The first full NFL DFS Sunday main slate is always a little deceptive. A dozen games, a clean runway from 1 p.m. ET to 4:25 p.m. ET, and suddenly everyone thinks they have the perfect lineup. They do not. This is where smart picks matter, and SportsLine says Mike McClure has already identified the players worth building around for DraftKings and FanDuel.
The headline names are Ja'Marr Chase and Emeka Egbuka, and that is exactly the sort of signal DFS players want before locking in tournament lineups. When the slate is loaded with options, the edge often comes from knowing which high-upside players are being pushed to the front of the queue and which ones are being left behind.
Why the Week 1 slate matters
Week 1 is not the time to get cute just for the sake of it. It is the first chance to separate guesswork from an actual plan, and the Sunday main slate is packed with enough volume to create both opportunity and chaos. SportsLine is framing McClure's picks as the guide for that process, with the focus on players who can swing DraftKings Millionaire Maker and FanDuel Million contests.
Chase is the obvious star power play. In DFS terms, that is not an insult; it is usually the point. You want players who can break a slate, not merely survive it. Egbuka, meanwhile, gives the kind of roster-building flexibility that can matter just as much in a contest where every decision has a price attached to it.
The pricing only sharpens the debate. With salary figures at $7,800, $8,000, $6,200 and $6,400 in the mix across the player pool, the difference between a strong lineup and a dead one can be brutally small. That is why a trusted DFS voice matters here. One of Mike McClure's jobs is to point readers toward the right combination before the contest starts and the second-guessing begins.
There is also a simple truth that gets lost in the rush to fill every slot: not every popular player is a must-start, and not every cheaper name is a bargain. The value in McClure's approach is that it cuts through the noise and gives readers a sharper answer to the question that always drives Week 1 DFS strategy: who should I start?
SportsLine's push for McClure's picks does not promise certainty. DFS never does. But it does offer a framework, and in a slate with a dozen games and a lot of temptation, that is often the difference between a disciplined lineup and a hopeful one.
