This is, instead, a look at the player pool I’ll be fishing
:: covered in the Angles Pod (it’s highly recommended that you listen to the breakdown of the roster in order to see the thinking behind it, and in order to understand what we’re talking about when we look at a “bottom-up build”)
:: my “Tier 1” plays: the plays I feel confident leaning into across different types of builds; these players have a high ceiling and a low likelihood of price-considered failure
:: games, offenses, situations, or scenarios I’ll be looking to build around across my rosters
:: unique player pairings that can be used as foundational building blocks for tournament rosters
:: players who don’t fit into the categories above — either Upside pieces who don’t have the floor to be Blue Chips (and are not being focused on within my game-focused builds) or players who may not have a strong shot at ceiling, but are worth keeping in mind from a “role” perspective
:: players who are not going to be “featured” on my tighter builds (i.e., one could show up on a tighter build, but they are not being prioritized as such), but who I will be mixing and matching across some portion of my MME builds
There are some players I could bump up here, but I’m playing it safe by treating all my top plays as Light Blue this week.
“KOC can catch lightning with Kyler”
Ja’Marr Chase averaged 21 DK points per game last year. Justin Jefferson averaged 21 DK points per game in 2023-2024. Chase has Burrow and a higher implied team total, and is clearly the “better play”; but Jefferson isn’t a major underdog to Chase, and Chase is sure to draw much higher ownership. What’s more: Jefferson is paired with a cheaper quarterback who can add floor with his legs. I think there’s a good chance we’re paying $1.5k to $2k more for this stack in four to six weeks, and I want to be out ahead of that.
This won’t “set your roster apart from the field,” but it will be a nice differentiator if it hits, while freeing up a bit of extra salary for chasing upside elsewhere.
The story plays out differently, and you don’t get first place — which is really all that matters.
This is my narrowest pool, which means it’s the pool likeliest to change a bit as I move deeper into builds. If it changes throughout Saturday night, I’ll add an update in this space.
If I were building for single-entry // three-entry Max, my tightened-up player pool would be:
Joe Burrow || Lamar Jackson || Jalen Hurts || Caleb Williams || Justin Herbert || Kyler Murray || Bryce Young
I’ll see you at the top of the leaderboards this weekend!
-JM
