Throughout the regular season, I’ve had a lot of success betting on the NFL. Player props is where I have typically found the most value, as the betting lines for spreads and totals have been very sharp. I am currently limited on every Sportsbook besides FanDuel (huge shoutout to FanDuel), so I’ve been doing more and more DFS this year where I’m not limited.

Disclaimer: this article is going to focus on DraftKings DFS lineups for the NFL divisional round; for those of you who only have FanDuel, feel free to reach out. It is extremely important to note that the lineups I lock in on DraftKings will NOT be the same lineups I lock in on FanDuel, and vise-versa. This is because the 2 platforms have different scoring formats (DraftKings is PPR, FanDuel is 0.5 PPR) and their respective price tags on players are not the same. 

Before I get into the DraftKings DFS lineups I’m going to be rocking with, I just want to explain my philosophy when it comes to DFS just because this is the first DFS-related content I’m posting and I’m aware that a lot of people reading this might not be too familiar with Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) and the strategies that come along with it.

Strategy #1 is very simple: avoid the sweats!!!!

Do not enter 1 or 2 high stakes contests; instead, enter A LOT of low stakes contests: now, it is important to note that the majority of DFS bettors are absolute sweats. However, the casuals who play DFS are going to enter more low stakes tournaments. If I want to wager $300 on one particular lineup, find a $3 contest and enter that lineup 100 times, rather than having 1 $300 entry. This can make a huge difference. I’ve entered high stakes contests before where my lineups surpassed 180 fantasy points and was rewarded $0 for it because of how insane my competition was.  

There are a lot of different contests that you can enter. I break them up into 2 categories: (1) high ceiling, low floor (2) best optimal lineup. It is important to understand that the strategy for each category is drastically different.

 (1)  “High ceiling, low floor.” I run these types of lineups when I enter large tournament pools, and the goal is to be #1 amongst an extremely large pool of people. Being in the top 50% doesn’t mean jack shit!!! To create high ceiling lineups, you have to take advantage of the following strategies: 

1. Stacking: Stacking raises your ceiling and also lowers your floor, but this is a trade off we’re willing to take when trying to have the #1 lineup among thousands of others. Have your lineup tell a story. If I have a lineup with Jared Goff, Amon-Ra, Gibbs, and Jameson Williams, I should not include the Commanders defense because if all of those players hit, the most likely case is that the Commanders defense got absolutely torched. 
2. Use a lineup optimizer for most players but NOT all. Lineup optimizer will tell you which players are the best value for their respective price tags. Some players’ value is just too good to not include in your lineup. I call these players my lineup locks. They are going to be heavily rostered but excluding them from your lineup will just put me at a disadvantage. However, creating a team of only heavily rostered players will likely not get you to #1, even if every player overperforms. We need a secret weapon!!!
3. Find a secret weapon: This is the equivalent of what we call a “league winner” in fantasy football. Using a lineup optimizer and hitting submit is going to give you a great lineup but it is nearly impossible to finish #1 without a secret weapon. This is going to be a player that will not be heavily rostered, preferably under 5%. For example, players who drafted Dymami Brown for pennies last week were heavily rewarded. Even if all other players in their lineup are heavily rostered, if those players perform well Dyami Brown now elevates that lineup from being good to being a contender. 

(2) Highest Projection: This is a simple yet effective strategy for 50/50s and H2H contests. In 50/50 contests, your goal is to finish in the top 50%. If there are 100 people in a 50/50 contest, the top 50 receive an equal price, the bottom 50 receive nothing, and there is no additional reward for finishing in first place. Therefore, there is no advantage to stacking or taking risks. You want the optimal lineup. I personally will use multiple lineup optimizers, and create what you can call an optimal lineup. Oftentimes there are decisions that are extremely close and then I’ll either make a judgement call or just submit multiple lineups.

The Lineups:

Highest projection lineup for H2H and 50/50 contests

Highest upside for tourneys Zaccheaus as my sleeper