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. Just as importantly, everyone else playing in those contests is also choosing from those limited options. 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, DraftKings, Yahoo and OwnersBox via our DFS Lineup Optimizer and share some of my notes and strategies for this particular matchup. Note: these are the current optimal lineups, and I sometimes take some liberties based on recent news and my personal preferences and projections. For updated lineups based on adjusted projections throughout the day, be sure to access the DFS Lineup Optimizer tool and create your own lineups.

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 Ravens vs. Buccaneers (Thursday Night Football)

Notes

Even in GPP contests, we’re going to be starting both quarterbacks in the majority of lineups tonight. We’re skipping Mike Evans here for the more affordable Chris Godwin, which is something we’ll lean into on the other platforms as well. Is Evans the better WR? Sure. But the price difference doesn’t justify paying up for Evans, given that Godwin has a similar ceiling. We’re saving $1,500 here on FanDuel by going with Godwin over Evans. The dart throws here are Julio Jones and Rachaad White. We all know Jones’s upside, but he has just four receptions for 76 yards and no touchdowns in the two games he’s played this season. Luckily, his price reflects that. So, let’s roll the dice and see if we get some vintage Julio tonight. As for White, he has been carving out a larger role in the offense. On a short week, I like his upside.

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.

DraftKings is the hardest of the four platforms as far as pricing and lineups go tonight. Everyone feels appropriately priced, and it was difficult to find advantages even when leaning on the optimizer. Rather than paying up for multiple premium players and tossing in one longshot dart throw, we’re taking both quarterbacks and then trying to stretch the rest of our available salary cap. We have Devin Duvernay as our dart throw, Kenyan Drake as a mid-range lineup builder who could see more work tonight than he saw last week, Rashod Bateman as another solid lineup builder, and then Justin Tucker for what should hopefully be double-digit points. I don’t love this lineup, but this is what I landed on as what I think could be a contrarian money-maker in GPP tonight.

Yahoo Optimal Lineup (GPP)

Notes

Tom Brady and Mike Evans stack, plus Lamar Jackson. For the other two spots, we’re going with the same Rashod Bateman and Kenyan Drake play. Yahoo is more forgiving with their pricing, so I’ll likely play around with a Godwin-for-Evans swap to see what else that allows me to afford. This is my top play for tonight, though.

OwnersBox Optimal Lineup (GPP)

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.

OwnersBox is the first platform that allowed us to afford Leonard Fournette, though the larger lineup helps. The only new name here is Cade Otton, who has seen his role gradually increase over the last few weeks and caught four of his five targets for 64 yards last week. Cameron Brate is out again, so we should continue to see Otton tonight.

Lineup Builders

Rashod Bateman (WR – BAL) – An affordable WR1 is always a lineup builder, even with injury concerns and a run-first offense.

Lamar Jackson (QB – BAL)

Tom Brady (QB – TB)

Dart Throws

Devin Duvernay (WR – BAL) – Duvernay is the definition of a DFS dart throw. Inconsistent production but has big-play ability and can take the top off a defense at any moment.

Julio Jones (WR – TB) – You could make the argument that Jones should be a lineup builder, but that implies he should be in most of our lineups tonight. I don’t think he should. He’s priced low enough on most of the platforms to be a dart throw, and his lack of production/health this season means we can’t rely on him and don’t want too much exposure.

Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher with questions or feedback anytime.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio

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.