Mike’s Player Grid 18.23

Mike Johnson (MJohnson86) has racked up nearly $500,000 in DFS profit as an NFL tournament player with success in all styles of contests

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Welcome back to my (Mjohnson86) Player Grid. The format will vary slightly from JM’s Player Grid, as we each see things slightly differently and play in slightly different contests, but should complement his thoughts and content very well for those looking to build their lineups for the week. The format of this article will likely evolve as the season progresses but should provide a lot of value. Enjoy!!

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The Core

This is a list of players that stand out to me at each position from using my “Checking the Boxes” criteria outlined in my Checking The Boxes course. This list is a starting point, from which I build out lineups using game theory and roster construction concepts (which we will also touch on) with the mindset being to find the best plays with big ceilings. Low ownership is a bonus, but not a must. This section will focus primarily on three positions – running back, tight end, and defense – as the other two positions (quarterback and wide receiver) tend to have more dependent tendencies which I try to attack from other angles (which we will get into in the other sections). I like all of these plays on all sites, unless otherwise noted:

Running Back ::

Obviously, keep an eye on the reports and inactives Saturday night into Sunday for these games, as things can change quickly if certain players are ruled out or significantly have their roles reduced. 

Tier 1

• Pierre Strong – I have always considered Strong a talented back and he has solid receiving ability as well. The Bengals have been a great matchup for opposing RBs this season and Strong should be the featured back for most of the game with Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt likely to be protected. Strong is min-priced on Draftkings and close to it on Fanduel.
• Aaron Jones – The matchup isn’t perfect on the ground, as Chicago has a very good run defense, but Jones should easily see 20 touches this week with AJ Dillon out and the Bears have given up a lot of production to RBs in the receiving game. 
• Zamir White – The Raiders are giving White a massive workload right now and the matchup doesn’t get much better on paper.

tier 2

• James Conner – The Cardinals have been willing to ride Conner and are playing extremely well right now. The Seahawks run defense has been getting destroyed lately and the matchup can’t be much better.
• Austin Ekeler – Ekeler is likely leaving the Chargers after the season but he has been used as the feature back even these last two weeks while they’ve been eliminated. Now he faces a KC defense that is schematically easier to run on than throw and that should be resting some key pieces. Ekeler has a contract incentive for 110 total yards this week and I feel like there’s a good chance he gets there.
• Rachaad White – Elite matchup in a must-win game for the Bucs. The Tampa Bay offense is relatively condensed between Godwin, Evans, and White and this week’s matchup gives White the clearest path to a big game. His salary is a little higher than I’d prefer, but considering all the value available on the slate, I’m willing to take that on as White is a good bet for 18+ Draftkings points this week. The biggest concern here would be if Tampa gets a big lead, they could preserve White for next week’s playoff game, but White would have probably put up a decent game already if they get to that point.
• Bijan Robinson – Here we go again. Bijan had one of his best games of the year against the Saints earlier this season and playing in a dome with the season on the line. It wouldn’t be surprising for Bijan to finally live up to his preseason hype in this spot.

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