Hitting on high-salary players is the first step to having success in NFL DFS on FanDuel.

These players take up the biggest chunk of your salary cap, and they need to deliver quality performances for your lineup to reach its ceiling.

With some help from our NFL DFS projections, here are four studs to target on this week's main slate, which starts at 1 p.m. ET.

All betting odds come from the NFL odds at FanDuel Sportsbook and may change after this article is published.

NFL DFS Stud Plays for Week 6

Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens

FanDuel Salary: ($9,500)

Don’t let Lamar Jackson's monstrous salary scare you off him for Week 6’s main slate. He’s worth every penny.

Jackson has been the highest-scoring quarterback in fantasy this season. He’s averaging 26.3 FD points per game and has exceeded 23 FD points in four of five weeks.

That’s come both through the air (241 passing yards; 1.8 passing touchdowns per game) and on the ground (72.6 rushing yards; 0.4 rushing touchdowns per game), allowing Lamar a sky-high floor on a weekly basis.

But his ceiling could be fully unlocked in a mouth-watering home date with the Washington Commanders.

Washington has surrendered the seventh-most FD points to opposing quarterbacks entering Week 5. They’re 28th in schedule-adjusted pass defense and 18th in adjusted rush defense.

We’ve grown accustomed to Washington being a defense to target over the last two seasons. But the 2024 Commanders have our top schedule-adjusted offense, and that’s allowed them to push opposing offenses and prevent them from taking their foot off the gas in high-scoring matchups.

That’s what we’re expecting this week, too. This Commanders-Baltimore Ravens game has the main slate’s second highest over/under, all the way up at 51.5.

And while a relatively lopsided spread (Ravens -6.5) may raise some concerns about this game’s viability, it’s worth noting that Washington is 4-1 against the spread this season. Baltimore is 3-2.

Consequently, we could easily see the Commanders push Lamar and the Ravens. And considering Baltimore’s own defensive struggles (25th in schedule-adjusted defense), a high-scoring, back-and-forth affair is more than in the range of outcomes for Sunday.

That makes Lamar the clear QB1 this week, even at this salary. Our NFL DFS projections peg him for a slate-best 24.3 FD points, and there’s just no one else with his combination of floor and ceiling in this matchup.

Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons

FanDuel Salary: ($8,500)

Bijan Robinson hasn't had quiet the season we were expecting prior to the year, but his utilization has been rock-solid. Entering Week 6, Robinson is averaging 21 adjusted opportunities (carries plus 2x targets) per game, running a route on 58.7% of dropbacks, and seeing an opportunity (rush attempt or target) on 32.3% of the Atlanta Falcons' red zone plays.

But he's scored only 1 touchdown and has yet to exceed 15 FD points in a single game. That hasn't impacted his DFS salary much on FanDuel, but it could result in a lower roster rate than expected for a player of his caliber.

Still, we know the talent is there -- and it's hard to ignore how good this week's matchup is.

Week 6 sends Bijan's Falcons to the road to take on the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers have surrendered the most FD points to opposing running backs, and they're 21st in schedule-adjusted run defense. Against running backs, Carolina has permitted a league-high nine rushing touchdowns as well as the fifth-most FD points per target in the passing game. That helped Chase Brown and D'Andre Swift both clear 20 FD points against them the last two weeks, so it wouldn't be at all surprising if Bijan had a breakout game in this matchup.

It doesn't hurt that Atlanta is tied for the third-highest implied total on the slate (26.5 points), nor that Carolina has a pair of low-salary bring-back options at wide receiver in Diontae Johnson ($6,900) and Xavier Legette ($5,900).

CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys

FanDuel Salary: ($9,300)

CeeDee Lamb has more games with single-digit FD points (2) than 20+ FD points (1), and he's coming off a mild 11.1-point outing in Week 5. Even so, he's second highest-salaried receiver on the main slate.

But I'm still interested, primarily because of this *chef's kiss* game environment.

Sunday's Detroit Lions-Dallas Cowboys matchup features the slate's highest over/under (52.5) to go along with a tight spread (Lions -3). It's far and away the fastest-projected game by adjusted pace, and Dallas' spotty defense (24th in adjusted defense) could force their offense to chase a lead against Detroit's relentless attack (4th in adjusted offense).

That could result in a busy afternoon for CeeDee Lamb.

Sure, this season's 21% target share is several ticks lower than you'd expect from a receiver of his caliber, but he's still seen 7+ targets in every game and averaged 2.11 yards per route run on the season.

We know there's upside with Lamb, even if we haven't seen it yet this season. That could finally come to fruition this week considering the stellar game environment and Detroit's spotty track record against opposing wide receivers. They've surrendered the highest target rate and sixth-most yards per route run to the position while opposing offenses have posted a positive pass rate over expectation in three of four games.

We project Lamb for 17.5 FD points, the highest projection among all main slate receivers by nearly 3 points.

Trey McBride, TE, Arizona Cardinals

FanDuel Salary: ($6,500)

Trey McBride's usage suggests he's on the cusp of a breakout, and his Week 6 matchup points to that coming this week.

McBride has seen at least a 28% target share in three of four games this season, and he leads the position in total targets per game (7.5). He's yet to catch a receiving touchdown despite a 25% red zone target share, but a healthy 47.5-point over/under hints at ample scoring chances for the Arizona Cardinals.

We could see McBride be the beneficiary of that given the Green Bay Packers' struggles against tight ends. The Packers have allowed the fourth-highest target rate and ninth-highest target rate to the position. At the same time, they've permitted below-average target and catch rates to wide receivers.

Green Bay has performed as a sizable pass funnel, too. Two of their five opponents have single-game pass rates over expectation north of 9%, and only one foe has passed below a -3% rate over expectation. With the Packers headed into the weekend as 4.5-point favorites, there's a chance we see a more pass-heavy script from a Cardinals offense that's cleared 30 pass attempts only twice this season.

Given McBride's gaudy target share, he would stand to benefit from such a script. At the most volatile position in DFS, I'm happy to chase the targets with McBride this week.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.