You might be kicking yourself for never seeming to land in the money in your daily fantasy football contests. DFS football contests, especially big money tournaments, can be a competitive challenge. However, there are some tips and suggestions to help you bump your scores up the standings ladder. Here are five DFS football strategies to improve your lineups.
1. Target Players with Strong Situational Matchups
Targeting the situational matchups doesn’t always mean picking players matched against a poorly rated defense. A wide receiver, for instance, may be looking at one of the worst pass defenses collectively in the league.
However, as the WR1, he may be staring at the defense’s only strength, a blanketing cover corner. Situational matchups are ways to avoid wasting salary on a high-priced underperformer, but they’re best for sneaking in those sneaky sleepers. Here are a few tips on getting the most out situational matchups.
- Bad Defense – Sure, you want to make certain your WR isn’t matched up against a solid cover-corner all day, but bad run and pass defenses usually provide consistency; consistently poor performances.
- Injuries – Inactive reports are important to building DFS football lineups. However, too many players scan over the inactive offensive players only. Dig deeper into this list of players, and find those who will be in street clothes from the defensive side of the ball.
Often a team will be without a top-flight defender. In these games you can target wide receivers for potentially strong situational matchups. Injury situations on defense can benefit not only wide receivers, but quarterback and running back performance as well.
- History – History can get you in trouble, but it’s also a good sign of a player’s possible floor. There are just certain players who do well against certain teams, or certain players. The other side of the coin is true as well. Sometimes players grossly underperform in certain matchups.
Build Yourself a DFS Toolbox
Yes, you read that correctly. You want to develop a number of tools you utilize to build your DFS football lineup cards. Here a few tools you can put in your DFS football toolbox, information and suggestions that can help you build stronger lineups and save time.
- Listen to the DFS Experts – Your DFS toolbox can include a collection of shows or podcasts you watch every week to get inside information. Get at least one you find both credible and enjoyable to watch. There are literally hundreds of so-called expert bloggers who will eagerly provide you with their “best advice”.
One thing you should keep in mind, no one is right all the time. As for fantasy shows, podcasts, and blogs, diversity is the key. If you discover a particular player mentioned collectively across the board, you should push him up in your own rankings.
- Invest in a Good Statistics Analyzer – There are a number of free places to find all kinds of statistical information. You can dig deep into some of these and build your own unique spreadsheet to categorize player performance.
Or, you can find sites that require a nominal fee to load things like player matchup ratings and lineup optimizers. One thing to keep in mind, unless you’re in a beginner contest, there are going to be knowledgeable players matched against you.
A fair percentage of your competition is going to use everything from lineup optimization software to algorithms to pinpoint the best player performances. If you don’t use the tools available, you may find you’re always on the outside looking in at the prize pool.
When it comes to building a good DFS toolbox, remember, the trick is diversity. Get a feel for a few expert opinions and different types of statistical analysis until you find ones you like, and that are more consistently successful. As your DFS experience grows, so too will the tools in your DFS toolbox.
Get the Most for Your Salary Buck
Nearly every DFS contest is going to operate with a salary cap. You are going to need to fill every position using this predetermined amount of fictional money. If you’re a beginner at DFS football, or any sport for that matter, it won’t take you long to figure out you can’t just load up and lineup of superstars.
You are going to need value players. But, how do you know which ones to use? This is where you’ll jump back to studying situational matchups and putting your DFS toolbox to good use.
If finding the right sleepers was easy, every DFS player would have them in their lineup. The truth is, finding value isn’t an exact science. It can require digging a little deeper into statistical information, and when all else fails, going with your strongest hunch.
As you develop a strategy for analyzing strong situational matchups and become comfortable with your DFS tools, you’ll discover that your lineups are getting increasing value out of your sleepers.
The DFS Football Stack
This is one of the oldest, and if done correctly, one of the most successful DFS football strategies. Stacking involves pegging a starting quarterback with other team members on his offense. The most common stacks usually involve this QB and any number of his WRs.
If the team’s running back is a big part of the passing game, don’t shy away from sticking them in as well. Tight ends are the other part of this equation. As you drift back to your situational analysis, look for injuries on the defensive side of the ball, plug in some stats, you may uncover a solid stack.
Getting a value stack takes time and more in depth analysis. Sometimes you can uncover value at the QB spot, plus one or more of the WR and TE positions. When you can accomplish this trick successfully, you can bulk up your final point total applying high salaries to highly projected performers.
Don’t Forget the Oddsmakers Analysis
It’s a fact; touchdowns produce points in fantasy football. Have the right touchdown-makers on your lineup card will help improve your score. Now, this may sound like nothing more than good DFS common sense. But, how do you know which games will produce the most TDs?
This is where the boys in Vegas come in to help. Look at the odds for every game. The oddsmakers are good at what they do, so use their projections when building your DFS football lineups. Especially look at the over/under for each game.
Games that project to have a high number of points scored can be games to target players for your lineup. Using the odds can help you decide between two players who your rank closely. It can also help you pinpoint high volume running back.
If the over/under is high, but so too is the point spread, there may be strong possibility the running back on the winning team will get more carries as the game gets out of hand. Keep in mind; the odds for each game can be used for more than just betting the line. They can also help you build better lineups.
These are five excellent tips to help every DFS football player. They are great for beginners, but can also be helpful in helping push seasoned DFS veteran’s lineups higher in the standings. Besides, the whole objective of DFS football is to first of all have fun, and then to win yourself some cash. Use these tips to help get you a little chunk of those cash prizes.