In its most boiled-down form, DFS involves identifying the highest-scoring fantasy football players at each position in a given week. With close to 20 playable options at the quarterback and tight end positions, along with even more at running back and wide receiver, it is a feat in itself to identify one position correctly.
To finish at the top of a DFS contest, you must hit on basically all skill positions and circumvent the randomness associated with selecting defenses. Doing all of this while also fitting under the confines of a salary cap makes DFS one of the most difficult setups to beat consistently, especially for large-field tournaments.
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It requires an element of consistency in processes while being able to block out the noise of what the general public continues to preach as the best plays. To help newer players along, this article is focused on highlighting the process I use each week to build my DFS tournament lineups. Let’s walk through each model I use to piece together the best lineups to hopefully finish atop a massive-field guaranteed prize pool (GPP) contest.
DFS GAME STACKS
Stacking is essential to success in DFS GPPs. The average user who submits a handful of entries on any one DFS slate doesn’t stack nearly enough in their lineups. The art of stacking is a way to increase variance, which is the only option that offers enough upside to win a GPP tournament.
The more overlooked approach is the game-level stack, which takes not only a quarterback and pass-catching option but also runs it back with a pass-catcher or running back from the opposing team.
This is the perfect starting point to build a quality DFS lineup. It locks in three to four roster spots and provides the upside correlation necessary to potentially finish atop a contest. The easiest starting point is to check betting spreads and totals for games that have shootout potential, but this is the most simple hurdle to climb.
My approach incorporates spreads and totals along with prior relevant fantasy football performance for each team to project the highest-scoring games on the slate. The top games to stack based on this model are below, along with the options most likely to perform if the game turns into a track meet.
HIGH-ROSTERED OPTION
DALLAS COWBOYS @ L.A. CHARGERS
The Cowboys' defense is hobbling into Los Angeles seemingly expected to miss more key players with each passing day. Edge defender Demarcus Lawrence suffered the latest injury, meaning quarterback Justin Herbert should have all day to drop back Sunday. He most likely won’t need it, with Keenan Allen having a top-10 advantage based on PFF's WR/CB matchup chart. Still, the Herbert bandwagon should be relatively full in Week 2. He is projected to see the second-highest roster percentage among quarterbacks.
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