3 FanDuel Defenses to Target in Week 1

Seattle Seahawks

FanDuel Price: $5,000
Projections: 19.6 points allowed, 2.98 sacks, 2.15 turnovers, 0.4 touchdowns

Seattle is likely going to be the chalk in cash games this weekend, as they are a strong defense playing at home as a double-digit favorite. The Seahawks will return a majority of their key players from a season ago -- Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Bobby Wagner, and Michael Bennett, to name a few -- so this should be a smooth transition for a team that allowed an NFL-best 17.3 points per game in 2015.

Their opponent, the Miami Dolphins, have the lowest implied team total in Vegas by far this weekend at 16.75. The Cleveland Browns are the next lowest at 18.5, nearly 2 points higher. With such a low implied total, a FanDuel points allowed bonus is certainly in play for Seattle.

The other thing in Seattle’s favor is travel time, as Miami will fly nearly 3,300 miles for this contest. West coast teams hosting teams from the east coast have performed historically well on FanDuel, especially those in the upper pricing tier. Teams in this situation that are priced at $5,000 or higher scored 10-plus FanDuel points 53.8 percent of the time over the last four seasons.

When you combine that with our projections that rank Seattle number-one this week, the Seahawks become a near must-play in cash games.

If you decide to roster the Seattle D/ST in GPPs, you can also pair them with Tyler Lockett, a big-play receiver who likely won’t see a ton a volume. But in addition to his offensive role, he will handle both kickoffs and punt returns, where a return touchdown would net 12 points for your lineup.