This article is part of our DFS NFL series.
OwnersBox heads into the 2021 NFL season with yet another innovative fantasy product sure to enhance the typical DFS experience. OwnersBox's SuperFlex contests provide participants with a chance to roster up to two quarterbacks per lineup, opening up the opportunity for major scoring boosts and a more entertaining fantasy sweat overall.
Each week of the NFL regular season, RotoWire will break down multiple appealing candidates for OwnersBox's Sunday slate NFL SuperFlex DFS contests.
Quarterbacks
Kyler Murray, ARI at TEN ($7,800)
Murray makes for an interesting pivot off Patrick Mahomes in tournaments and brings a high floor in a solid matchup. The Titans finished 2020 allowing the fifth-most passing yards per game (270.8), along with the fourth most (289.6) per home contest. Tennessee also allowed a robust 69.6 percent completion rate at home and an AFC-high 36 TD passes to QBs, along with 226 rushing yards and three rushing TDs to the position. Murray finished last season with three games of greater than 350 passing yards, including one over 400 yards, and contributed 37 total TDs, making him an excellent option if you're paying up.
Joe Burrow, CIN vs. MIN ($6,400)
By all accounts, Burrow is all the way back from last year's season-ending knee injury, leaving him poised to deliver on the substantial promise he displayed during his first 10 NFL games. Burrow finished with a solid 65.3 percent completion rate and 13:5 TD:INT, adding 142 rushing yards and three scores on the ground. The Vikings surrendered 282.0 passing yards per home contest and the third-highest average yards per attempt (7.7) a season ago, offering Burrow a chance to hit the ground running in 2021 with the aid of a talented top pass-catching trio that includes college teammate Ja'Marr Chase.
ALSO CONSIDER: Patrick Mahomes, KC at CLE ($8,100); Russell Wilson, SEA at IND ($7,400)
Running Backs
Christian McCaffrey, CAR vs. NYJ ($8,300)
McCaffrey is indeed the highest-salaried running back on the slate, but this is one of those occasions where it's wise to consider paying up and eating some chalk. The versatile star is healthy again after an injury-marred 2020 and he should be ready to take on a heavy workload right from the jump. For all their troubles last season, the Jets were fairly solid against the run, but they still yielded 116.5 rushing yards per home game, along with 11 rushing TDs to running backs overall. Additionally, no AFC squad surrendered more receptions to running backs than New York's 98 catches allowed, a particularly important metric to consider when contemplating the rostering of McCaffrey.
Nick Chubb, CLE at KC ($6,400)
Chubb averaged just under 6.0 yards per carry against KC in last January's divisional-round loss, and he averaged 5.6 yards per rush overall across 12 regular-season games. The fourth-year back rattled off six 100-yard efforts despite often splitting significant time with Kareem Hunt, and although Chubb was less involved as a receiver (16-150) than during his first two seasons, his prowess in that department is already proven. The Chiefs finished 2020 the season allowing 4.7 adjusted line yards per carry, and the Browns' offensive line facilitated a healthy 4.8 per rush, placing them in the top 10 leaguewide. With the ground attack still projected to be a central component of Cleveland's offense, Chubb could end up overdelivering on his mid-level salary.
Raheem Mostert, SF at DET ($5,600)
The typical logjam at running back in San Francisco has eased some going into Week 1, considering Tevin Coleman and Jerick McKinnon are both elsewhere and Jeff Wilson, Jr. is opening the season on the PUP list. Rookie Trey Sermon will spell Mostert some, but the veteran should be in for a solid workload Week 1 against a Lions defense that allowed the fifth-most rushing yards per game (134.9) a season ago, along with the fifth-most rushing yards (1,855) and a whopping 19 rushing TDs to running backs specifically. Mostert continued his career-long trend of high-level efficiency last season by averaging 5.0 yards per carry, and he has the explosiveness to exploit a unit that ranked in the bottom 10 of the league in 2020 with 1.32 second-level yards per carry allowed.
ALSO CONSIDER: Alvin Kamara, NO vs. GB ($7,800); James Robinson, JAC at HOU ($5,800)
Wide Receivers
DeAndre Hopkins, ARI at TEN ($7,100)
Some of the vulnerabilities of the Titans pass defense were already detailed in Murray's entry, and it's worth adding that Tennessee surrendered an AFC-high 264 receptions to wide receivers, along with the third-most receiving touchdowns (22) to the position. The Titans also gave up a healthy 68.0 percent catch rate to the position in the process, while Hopkins, often targeted by Murray in generally close proximity to the line of scrimmage, brought in 71.9 percent of the whopping 160 targets he drew, a figure good for a 29.3 percent share on Arizona.
DK Metcalf, SEA at IND ($6,800)
Following an encouraging rookie campaign in 2019 that offered glimpses of impending stardom, Metcalf quickly delivered on that promise with an 83-1,303-10 line while playing all 16 games for the second time in as many pro seasons. The big-bodied wideout could be primed for even bigger numbers this season, and he'll have a chance to start that quest in strong fashion Week 1. The Colts allowed 245.1 passing yards per game overall in 2020, giving up a 65.5 percent catch rate and 17 receiving TDs to wideouts along the way. Metcalf claimed a hefty 39.0 percent of the Seahawks' air yards and 23.9 percent of the team's targets as well in 2020, teeing him up for a potentially big opener in a game that should be competitive throughout.
DJ Chark, JAC at HOU ($5,500)
Chark admittedly hasn't had an abundance of opportunity to build rapport with rookie first overall pick Trevor Lawrence going into Week 1, as the finger surgery he underwent the first week of August kept him out of preseason action. Nevertheless, the fourth-year wideout brings some appealing upside at his salary versus the Texans, which he produced a 7-146-1 line against in one of two encounters last season. Houston was well known for its generosity on the ground a year ago, but the Texans also tied with the Titans for third-most touchdowns allowed to receivers (22) and permitted a 70.4 percent catch rate on their way giving up the eighth-most catches (219) to the position.
ALSO CONSIDER: Tyreek Hill, KC at CLE ($7,900); Justin Jefferson, MIN at CIN ($6,700)
Tight Ends
George Kittle, SF at DET ($6,500)
It wouldn't be surprising to see the 49ers roll the Lions in Week 1, hence my inclusion of two San Francisco players in this article. Kittle offers a significant discount over Travis Kelce ($7,600) if you're investing some cash at tight end, and the 49ers TE will tangle with a Detroit defense that allowed nine TDs to tight ends last season and yielded completion rates of 72.0 percent or higher in all three short-to-intermediate passing windows. Kittle is fully healthy again after overcoming a foot injury late last season to post an 11-160 line over the final pair of contests, and he could certainly wreak havoc up the seam versus the Lions.
Noah Fant, DEN at NYG ($4,300)
Fant brings much of the wide-receiver-type upside that Kittle offers but at a significantly lower salary. The athletic tight end has been dealing with a knee issue, but he's fully expected to be ready to go Sunday against the Giants, who allowed an 80-866-4 line to tight ends in 2020. Fant will have what should be a steadier, more accurate hand in Teddy Bridgewater throwing to him in this contest, and after claiming 17.6 percent of his team's targets on his way to 62-673-3 line and a solid 12 red-zone touches in 2020, he should have a clear Week 1 role despite the return of the previously injured Courtland Sutton.
ALSO CONSIDER: Kyle Pitts, ATL vs. PHI ($5,300); Eric Ebron, PIT at BUF ($3,500)
