NFL DFS Wild Card Picks & Predictions (Texans vs. Chargers)

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 Texans vs. Chargers.

NFL Wild Card Round DFS Picks & Predictions: Texans vs. Chargers

Spread/Total: LAC -3.0/42.5 Points

The Chargers are road favorites after playing well to conclude the regular season, and the Texans limped into the postseason despite winning against the hapless Titans in Week 18. Justin Herbert is the triggerman for Los Angeles, and Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman shed their run-first reputation to lean on their rocket-armed quarterback down the stretch.

According to RotoViz’s pace app, the Chargers had a 57% situation-neutral pass rate from Week 10 through Week 18. Conversely, the Texans faced a 58% situation-neutral pass rate in that period. Herbert rewarded Harbaugh’s and Roman’s faith at the close of the regular season, passing for multiple touchdowns in the final four games and eclipsing 280 passing yards in the final three. Herbert has also chipped in as a runner.

Ladd McConkey was a revelation as a rookie. He’s Los Angeles’s top pass-catching weapon. According to the data suite at Fantasy Points, he was first on the Chargers in route participation (81.7%), air yards share (28.5%), target share (22.9%) and first-read percentage (29.0%). McConkey parlayed his juicy underlying data into team highs in receptions per game (5.1) and receiving yards per game (71.8). He also had seven touchdown receptions. Will Dissly was a useful ancillary option, and Derius Davis is a contrarian GPP stacking choice with Herbert after emerging as a useful touchdown-scorer in the final few games. According to Pro Football Reference, Houston was tied for the second-most receiving touchdowns allowed (21) to wide receivers in the regular season.

Diontae Johnson‘s short stint with the Ravens was as forgettable as possible. The Texans welcomed him into the fold because injuries destroyed their receiving corps. The veteran wideout was active for the first time with the Texans last week and had four targets (all first-read targets) on 16 routes.

Johnson could be busy if the Texans maintain their end-of-season play-calling tendencies and expand Johnson’s playing time. Since Week 10, Houston was tied for the second-highest situation-neutral pass rate (64%). On the other side, the Chargers faced a 57% situation-neutral pass rate since Week 10.

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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.