #MMHB is back in business to help you win each and every week of the 2025 season. You can use this article to help you with DFS plays on the main slate or as a sit/start for your weekly leagues.

Baby, I’m back, any kind of fool could see; I’m not often wrong, and you just can’t live without me. If you know the song, I just did a brief parody on the lyrics to you are probably even older than I am. With that in mind, let’s hit the ground running for 2025.

Week 1 Money Makers and Heart Breakers

Here is a brief definition of each of my terms for anyone that might be new:

💰 Money Maker – This player will perform better than expectations

💔 Heart Breaker – This player will perform lower than expectations

💰 Money Makers

Quarterbacks

Trevor Lawrence

In 2024, the Carolina Panthers allowed the second-most fantasy points to quarterbacks. They didn’t get much better at this in the off-season. The Jaguars have a new offense based on short passes and quick decisions. Expect Lawrence to spread the ball around and the Jaguars offense to look like it has talent once again.

$5,300 on DraftKings
$7,000 on FanDuel

Joe Burrow

Last season, Joe Burrow had multiple touchdown passes in each game he played against the Browns. Believe it or not, the over-under on this game is 47.5 points. We should expect a lot of passing and scoring. Look for Burrow to air it out to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. I think this will be a fun one.

$6,900 on DraftKings
$8,000 on FanDuel

Joe Flacco

The Browns play the Bengals in Week 1. You saw that I love Burrow this week. Well, Flacco will need to throw the ball a lot against the Bengals to keep them Browns in this game. The Bengals gave up 236 yards and 2 touchdowns per game last season to quarterbacks. They didn’t really get any better on defense. Flacco will throw the rock in Week 1.

$4,900 on DraftKings
$6,600 on FanDuel

Other Quarterback DFS Picks for Week 1

Bryce Young

$5,700 on DraftKings
$6,800 on FanDuel

Jordan Love

$6,100 on DraftKings
$7,600 on FanDuel

Drake Maye

$5,500 on DraftKings
$6,600 on FanDuel

Running Backs

Travis Ettienne

Etienne will be first up for the Jaguars backfield in Week 1. The Jaguars play the Panthers. The Panthers gave up the most points to running backs in 2024. If you think Etienne will get the majority of the touches in the Jaguars backfield in Week 1, you should be playing

$5,400 on DraftKings
$6,100 on FanDuel

Christian McCaffrey

CMC always gets a heavy workload. Not sure if I care much about the Seahawks here, as much as I do that CMC is healthy and ready to go. He will be involved in the passing game, and he will run the ball. This is just a case where you play a stud in a good match-up.

$7,300 on DraftKings
$8,100 on FanDuel

Chris Rodriguez

Word on the streets is that Rodriquez will be the starting running back for the Commanders in Week 1. He is in the best shape of his life, and everyone else is expecting a certain rookie to lead the way. This is a great play for short money, allowing you to pay up in other slots. If there was a guy who was meant to help you win a tournament in week 1, this is the guy.

$4,000 on DraftKings
$4,300 on FanDuel

Other Running Back DFS Picks for Week 1

Chubba Hubbard

$6,000 on DraftKings
$6,500 on FanDuel

Kenneth Walker

$5,900 on DraftKings
$6,700 on FanDuel

Alvin Kamara

$6,300 on DraftKings
$7,100 on FanDuel

Wide Receivers

Ja’Marr Chase

In the two regular-season games last season against the Browns, Chase had a touchdown in each game. Come to think of it, so did Tee Higgins. The moral of this story is to start your Bengals in Week 1. The over-under is high as I previously mentioned, and the Browns will try to keep up.

$8,100 on DraftKings
$9,200 on FanDuel

Tetairoa McMillan

The Panthers play the Jaguars in Week 1. The Jaguars gave up the third-most points to wide receivers last season. Bryce Young played great last season down the stretch and should be picking up right where he left off. To cap it all off, Jalen Coker is hurt, and Adam Thielen is gone. Look for Tet to assert himself as the top pass catcher in this offense.

$5,200 on DraftKings
$5,600 on FanDuel

Emeka Egbuka

Another rookie wide receiver, I know, I know. This one couldn’t possibly have had more hype this offseason as well. Injuries to other players have pushed him into the starting lineup. Baker Mayfield says he likes him a lot. To top it all off, the Buccaneers are playing against the Falcons in Week 1, and the Falcons do not defend the pass well. I would expect Mike Evans to be an absolute stud this week as well.

$4,600 on DraftKings
$5,000 on FanDuel

Other Wide Receiver DFS Picks for Week 1

Matthew Golden

$4,900 on DraftKings
$5,400 on FanDuel

Marvin Harrison Jr.

$5,500 on DraftKings
$6,400 on FanDuel

Terry McLauren

$6,200 on DraftKings
$7,300 on FanDuel

Tight Ends

David Njoku

Last season, the Bengals gave up the most points to opposing teams’ tight ends. Njoku scored 10 or more fantasy points in each matchup with the Bengals last season. Joe Flacco will get him the ball. Everyone loves a tight end; this one is tight indeed.

