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 Falcons vs. Panthers (Thursday Night Football, Week 10)
FanDuel Optimal Lineup (GPP)
| POS | PLAYER | PROJ. PTS | SALARY |
| 1.5x | M. Mariota ATL @ CAR |
34.0 | $17,000 |
| FLEX | T. Allgeier ATL @ CAR |
10.9 | $10,000 |
| FLEX | D. Foreman ATL @ CAR |
14.4 | $11,000 |
| FLEX | K. Pitts ATL @ CAR |
8.8 | $8,500 |
| FLEX | D. Moore ATL @ CAR |
14.9 | $12,000 |
| Totals | 83.0 | $58,500 |
Notes
This is an interesting game in that you’ll see a ton of lineups without either QB in the MVP/Captain slot. The Atlanta passing game is unpredictable, so you’re really banking on Marcus Mariota‘s legs as much as anything else. On the Carolina side, PJ Walker isn’t even a lock to finish the game after being benched last week.
Cordarrelle Patterson is the better running back to roster, but he costs $14K on FanDuel. I’m rolling the dice on Tyler Allgeier for $10K so that I can afford D’Onta Foreman, Kyle Pitts, and D.J. Moore in the same lineup. Even with Patterson back last week, Allgeier carried the ball 10 times for 99 yards and caught one pass for 24 yards.
DraftKings Optimal Lineup (GPP)
| POS | PLAYER | PROJ. PTS | SALARY |
| CPT | D. Moore ATL @ CAR |
22.6 | $13,800 |
| FLEX | M. Mariota ATL @ CAR |
16.7 | $10,200 |
| FLEX | D. Foreman ATL @ CAR |
10.8 | $7,800 |
| FLEX | K. Pitts ATL @ CAR |
9.7 | $7,000 |
| FLEX | T. Allgeier ATL @ CAR |
8.0 | $6,200 |
| FLEX | Y. Koo ATL @ CAR |
7.9 | $4,200 |
| Totals | 75.7 | $49,200 |
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.
D.J. Moore in the captain slot is a bit of a contrarian play, but it could work out if 1. The Panthers fall behind early, and 2. P.J. Walker isn’t the only QB to play for the Panthers tonight. That’s a scenario where Moore could put up big numbers without necessarily dragging a QB along for the ride. Pitts is priced low enough to be a lineup builder tonight.
Yahoo Optimal Lineup (GPP)
| POS | PLAYER | PROJ. PTS | SALARY |
| 1.5x | C. Patterson ATL @ CAR |
23.8 | $23 |
| FLEX | M. Mariota ATL @ CAR |
22.7 | $29 |
| FLEX | D. Moore ATL @ CAR |
14.9 | $22 |
| FLEX | D. Foreman ATL @ CAR |
14.4 | $19 |
| FLEX | Atlanta (ATL) ATL @ CAR |
10.2 | $12 |
| Totals | 86.0 | $105 |
Notes
We finally get Cordarrelle Patterson into a lineup, and we pair him with Mariota and the Atlanta defense. On the Carolina side, we’re starting D’Onta Foreman and D.J. Moore. Again, this works out best if P.J. Walker ends up getting benched.
Lineup Builders
Cordarrelle Patterson (RB – ATL)
Dart Throws
Because of the prices and these offenses, there aren’t dart throws that I like across the board. Here are two I’m trying in deeper contests based on pricing.
Terrace Marshall Jr. (WR – CAR)
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.
