Mike Johnson (MJohnson86) has racked up nearly $500,000 in DFS profit as an NFL tournament player with success in all styles of contests
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!!
This is a list of players that stand out to me at each position from using my “Checking the Boxes” criteria outlined in my course you can find in our Marketplace. 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:
This is a very unique week at running back, leading me to a slightly larger player pool than normal but with specific ways I would be looking to play each one. For several of the players, I did the NFL Edge writeup and you should read the DFS Interpretation in those for more details on why I’ll be playing them the way I am.
We only have to look back to last week to see what Sanders can do in a plus matchup if the Eagles jump way out ahead as they are projected to do.
Kamara has only three TDs this season and all of them came in one game. He had 28 opportunities (carries plus targets) in the game where he scored the 3 TDs, and has 0 TDs on his other 183 opportunities. This is a great matchup, coming off a bye, in a game the Saints have to win to stay alive.
Elite matchup and explosive upside. If playing him, will be pairing him with Ekeler, Mike Williams, or a Chargers passing game stack.
These two have combined for a ton of production and are the focal point of an offense that is highly explosive in the best projected game environment on the slate. Both are likely to be low-owned, making it a solid bet that one of them can help you separate in a tournament.
Similar to the Cowboys situation, the Chiefs have a solid shot at scoring upwards of 40 points this week so both backs have very real upside. I like playing McKinnon with Mahomes as the only KC pass catcher. For Pacheco, I will consider playing him by himself or with Mahomes + Kelce as a bet that the Chiefs smash and most of the passing production goes through Kelce (and we know Kelce’s big games mean 30+ for Mahomes) and Pacheco cleans up as well against an overmatched opponent as they ice the game.
Access to a high-scoring game environment with a depressed price. He’s still the bell cow of the backfield and could benefit from a Cowboys defense that has been more susceptible to the run.
Permanent Price Bump coming at the end of Week 2!
Lock in the lower price for life!
