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. Saints (Monday Night Football)
FanDuel Optimal Lineup (GPP)
| POS | PLAYER | PROJ. PTS | SALARY |
| 1.5x | L. Jackson BAL @ NO |
42.3 | $17,000 |
| FLEX | A. Kamara BAL @ NO |
23.6 | $15,500 |
| FLEX | T. Hill BAL @ NO |
16.4 | $10,500 |
| FLEX | K. Drake BAL @ NO |
13.9 | $9,000 |
| FLEX | I. Likely BAL @ NO |
11.6 | $7,500 |
| Totals | 107.7 | $59,500 |
Notes
It’s worth paying up for Lamar Jackson and Alvin Kamara in most lineups tonight, so I’ll start with that here. Isaiah Likely is more affordable than he should be because of the Mark Andrews injury, so he’ll be a lineup builder. Kenyan Drake is similarly affordable because of the Gus Edwards situation. And then Taysom Hill is our wild card upside play. Pretty standard lineup, but one I like for GPP on FanDuel tonight.
DraftKings Optimal Lineup (GPP)
| POS | PLAYER | PROJ. PTS | SALARY |
| CPT | L. Jackson BAL @ NO |
42.3 | $18,600 |
| FLEX | K. Drake BAL @ NO |
16.7 | $7,200 |
| FLEX | D. Duvernay BAL @ NO |
14.9 | $6,800 |
| FLEX | I. Likely BAL @ NO |
14.1 | $5,800 |
| FLEX | Baltimore (BAL) BAL @ NO |
12.6 | $4,800 |
| FLEX | T. Hill BAL @ NO |
17.7 | $6,400 |
| Totals | 118.2 | $49,600 |
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.
No Kamara in this lineup stings a little, but it’s a worthwhile gamble to take a swing at some Ravens upside. We get the Devin Duvernay and Taysom Hill dart throws, and the very affordable upside of Isaiah Likely for just $5,800 on DK.
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Yahoo Optimal Lineup (GPP)
| POS | PLAYER | PROJ. PTS | SALARY |
| 1.5x | L. Jackson BAL @ NO |
42.3 | $35 |
| FLEX | A. Kamara BAL @ NO |
23.6 | $27 |
| FLEX | A. Dalton BAL @ NO |
20.4 | $25 |
| FLEX | K. Drake BAL @ NO |
13.9 | $16 |
| FLEX | I. Likely BAL @ NO |
11.6 | $10 |
| Totals | 111.7 | $113 |
Notes
Taysom Hill is more expensive than Kenyan Drake on Yahoo tonight, so I went with the solid floor in Drake with J.K. Dobbins out and Gus Edwards expected to miss the game, as well. We include Andy Dalton here because, as has been the case in previous weeks, Yahoo makes it affordable enough to include two QBs without making you reach too far elsewhere. Likely is once again affordable thanks to the pricing being locked in before we knew Mark Andrews would be out.
OwnersBox Optimal Lineup (GPP)
| POS | PLAYER | PROJ. PTS | SALARY |
| QB | A. Dalton BAL @ NO |
20.4 | $6,400 |
| RB | K. Drake BAL @ NO |
16.7 | $4,600 |
| RB | A. Kamara BAL @ NO |
27.0 | $6,200 |
| WR | T. Smith BAL @ NO |
11.0 | $4,300 |
| WR | D. Duvernay BAL @ NO |
14.9 | $5,300 |
| TE | T. Hill BAL @ NO |
17.7 | $4,900 |
| FLEX | C. Olave BAL @ NO |
19.6 | $5,900 |
| FLEX | I. Likely BAL @ NO |
14.1 | $4,200 |
| SF | L. Jackson BAL @ NO |
28.2 | $7,200 |
| Totals | 169.5 | $49,000 |
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.
Most of the others were already mentioned, but we finally get Chris Olave into a lineup. Tre’Quan Smith is a WR dart throw, and Likely is once again extremely affordable.
Lineup Builders
Alvin Kamara (RB – NO): Expensive, but probably worth it on most platforms. It’s just tough squeezing Kamara AND Jackson into your lineup without gambling too much elsewhere.
Devin Duvernay (WR – BAL): Would be a dart throw most weeks, but the Rashod Bateman injury bumps him up.
Dart Throws
Taysom Hill (TE – NO): Hill is the definition of a dart throw.
DeSean Jackson (WR – BAL): I didn’t get him into any of the above lineups, but Jackson is essentially free on most sites this week. He probably won’t play full-time snaps, but his big-play ability makes him a solid dart throw candidate in GPP contests. He is the kind of player I will use in a Lamar Jackson and Alvin Kamara lineup since the savings helps me fill out the rest of the lineup.
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.