JMToWin is a high-stakes tournament champion (Thunderdome, Luxury Box, Game Changer, Wildcat) who is focusing this year on MME and high-dollar, small-field SE/3-max
This is, instead, a look at the player pool I’ll be fishing
:: covered in-depth 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
Permanent Price Bump coming at the end of Week 2!
Lock in the lower price for life!
Full breakdown (of what this is, and what the thinking is behind these players) can (and should) be found in the Angles Pod (above).
Joe Burrow
Joe Mixon
Jaylen Warren
Ja’Marr Chase
D.J. Chark
Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Harrison Bryant
DeAndre Carter
Steelers
Tua Tagovailoa
Joe Mixon
Jaylen Warren
Tyreek Hill
Jauan Jennings
Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Harrison Bryant
DeAndre Carter
Steelers
Buy-In:
Free
Rules:
Build with a salary cap of $44k or below!
Prizes:
150 Edge Points (good for two free DFS Education courses!) + ‘Discord Blue’ color in Discord!
Join Here – Contest 1
Join Here – Contest 2
* With the BUB becoming more popular, we’ve set up two contests. ONLY ENTER ONE. The best score between the two contests will be credited with the win! *
Throw away the Davante flu game, and we’re now at seven consecutive games in which one of these two has scored 30+ points. As we’ve been saying throughout this stretch: 30-pointers are tough to come by, so if you can give yourself a 50/50 shot at a 30-pointer, you should be looking to do so.
This week, I may not be as strict about my “one of these two on every roster I build” rule, as I believe there could be some 40-pointers on this slate, and I want to make sure I leave myself with enough salary flexibility to mix and match some other high-priced, high-upside pieces. But I’ll also continue to be very happy to play one of these two anywhere I can — especially as 40-pointers are completely possible for these two as well.
In his three healthy games since the Jags traded James Robinson, Etienne has touched the ball 27, 30, and 14 times, with the 14-touch game coming in a 10-point loss to the Chiefs. If we assume this game between the Jags and Lions stays close, we can assume Etienne will top 20 touches, with clear pathways to 25+. The matchup and game environment are ripe for production, and the DK price tag is too low, making Etienne one of the stronger floor/ceiling options on the slate.
New this year: these are unique player pairings that can be used as foundational building blocks for tournament rosters
“The Dolphins are successful through the air”
You could stack up this game a number of different ways, and all of them should come with relatively low ownership for a spot that is capable of producing “had to have it” scores.
We know the Dolphins are likely to skew pass-heavy here (see above), so the question is simply, “Are they successful?” If they are, Tua plus one of his pass catchers could easily become the stack required to win a tourney this week. And if the Dolphins’ passing attack becomes the optimal way to play this slate, it almost certainly means the 49ers are attacking through the air as well, making a $3.2k Jauan Jennings a great way to tail the initial bet while freeing up salary to maximize upside across your roster.
I also like Tua double-stacks and Tua + Waddle, and I like bringing back any of those plays with CMC, Aiyuk, Deebo, or Kittle.
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:
Tua Tagovailoa || Patrick Mahomes || Joe Burrow || Justin Fields || Trevor Lawrence
I’ll see you at the top of the leaderboards this weekend!
-JM