It will be a tough act to follow last weekend’s sensational Divisional Round games, but we have a pair of Conference Championship tilts on Sunday to determine who moves onto the Super Bowl. From a GPP perspective, two-game slates are challenging to navigate. With so few options, practically every player will carry a fair amount of rostership, so here are a few things to consider when putting together your GPP lineups for Sunday’s two-game slate on DraftKings.
Touchdowns are King
This might be self-explanatory, but touchdowns are game-changing plays in DFS, and they become even more important on a small slate of games like Sunday’s two-gamer. There will probably be about 8-12 touchdowns scored on Sunday, and you want to roster as many of those scores as possible.
Pair players from the same team who score in different ways
Consider this a subsection of “Touchdowns are King” above. Think about where each player is capable of scoring a touchdown from on the field and pair up players that score in different ways from different distances from the end zone. For example, Joe Mixon and C.J. Uzomah are both most likely to score from a short distance in the red zone. So, instead of pairing them together in the same lineup, pair one of them with either Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins, who can score from distance.
Pair popular quarterbacks with secondary receiving options
We saw this play out perfectly last weekend when Gabriel Davis blew up the slate with four touchdowns while coming in with lower rostership than other Bills receiving options. Take a look at this weekend’s games and identify who the secondary receiving options are for each team and which of them could potentially outscore the team’s primary receiver.
Take a stand on uncertain workload distribution
This scenario mostly occurs at running back for a team with multiple options that will potentially split the workload. But we don’t really know what the split will be or if there will even be a split, especially in the win or go home playoffs. This has already been a thing in this postseason with Jerick McKinnon’s emergence in the Chiefs backfield and Cam Akers workload coming off injury for the Rams. Which backfields are a mystery heading into this weekend?
Leave some salary on the table
Let’s end it with another fairly obvious strategy to consider, which is to avoid spending the full salary cap when building your GPP lineups. This not only helps your lineup be more unique, but it may also give your lineup more upside if some of the chalky high-priced options come up short.
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The players below are ones I’m looking at for large-field tournament considerations for the Conference Championships:
Quarterbacks
Matthew Stafford (LAR): $6,300 vs. SF
The AFC matchup between Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow will draw most of the attention, so using Matthew Stafford (or, yes, even Jimmy Garoppolo) is the GPP move to potentially get an edge over the field in a large GPP. Stafford’s salary is just $300 cheaper than Burrow, which could drive his rostership percentage even lower than it should be. Using the Rams passing game is also leverage off Cam Akers, who should be very popular at his salary on DraftKings.
Other notables: Jimmy Garoppolo (SF): $5,400 vs. LAR
Running Backs
Clyde Edwards-Helaire (KC): $5,300 vs. CIN
The Chiefs backfield is the one that falls into the “uncertain workload distribution” scenario from the intro. McKinnon had a big Wild Card game and did out-snap and out-touch Edwards-Helaire in the Divisional Round. Yet, Edwards-Helaire looked good, putting up 69 total yards on just eight touches. McKinnon is cheaper ($5,100) and the expected pass-catcher which should draw far more rostership his way on DraftKings. However, I’ll take my stand with CEH, who I expect will get any goal line carries. #TouchdownsAreKing.
Other notables: Joe Mixon (CIN): $6,800 vs. KC, Eli Mitchell (SF): $5,900 vs. LAR, Sony Michel (LAR): $4,600 vs. SF
Wide Receivers
Odell Beckham (LAR): $5,100 vs. SF
My entire list of wide receivers is the guys to target for each team for the “secondary receiving options” strategy from the intro. For the Rams, I’ll go as far to say that you should have some Stafford stacks that exclude Cooper Kupp (gasp!) and instead use a pair of secondary receiving options. Beckham has been targeted regularly and can fill the “short touchdown” role while pairing him with Van Jefferson to fill the “long touchdown” opportunity.
Byron Pringle (KC): $4,300 vs. KC
Pringle has consistently been the third option in the Chiefs passing game after Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. Pringle has become a favorite red-zone target for Mahomes and has reached double-digit points on DraftKings in four of the last five games. He typically scores from a short distance, so his best touchdown pairing partner would be Hill, who can score from anywhere on the field.
Other notables: Brandon Aiyuk (SF): $5,000 vs. LAR, Tyler Boyd (CIN): $4,200 vs. KC, Van Jefferson (LAR): $3,900 vs. SF
Tight Ends
George Kittle (SF): $5,000 vs. LAR
I have been touting a Kittle breakout game all postseason, but it just hasn’t come yet. I’m hoping he gets lost in the middle of the tight end pricing on DraftKings this weekend between Kelce ($6,500) and Tyler Higbee ($3,700) to help suppress his rostership a little bit. If the 49ers are forced into passing more than they want or if the Rams give too much attention to Deebo Samuel, then Kittle could go off for one of those beast mode games he is capable of. Kittle is automatic in any Jimmy G stacks.
Other notables: Tyler Higbee (LAR): $3,700 vs. SF, Blake Bell (KC): $2,500 vs. CIN
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