Every week of the fantasy season, Rich Hribar gives Sharp Fantasy Subscribers his favorite DFS picks of the week, including the best core plays, tournament plays, and stacks to target.
You can find one free play from each of those articles below.
Click through the links to get his full slate breakdown.
| Week 1 DFS Picks |
|---|
| Core Plays |
| Tournament Picks |
| Team & Game Stacks |
Week 1 is always a unique one for NFL DFS.
We have a clean slate.
Players and coaches have changed teams.
Yesterday is not today, and we still have no sample from the 2026 season.
Another factor is that DFS player pricing was set several weeks ago, rather than adjusted over several days.
Because pricing was released so early, we have plenty of options with softer pricing than a normal week.
Every Week 1 almost always has too many plays.
I usually put less in play during Week 1, but even if you go full out, focus on keeping a tight core of players you will roster more than the market, then build your tournament plays around them.
I will have some analysis on the player selections and game writeups, but check out the Week 1 Worksheet for a fully detailed breakdown of the players and games.
Rich Hribar's Week 1 Core DFS Plays
Omarion Hampton ($7,300 FanDuel/$6,800 DraftKings)
To open the year, we are catching Hampton as a three-down back attached to a double-digit favorite with a team total just below 30 points.
Those are the environments we look for to elevate fantasy production for running backs.
Arizona allowed 17.7 rushing points per game to running backs in 2025, the second-most in the league.
They did add Roy Lopez to the defensive interior to help themselves inside, but the rest of last year's defense is pretty much the same.
Over his time with Miami, Mike McDaniel‘s offenses ranked fifth in yards per rush for running backs (4.7), fifth in success rate (40.9%), and first in explosive run rate (12.7%).
Those teams ran outside zone on 43.3% of their running-back runs, ranking third in the league during that period.
As a rookie, Hampton only averaged 0.21 yards before contact on outside zone runs, 45th in the league.
But when contacted beyond the line of scrimmage on those runs, he averaged 7.9 YPC with a 22.2% explosive run rate.
Hampton also showed his chops as a pass catcher as a rookie after catching 29 and 38 passes in his final two seasons in college.
Click here to see all of Rich's Week 1 Core Plays
Rich Hribar's Week 1 Tournament DFS Plays
Tetairoa McMillan ($6,800 FanDuel/$6,100 DraftKings)
McMillan's usage splits as a rookie were strong on the surface, accounting for 25.4% of the team's targets (11th) with 43.3% of the air yards (2nd).
But because Carolina was so run-heavy and used McMillan with a lack of creativity, he had inconsistent opportunities in the box score.
They appear to be changing that, and I want to play for that in a good matchup before it is fully highlighted.
As a rookie, McMillan was out wide for 85% of his snaps.
Bryce Young threw the ball outside of the numbers 38.6% of the time, which was 24th in the league.
Young had one of the lowest deep-passing rates in the league last year, which affected McMillan.
21.3% of McMillan's targets were on go routes, which ranked 11th among 76 wide receivers with 300-plus pass routes.
This offseason, the team told us that they wanted to move McMillan around more.
The preseason was a small sample, but they delivered on that idea.
McMillan only ran 12 routes this preseason, but 40% of those were from the slot.
If he can hang around that area in the regular season, then that will significantly help his floor, even if his ceiling ends up capped by the overall offense.
The Bears were 30th in points allowed per game to WR1 targets in 2025 (16.8).
Slot receivers smoked them, so those added reps inside can make an immediate impact.
Chicago allowed the most points to slot receivers last season (15.6 per game), surrendering 9.0 yards per target (29th) and a league-high 11.6% touchdown rate to those receivers.
They will be getting Jaylon Johnson back to open the year, who only played in seven games last season.
But they are still without Kyler Gordon, and if McMillan moves into the slot more often, it can free him from key outside defenders.
Click here to see all of Rich's Week 1 Tournament Plays
Rich Hribar's Week 1 DFS Game Stacks
Saints at Lions
A 49.5-point total, indoors, and involving two defenses with question marks is a North Star on this slate.
This game features so many plays.
We know what we typically get from Detroit at home.
Since joining the Lions, Jared Goff has averaged 19.4 points per game indoors.
Amon-Ra St. Brown typically goes along for the ride in the splits, which makes sense.
He has averaged 20.0 fantasy points per game at home over the past four seasons.
Then we have Jahmyr Gibbs, now playing without David Montgomery on the roster.
In the 25 career games in which Gibbs has played 60% or more of the team snaps, he has averaged 20.3 PPR points per game.
Add in Jameson Williams and/or Sam LaPorta, and you have a full Detroit onslaught.
The crazy part is that you can fit an entire New Orleans onslaught alongside a full Detroit one.
Juwan Johnson and Devaughn Vele are so affordable that on DraftKings, you can play Goff, Gibbs, St. Brown, and Williams and run it back with Chris Olave, Travis Etienne, Vele, and Johnson.
You still have $2,700 left for a DST.
If you go to Tyler Shough at quarterback, you can upgrade to LaPorta or just play LaPorta versus Williams and go to a higher DST.
You can trade out Etienne if you want to focus on the New Orleans passing side since they are road underdogs.
There is a lot of flexibility here since you can fit everyone in.
FanDuel makes it only slightly tougher to fit all of that in, but you do lose the full-PPR insulation for some of the cheaper pieces, and it makes it harder to go with a running back in your FLEX, which is typically optimal over there.