For as much as we hear about how the NFL is different from the DFS world, I’m not sure it really is. If you take a look at the salary cap situation of most teams there is a common thread. A large portion of said salary cap is eaten up by their quarterback and why shouldn’t it be? After all the offense does flow through them.
You, as a DFS owner should attack your lineup the same way while also remembering that the seasonal fantasy football game is different than the daily one. We know that quarterbacks generally compile the highest point totals each week but when you draft your seasonal team, they all tend to blend together. As this strategy is not a prudent plan of attack from a DFS perspective let’s take a look at some thoughts I employ when selecting a quarterback.
Start at the very beginning. Maybe it isn’t a coincidence that the quarterback is the first player you come across when building your roster, and you shouldn’t treat it as such. The direction you chose to go in with your quarterback does tend to dictate the remainder of your roster. This is from a salary cap and budget perspective but you shouldn’t do it blindly either. You don’t want to settle on the quarterback but at the same time you want to have a rough idea of the rest of the positions before you commit to a sizeable portion of your budget.
So what are you looking for from our quarterback?
Matchup, matchup, matchup. I know I repeated myself but in case you weren’t sure there is a clear point to be made here. For as good as a quarterback may be they don’t perform in a vacuum and the opposing defense could be either a worthy adversary or a clear path to success. The longer the season goes on the more data we can compile on how defenses fare against quarterbacks and this is a key piece of information. Of course it’s not a clear indication of how the next week is going to go, but there is value in factoring it into your decision making process.
Now that we found some matchups we like, what does Las Vegas think? No we shouldn’t let the sports book run our DFS lineup but they are here for the same reason we are…to make money. Lots of it in fact. Point spreads and over/under totals are in place for them to make money but they can also serve as a valuable guide post here. We are looking for games that will be both high scoring and close to ensure that our quarterback will be busy passing downfield all afternoon.
Football games are played in all sorts of crazy weather with the exception of lightning and this is something that could potentially impact play at the quarterback position. We want to avoid wind and heavy rain while favoring domes. While it does seem pretty obvious, it is one of those things that bears repeating as sometimes in football we tend to forget about the weather as being a variable.
At this point you are likely down to a few options and now it’s all about the player and the price. Who provides the best return on investment based on their price and projection? Previous performance over the past few weeks also comes into play here. Once you pick your quarterback, your work isn’t done here.
Things are better in pairs. Stop smirking there are plenty of things we can mean here, but we are still talking about setting a DFS lineup. Take your quarterback, and then pair him up with a nice receiving option to double that production. This is a strategy more in line with GPP tournament play as it’s all about going big after that first prize or going home.
Regardless though, we are looking for a sure thing here. It doesn’t matter what contest you are playing in but you need production you can count on at the quarterback position. This isn’t the position to take a risk on.
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