The 2016 NFL Playoffs are upon us and it all begins with Wild Card Weekend. There are two games each day. Saturday will see the Chiefs visit the Texans followed by the Steelers playing the Bengals. Sunday starts with the Seahawks against the Vikings and ends with the Packers traveling to the Redskins.
The nice thing about daily fantasy football during the playoffs is for the most part they are all decent teams. The only offense I really don’t see having a chance to score a ton of points is Minnesota. Houston may have trouble with a good KC defense, but they have the advantage playing at home. Honestly I could see any of the 5 teams throwing 30+ points up. What that means for our DraftKings lineup is, while in general we want to safely cross the 150 point mark and cash in the 50/50’s, a lineup you feel good about can also climb the standings in a cash tourney.
There are approximately zero running back matchups I like for one reason or another, whether it be health, run defense, projections of playing from behind, weather forecast, etc. That’s the category I plan on saving salary in, plus I don’t mind the bottom half of the quarterback options either. We should be able to start top-tier receivers along with Reed or Eifert and have enough money for the defense of our choice as well.
I’m building my lineup from the tight end out this week. If you go with Reed, I like stacking Cousins with him. The Skins are averaging almost 33 points over their last 4 games and play well at home (6-2). Adding another Washington receiver gets risky with Jackson the likely candidate, but he has serious boom or bust trends. It could pay off though.
If you think Eifert is the better play, I’d lean towards the Hoyer/Hopkins stack. You’ll spend $13,800 on the stack and save $1300 on TE over Reed. Plenty of room to add an Antonio Brown or A.J. Green, and you’ll be sitting on 3 elite receiving targets with massive ceilings.
Check out our lineup below and let us know if you think there is a better matchup out there that we missed:
DraftKings NFL Playoffs Lineup Wild Card Weekend – Main Event
| Position | Name | Team | Salary | Projections |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Kirk Cousins | GB @ Wsh | 5900 | The Redskins were 6-2 at home and over his last 6 home games Cousins is averaging 27.5 FPP. The Skins could easily throw 30+ on a fading Packer team. |
| RB | James Starks | GB @ Wsh | 3600 | Starks has value in a game that should be fast-paced. 8 times he had 3 or more receptions. Aside from week 1 and week 16's drubbing by Arizona, Starks had at least 5 carries. If Lacy starts dancing and twirling around like he weighs 100 lbs. less than he actually does, McCarthy could switch to the one-cut, north/south style of Starks. |
| RB | Giovani Bernard | Pit @ Cin | 4000 | I don't like the RB matchups, but if I had to pick the one I hate least, it's Bernard for the money. Only 5 times did he not have multiple receptions. I like a handful of checkdowns from McCarron for Gio. Just get us 10 FPP and I'm good. |
| WR | Antonio Brown | Pit @ Cin | 9600 | Along with GB/WSH, this has the highest projected total. Can we afford to not throw him in the lineup? He has the highest ceiling out there. |
| WR | DeAndre Hopkins | Hou @ KC | 8400 | 4 different QBs this year yet only twice was he held to single digit FPP. He seems to always get his and Hoyer under center has worked for DAH. |
| WR | DeSean Jackson | GB @ Wsh | 4500 | Obviously we need a score to make this payoff, but I don't trust GB to get pressure on Cousins so the potential for a long one is there. Plus the price is right. |
| TE | Jordan Reed | GB @ Wsh | 6300 | Being healthy agrees with Reed. Before a meaningless game in Dallas, he averaged 31 FPP over 3 games. If GB gives Cousins time in the pocket, Reed could go off. |
| FLEX | Albert Wilson | KC @ Hou | 3500 | Really just a punt here, but if Houston aims to take away a resurgent Maclin, Wilson could be the beneficiary. Especially with Kelce a little banged up. |
| DST | Seattle | Sea @ Min | 4100 | The weather isn't supposed to be great and AP left his last game early. We saved enough money to go top shelf with the defense. |
| Total | 49900 |
As always, check the injury report before kickoff. Good luck in your DraftKings 50/50’s and cash tournaments!
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