Daily Fantasy Contests require a different strategy than what you use to set your weekly lineups, and that’s even more true for these “island” or “standalone” games (Thursday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, etc.). In these contests, you typically have only a handful of lineup spots and players from just two teams to choose from. If you want to win money (or at least win “big” money in GPP contests), you have to be savvy and take some risks.
I’ll walk you through the current optimal lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings via our DFS Lineup Optimizer and share some of my notes and strategies for this particular matchup. Note: these are the current optimal lineups. For updated lineups based on adjusted projections throughout the day, be sure to access the DFS Lineup Optimizer tool.
If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup, based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant – that allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and by how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.
Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher with questions or feedback anytime.
Optimal Lineups for Monday Night Football (Broncos vs. Chargers)
FanDuel Optimal Lineup (GPP)
| POS | PLAYER | PROJ. PTS | SALARY |
| 1.5x | J. Herbert DEN @ LAC |
40.6 | $17,000 |
| FLEX | R. Wilson DEN @ LAC |
22.2 | $15,000 |
| FLEX | M. Gordon III Q DEN @ LAC |
15.2 | $12,000 |
| FLEX | J. Palmer DEN @ LAC |
10.4 | $8,500 |
| FLEX | M. Boone DEN @ LAC |
9.5 | $7,500 |
| Totals | 97.9 | $60,000 |
Notes
I don’t love paying up for Russell Wilson at that price, but it makes sense in this format. I roll the dice by not rostering an expensive Austin Ekeler ($15,500) in order to squeeze in both QBs, and I fill out the roster with Mike Boone and Joshua Palmer to go with Melvin Gordon. This is obviously a very script-specific lineup that needs the Broncos to spread the ball around and have both RBs score, so it’s better as a GPP than a CASH lineup. Another route to take here is to include Jerry Jeudy ($11,000) in place of Gordon.
DraftKings Optimal Lineup (GPP)
| POS | PLAYER | PROJ. PTS | SALARY |
| CPT | A. Ekeler DEN @ LAC |
39.9 | $17,100 |
| FLEX | R. Wilson DEN @ LAC |
22.2 | $10,000 |
| FLEX | J. Herbert DEN @ LAC |
27.1 | $11,000 |
| FLEX | G. Everett DEN @ LAC |
13.1 | $5,600 |
| FLEX | Denver (DEN) DEN @ LAC |
11.0 | $3,400 |
| FLEX | D. Carter DEN @ LAC |
8.3 | $2,600 |
| Totals | 121.4 | $49,700 |
Notes
DraftKings makes you declare two players before it lets our lineup optimizer provide your best lineup. So, unlike FanDuel, this lineup won’t be universal because it depends on your initial choices.
I locked in both QBs, but the optimizer put Austin Ekeler into the Captain slot on DK anyway. Ekeler is the most expensive player on DK in this slate, and we have him projected for just under 40 points with the Captain multiplier. Gerald Everett and the Denver defense are our lineup builders here, while DeAndre Carter is our dart throw. This is assuming that Keenan Allen is not playing.
Yahoo Optimal Lineup (GPP)
| POS | PLAYER | PROJ. PTS | SALARY |
| 1.5x | J. Herbert DEN @ LAC |
40.6 | $32 |
| FLEX | A. Ekeler DEN @ LAC |
22.9 | $32 |
| FLEX | M. Williams DEN @ LAC |
18.1 | $21 |
| FLEX | C. Sutton DEN @ LAC |
15.5 | $17 |
| FLEX | J. Palmer DEN @ LAC |
10.4 | $11 |
| Totals | 107.5 | $113 |
Notes
We’re loading up on the Los Angeles offense here, stacking Palmer and Mike Williams with Justin Herbert while also rostering Ekeler. Courtland Sutton is the only member of the Broncos here. With Keenan Allen expected to be out, Joshua Palmer at $11 is a lineup builder priced closer to a dart throw. This lineup should work for both Cash and GPP.
OwnersBox Optimal Lineup (GPP)
| POS | PLAYER | PROJ. PTS | SALARY |
| QB | R. Wilson DEN @ LAC |
17.6 | $6,600 |
| RB | A. Ekeler DEN @ LAC |
20.3 | $6,300 |
| RB | M. Boone DEN @ LAC |
8.1 | $4,600 |
| WR | M. Williams DEN @ LAC |
16.4 | $6,000 |
| WR | C. Sutton DEN @ LAC |
15.6 | $6,200 |
| TE | G. Everett DEN @ LAC |
9.8 | $4,800 |
| FLEX | J. Palmer DEN @ LAC |
10.0 | $5,200 |
| FLEX | G. Dulcich DEN @ LAC |
2.3 | $3,500 |
| SF | J. Herbert DEN @ LAC |
19.4 | $6,800 |
| Totals | 119.4 | $50,000 |
Notes
Unlike the other platforms, OwnersBox still uses full lineups for island games. So, this lineup will be different from the others, and you are almost forced to use a couple of dart throws in order to affordably build your lineup. OwnersBox also defines the positions and includes a superflex slot, as opposed to the MVP/Flex setup.
If Greg Dulcich is active tonight, I absolutely love this lineup at OwnersBox. The optimizer managed to include all of my lineup builders, and Dulcich is a nice dart throw as long as he is back tonight. This should work for Cash and GPP and is definitely a lineup I’ll be using tonight.
Lineup Builders
Joshua Palmer (WR – LAC)
Mike Boone (RB – DEN)
Dart Throws
Greg Dulcich (TE – DEN): Just need to confirm he’ll be active. He may not play a ton, but we only really need red zone targets for our TE dart throw.
DeAndre Carter (WR – LAC)
Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher with questions or feedback anytime.
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If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant, which allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.