Finding Paydirt: Week 1 NFL Touchdown Picks — Win 2 Months of RG Premium & More Prizes!

by Joe Cistaro (joeycis) Last Updated 2022-09-09 15:14:12

Touchdowns, while extremely variant, make or break daily fantasy success and swing thousands of dollars every Sunday. Every weekend, players wait anxiously for the players on their roster to find paydirt. The purpose of the contest is to provide an opportunity for the RotoGrinders community to come together to sweat our touchdown picks together. Did I mention there will be prizes?

Welcome back, Grinders! Many of you might have participated in the return of Home Run Derby throughout the spring and summer baseball season. We are back for another NFL season. Similar to the MLB contest, we will run our touchdown contest for smaller segments (every four weeks) while keeping an overall tally for a larger set of season-long prizes. Let’s go over the rules and the prizes before getting into our first article.

Finding Paydirt Rules and Prizes

Very simple. Each week, I will publish Finding Paydirt on Friday morning — highlighting my favorite touchdown pick for the running back, wide receiver, and tight end position. To participate in the contest, you simply need to read the article and leave your three picks in the comments section. So, easy, right? You will take Jonathan Taylor, Davante Adams, and Travis Kelce! Easy!

Not so fast, friends! There is a catch. Each week, we will run the contest for Sunday’s DraftKings Main Slate (1:00 PM and 4:00 PM games). However, to make things a bit more interesting, I will be cutting the top five priced running backs and wide receivers as well as the top three priced tight ends. Everyone else on the slate is in play.

Each week I will post an updated leaderboard with the total touchdowns accumulated that week and for the season.

So, simply put, read the article, check the cut list, make your three picks in the comments, win prizes! What are the prizes? Read below.

The following prizes will be awarded to players based on their touchdown total for each four-week segment:

First Place – 2 months of RotoGrinders NFL Premium
Second Place – RotoGrinders T-shirt and hat
Third Place – 2 weeks of SAO Premium

The following prizes will be awarded to players based on their touchdown total for the first 16 weeks of the NFL season:

First Place – One month of RotoGrinders Combo Premium
Second Place – RotoGrinders Swag Pack
Third Place – One month of SAO Premium

Now, let’s get into this week’s cut list.

The Week 1 Cut List

Your selections must be on the DraftKings Main Slate and cannot be any of the players below. These players are the top five at both RB and WR and the top three at TE.

Now that we have cut the top-priced players, let’s make our Week 1 picks.

NFL Week 1 Touchdown Picks

Aaron Jones – RB – $6,700

In the first game without Davante Adams, there exist plenty of questions about the Packers’ offense. Who will Aaron Rodgers trust? Which rookie will emerge? Which running back will be featured? Will Allen Lazard play?

Last season, in his lone game without Davante Adams, Aaron Jones was the focal point of the offense. Jones received 15 carries and 11 targets — exceeding 100 total yards and scoring a touchdown. This was not the first time that Jones drew this type of attention in Adams’ absence.

Running back will be a bit tricky when we remove options that feel like likely plays. That said, I am willing to gamble on Jones — and A.J. Dillon alike — receiving much of the offensive attention as the Packers forge a new road.

DraftKings Sportsbook offers the best odds at the time of this writing. Jones is +100 to score a touchdown on DraftKings.

Mike Williams – WR – $6,600

With one of the higher implied totals on the slate, sports betting sites project the Raiders and Chargers to score plenty of points on Sunday afternoon. Our last view of these two teams saw the Raiders knocking the Chargers out of the playoffs in overtime in a 35 – 32 game. Justin Herbert continuously drove the Chargers down the field to score while the Raiders counterpunched and closed the game in overtime.

I anticipate we will see a similar type of game with the Raiders offense markedly improving with Davante Adams. The entire cast of characters is in play as this should be a highly stacked DFS contest on Sunday’s slate. Mike Williams brings the potential for a long touchdown every game but finished top ten in targets inside the 10-yard line last season with 12. Williams should be a key piece to an offense with explosion potential. Book it!

Williams is +140 to score a touchdown on Caesars.

T.J. Hockenson – TE – $4,900

The Lions received plenty of attention during the offseason after finishing out the 2021 campaign with some life and fire. Being featured on Hard Knocks doesn’t hurt the buzz a team will receive going into the season. What is the likely outcome?

The Lions will probably still be the Lions but with some improvement. I would anticipate the team playing far more competitively early in the season. The betting line for their opening tilt against the Eagles rests at +3.5 at the time of this writing. At home, I don’t think that is the worst bet.

With all that said, the Eagles allowed the most touchdowns to the tight end position in 2021. Did they do enough to address that? I am not sure but the tight end position is going to be just like the cheap seats in our Home Run Derby contest. Finding touchdowns here will be a challenge and could be the difference in a quarterly winner.

I will go with Hockenson as its likely that Jared Goff and company are more in sync after another full offseason together. He should be a factor in the red zone.

For the best price, bet T.J. Hockenson to score a touchdown on FanDuel Sportsbook at +200.

Thanks for checking out this week’s article. Leave your touchdown picks in the comments for a chance at winning monthly and seasonal prizes.

Note: Home Run Derby winners for monthly and seasonal prizes should receive access to their premium content within the next couple of days. As for apparel prizes, I need yisman, 1010mg, WestCrook1 (August second place) and Hendo2132 (overall season second place) to reach out to me via Twitter or DM for information for your RG swag.

Image Credit: Imagn