Each week, we’ll be recapping the decisions of the masses and discerning the takeaways that can be applied to future DraftKings NFL contests. I’ll focus on topics like game theory and lineup-building strategies, with the hope of giving everyone the tools to become better DraftKings NFL DFS players. In addition to the recap, this article will also function as a “first look” at the next NFL main slate, giving some initial thoughts on the teams and prices.
The DraftKings Championship Series is the king of competitions, minting 100 millionaires in the 2021-22 season. For more info on the series and all of the events, visit our DraftKings Championship Series Information page.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $3.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]
Divisional Round Recap
The Divisional Round $20 Millionaire contest covered the full four-game weekend, and it was a slate that had plenty of drama right up until the conclusion of the final game. The top-scoring players for the weekend came primarily from the Sunday night game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, and the most relevant performance by a wide margin came from Bills receiver Gabriel Davis. Davis was priced at $4,600 and drafted in just 7.7% of lineups in the $20 Millionaire contest, but he wound up being an absolute must-have for anyone hoping to win just about any Divisional Round contest. Davis and the Bills were ultimately knocked off in overtime by Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, but the stat line was no less impressive. Davis finished the game with eight receptions, 201 yards, four touchdowns and a slate-breaking 55.1 fantasy points.
Millionaire Contest Winners
$20 Millionaire
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The $20 Millionaire contest produced some incredibly high scores for a four-game slate, and as mentioned above, it was Gabriel Davis or bust for anyone hoping to win first place. There was a lot more to this slate than simply drafting Davis, however, as much of the chalk failed to come through and avoiding the duds was necessary for high-scoring lineups as well. The three most popular running backs — Devin Singletary, Derrick Henry and Eli Mitchell — combined for just 37.4 fantasy points, and Ja’Marr Chase scored just 19.1 as the highest-owned receiver while many cheaper players outscored him. The $20 Millionaire contest winner “johndobrick” rostered none of those players and instead found some big games from Cooper Kupp, A.J. Brown, Tyreek Hill, Leonard Fournette and of course Gabriel Davis. As a result of the win, “johndobrick” will be entered into the DraftKings Championship Series Tournament of Champions, in addition to their $1M top prize.
Sunday’s Main Slate
The Conference Championship NFL DFS slate has just two games but no shortage of superstars, and it’s headlined at quarterback by Patrick Mahomes ($7,400). Mahomes figures to be the most popular quarterback choice despite being the most expensive, though Joe Burrow ($6,600) and Matthew Stafford ($6,300) provide reasonable levels of discounts. Jimmy Garoppolo ($5,400) saves even more salary than Burrow and Stafford, but his passing volume generally is much lower than the other three quarterbacks on the slate.
Joe Mixon ($6,800) is the most expensive running back on the board, but it’s unlikely that he’s the most popular choice with the Cincinnati Bengals being touchdown underdogs in Kansas City. Jerick McKinnon ($5,100) and Cam Akers ($5,000) are both substantially cheaper, and they seem to be the obvious value plays at the running back position.
Wide receiver is probably the deepest position for the upcoming weekend, and the name at the top is the same as it basically always is with Cooper Kupp ($8,800) leading the way by a significant margin. Kupp and Deebo Samuel ($7,200) to a lesser extent may go overlooked to some degree, however, because the next two choices are in a game that most people probably expect to be higher scoring and the top receivers are substantially cheaper. Tyreek Hill ($7,000) and Ja’Marr Chase ($6,700) are going head to head and are likely to be chalky picks given what most people seem to think of this Chiefs-Bengals game.
Tight end is a challenging position for the Conference Championship slate as well with plenty of good choices that also happen to be fairly cost-effective. Travis Kelce ($6,500), George Kittle ($5,000), Tyler Higbee ($3,700) and C.J. Uzomah ($3,400) all look a bit underpriced and it could result in a weekend where many lineups use multiple tight ends to save some extra salary.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $3.5M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
The contents contained in this article do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups.
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