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 Ravens vs. Steelers.
NFL Wild Card Round DFS Picks & Predictions: Ravens vs. Steelers
Spread/Total: BAL -9.5/43.5 Points
- Main slate / Classic contest picks: Derrick Henry, Rashod Bateman, Mark Andrews, BAL DST, Isaiah Likely
- Top shelf showdown captains: Derrick Henry, Lamar Jackson
- Contrarian / Secondary showdown captains: Rashod Bateman, Mark Andrews
- Flex showdown only: BAL DST, Justin Tucker, Isaiah Likely, Russell Wilson, Jaylen Warren, Pat Freiermuth, Calvin Austin, Mike Williams, Darnell Washington
The Steelers have an implied total of 17.0 points and scored two touchdowns in two games against the Ravens in the regular season. Their offense is unserious. Lamar Jackson has had lackluster results, putting it mildly, against Mike Tomlin and the Steelers in his career, and Zay Flowers is trending toward an absence this week. Jackson’s obviously still an appealing pick in showdown contests, but Derrick Henry is the most appealing piece of the offense in classic contests.
The Ravens had a 52% situation-neutral rush rate in their final eight games of the regular season, and as commanding betting favorites, they’ll likely be in a positive game script as well. King Henry had an excellent regular season, ranking second in rushing yards per game (113.0) and tying for the most rushing touchdowns (16). He can still handle a hefty workload and steamroll a defense he ran over for 162 rushing yards in Week 16.
Rashod Bateman had a breakout campaign and could have a more robust role without Flowers. He has the big-play ability to make the most of a low volume of targets, too. Mark Andrews is Baltimore’s most exciting passing-game weapon, though. After a slow start through the first five weeks of the season, Andrews flipped the switch. Since Week 6, Andrews had 0.24 targets per route run, 45 receptions (3.8 receptions per game), 553 receiving yards (46.1 per game), 2.37 yards per route run and 11 touchdowns.
Isaiah Likely has also popped up for DFS-friendly showings this year. Furthermore, he could be tasked with more playing time and targets if Flowers is inactive.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
