The NFL’s Wild Card Round is upon us. While there are fewer games on the playoff slate than a standard regular season slate, the following article should look slightly familiar since it’s essentially the love child of my weekly DFS picks and predictions and the cheat sheet.
The goal is to provide readers from all DFS circles with helpful information. Whether you’re entering one lineup at your favorite DFS outlet or entering the maximum number of lineups in classic contests and showdown contests, the following will take a broad view of team tendencies, strengths and weaknesses. The suggested players were curated with gamers entering a modest number of contests in mind, albeit with some deeper contrarian suggestions as well.
Here are of our NFL DFS Wild Card Round Picks & Predictions. Below we dive into our top NFL DFS Wild Card Round picks and lineup advice for Eagles vs. Packers.
NFL Wild Card Round DFS Picks & Predictions: Eagles vs. Packers
Spread/Total: PHI -4.5/45.5 Points
- Main slate / Classic contest picks: Saquon Barkley, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks
- Top shelf showdown captain: Saquon Barkley
- Contrarian / Secondary showdown captains: Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, Josh Jacobs, Jordan Love
- Flex showdown only: DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, Jake Elliott, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, Tucker Kraft, Brandon McManus, Luke Musgrave, Bo Melton
Since Week 10, the Packers had the highest situation-neutral rush rate (56%), and the Eagles had the fifth-highest (50%). So, there’s a high probability the clock will be running most of the game, and the play volume could be low for one or both teams if the clock is continuously ticking. Jalen Hurts could also be rusty in his return from a concussion, assuming he clears the NFL’s concussion protocol. Hurts and Philadelphia’s passing-game options are appealing only in showdown contests.
Green Bay’s run defense stiffened up at the end of the year, but Saquon Barkley is a matchup-proof workhorse. Barkley thrived behind Philadelphia’s bulldozing offensive line, rushing for an NFL-high 2,005 yards (125.3 per game) and 13 touchdowns. He also has pass-catching chops, and the Packers faced an NFL-high 21.1% of targets to running backs from Week 10 through Week 18.
During that period, the Eagles faced the fifth-highest rate of targets (35.8%) to the slot. Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks are the most likely of Green Bay’s top wideouts to align there. Reed had a team-high 76.2% slot rate this year, and Wicks’s 32.5% was much higher than Romeo Doubs‘s 13.0%. Christian Watson also had a 28.6% slot rate and is out with a torn ACL. Reed and Wicks should benefit from Watson’s absence with increased target volume.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