$4,700 on DraftKings
$5,700 on FanDuel

George Kittle

Kittle is a guy I wouldn’t overthink about playing in Week 1. The Seahawks defend the tight end position well. But Kittle is a stud who will most likely be the top passing option for the Niners in Week 1. I expect a touchdown or two.

$5,800 on DraftKings
$6,500 on FanDuel

Other Tight End DFS Picks for Week 1

Evan Engram

$4,500 on DraftKings
$5,300 on FanDuel

Brenton Strange

$3,300 on DraftKings
$5,000 on FanDuel

Hunter Henry

$3,900 on DraftKings
$5,000 on FanDuel

Defense

Cardinals

The Cardinals play the Saints in Week 1. Spencer Rattler is the starting quarterback for the Saints. There will be some turnovers. This should be, at the very least, an interesting match-up of a scrappy defense against a not-so-great quarterback.

$3,500 on DraftKings
$4,200 on FanDuel

Broncos

The Broncos get to start the season against the Titans. The Broncos are good at defending the pass. The Titans are starting a rookie quarterback, Cam Ward. The Titans will not ask Ward to go nuts in his first real NFL game. The Broncos will show Ward things he has never seen before. It should be fun if you want to pay up for a defense in DFS.

$3,800 on DraftKings
$4,800 on FanDuel

Commanders

The Commanders will play the Giants in Week 1. The Commander’s defense is pretty good. The Giants’ offense has a lot of unknowns going into this game. Russell Wilson is the new quarterback. Their run game isn’t overly impressive. Mali Nabers seems to be the only true bright spot. The unknowns of that offense make the Commanders a decent Week 1 defensive play.

$3,700 on DraftKings
$4,700 on FanDuel

💔Heart Breakers

Quarter Backs

JJ McCarthy

The Vikings play the Bears in Week 1. Last season, the Bears gave up the least amount of fantasy points to opposing teams’ quarterbacks. McCarthy should be a good quarterback, but in his first regular-season game in an offense that looks like it wants to run more. I’ll pass more on McCarthy than he will pass in the game.

Jared Goff

I love Jared Goff and the Lions’ offense. At least I did the past few years. There is a new offensive coordinator in Detroit this season. The Lions also start the season off against a Packers defense that defends the pass exceptionally well. I am playing Goff in season-long, but going nowhere near him in DFS.

Daniel Jones

Danny Dimes is the new starting quarterback for the Colts. Yay, everyone is so excited. Wait, what do you say? NO ONE is excited. That’s probably because he isn’t very accurate or especially good. I love the easy, stay away from player X write-ups.

Running Backs

Josh Jacobs

Jacobs has had a good tenure with the Packers so far. He killed the Lions last season, scoring 4 total touchdowns against them in the two games played. The Lions are good at defending the run, though. The Packers’ passing game also looks to be improved. This is just the type of game where we should see more passing than running. The game script will decide if Jacobs has a good game or not.

Jerome Ford

The Browns will play the Bengals in Week 1. This game also looks like a potential shootout. You would think that Ford would be a great play as the starting running back for the Browns. Unfortunately, we don’t know how the backfield split will work out yet for the Browns. That lack of knowledge makes him a no-go for me in DFS and season-long.

Bucky Irving

Bucky is a running back I love. Last season against the Falcons, he had 44 yards rushing in each of the games played against the Falcons. He was bad; he averaged 6 fantasy points against the Falcons in 2024, never scoring more than 8. Yuck. He is Yucky Irving for Week 1.

Wide Receivers

Chris Olave

Spencer Rattler is throwing the ball. I am not gambling on Olave being overly useful just because of that. I don’t even have anything witty to say about this one; it’s just bad.

Courtland Sutton

Sutton was great with Bo Nix last season. I expect big things from him this season as well. Just not in Week 1. The Titans are not a team that gets passed on a lot. Typically, other teams go up in score, stay up in score, and run the ball a bunch against the Titans.

Michael Pittman Jr.

The Colts will play the Dolphins in Week 1. The most inaccurate starting quarterback in the league will be throwing the ball. Last season, Pittman totaled 63 yards against the Dolphins when they played in Week 7. I would expect much the same in Week 1 of 2025. I am not playing him in any format.

Tight Ends

Jonnu Smith

Jonnu missed some of the preseason with an injury. He is on a new team, with a new quarterback. The Jets are a good defensive team on top of this. People were hyped about Jonnu after he was so good last year with Miami. Expect splitting some time with Pat Freiermuth here, and just temper your expectations in Week 1

Sam LaPorta

Laporta struggled against the Packers in both games last season. The Lions have a lot of mouths to feed in this offense, and he is probably the odd man out again this year. The list of guys who are dynamic catching the ball for the Lions is long, and the volume just probably won’t be there for Sam.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 1 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!