Building A Winner 3.25

Tony focuses his DFS play on FanDuel single-entry and 3-max contests. He thrives in unique formats and positional twists, always looking for hidden edges that others overlook

This article is designed to complement Mike’s weekly Fanduel Player Grid and other OWS Fanduel scroll content by giving you my view on the slate from my perspective as a Fanduel player who focuses on smaller-field, SE/3-max types of tournaments. My usual process is to build a handful of unique lineups for these types of contests each slate and a majority of my weekly DFS bankroll is dedicated to them.

As you will see as you go through the article, based on the week at hand, I find what I think is the critical starting point I want to use for my rosters. This could be a certain game environment, a specific position or positional dynamics, extreme chalk pieces, or low-owned stacks that I am interested in. Each week is unique, so the “Starting Point” for each week will be dynamic and the rest of my thoughts will build from there, helping you see how I am building my lineups and allowing you to form your own thoughts.

Starting Point

• With no “extra” primetime games this week, Week 3 provides a massive 13-game FD main slate with nine early kickoffs and four later games. Despite having the most options of the season available, some of the best offenses (including BUF, BAL, and DET) are off the main slate. Some other offenses will be significantly impacted by QB injuries. Even on this huge slate of games, there are only five healthy QBs, seven RBs, and seven WRs priced above $7,500 on FD this week.
• As strange as it may sound, the Bengals at Vikings game with its modest 42.5 implied point total, is one of the key starting points to my process this week based on the pricing of some of the players in this game and the overall dynamics of the Week 3 slate.
  • This game will feature dueling backup QBs with Jake Browning ($6,800) starting for the Bengals and Carson Wentz ($6,000) for the Vikings.
  • With veteran RB Aaron Jones on IR, Vikings RB Jordan Mason ($5,800) is projected to have a massive role as a home favorite and will be one of the most popular FD plays of the week, regardless of position.
  • Bengals RB Chase Brown ($7,800) and WRs Ja’Marr Chase ($9,600) and Tee Higgins ($7,200) are all probably overpriced based on their overall offensive environment without star QB Joe Burrow; all three project for very modest ownership as a result.
  • Unlike the Bengals, I’m actually curious to see if the change to a veteran QB like Wentz might provide a short-term boost to Vikings WR Justin Jefferson ($8,900). With his elevated price and QB situation, he projects to be pretty low owned as well. TE T.J. Hockenson ($5,800) hasn’t looked like himself through two games. I’m considering him in a potential Wentz lineup to see if he bounces back, but not as a one-off play.
  • Both of these D/ST units are in my pool for the week, especially in lineups without Mason or other skill position players from these teams.

Running Back Approach