Nfl Dfs Picks: Draftkings & Fanduel Expert Survey for Week 18

Our panel of experts is here to give you their NFL DFS picks for this week’s main slate contests by answering a handful of questions to help you make crucial lineup-building decisions. Want to know Noto’s three favorite players for cash games? Or squirrelpatrol’s favorite correlation? Find out below!

NFL DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Expert Survey for Week 18 (Saturday Slate)

Rank your three favorite players for cash games, in order:

Rank your three favorite players for large-field tournaments, in order:

Who is your favorite salary relief option this week?

Notorious:
squirrelpatrol:
Krayton: (FD) / (DK)
ebeimfohr: (FD) / (DK)
Stevietpfl: (FD) / (DK)
eys819:
Bobby Gomes:

What’s the best position to save salary on?

Notorious: TE
squirrelpatrol: TE
Krayton: TE
ebeimfohr: TE
Stevietpfl: TE
eys819: TE
Bobby Gomes: RB

Who is your favorite high-salary D/ST to use this week?

Notorious: PIT
squirrelpatrol: PIT
Krayton: PIT
ebeimfohr: PIT
Stevietpfl: PIT
eys819: PIT
Bobby Gomes: BAL

Who is your favorite low-salary D/ST to use this week?

Notorious: IND
squirrelpatrol: IND
Krayton: HOU
ebeimfohr: HOU
Stevietpfl: HOU
eys819: HOU
Bobby Gomes: IND

What player do you believe you’ll be most overweight on compared to the field?

Notorious:
squirrelpatrol:
Krayton:
ebeimfohr:
Stevietpfl:
eys819:
Bobby Gomes:

What player are you most afraid of being underweight on compared to the field?

Notorious:
squirrelpatrol:
Krayton:
ebeimfohr:
Stevietpfl:
eys819:
Bobby Gomes:

What stack will you be most underweight on compared to the field?

Notorious: +
squirrelpatrol: +
Krayton: + Ravens WRs
ebeimfohr: + Texans WRs
Stevietpfl: +
eys819: +
Bobby Gomes: +

What team will you target players from the most compared to the field?

Notorious: IND
squirrelpatrol: BAL
Krayton: HOU
ebeimfohr: BAL
Stevietpfl: HOU
eys819: HOU
Bobby Gomes: HOU

What team will you target players from the least compared to the field?

Notorious: PIT
squirrelpatrol: PIT
Krayton: BAL
ebeimfohr: IND
Stevietpfl: BAL
eys819: BAL
Bobby Gomes: BAL

What game will exceed its implied total by the most points this week?

Notorious: HOU/IND
squirrelpatrol: PIT/BAL
Krayton: HOU/IND
ebeimfohr: PIT/BAL
Stevietpfl: HOU/IND
eys819: HOU/IND
Bobby Gomes: HOU/IND

What is your favorite correlation on the slate and why?

Notorious: / + + – I’m going to build this stack with both quarterbacks. It’s not going to be contrarian given the fact that everyone will want to stack this game, but chalk isn’t always bad. Pittman has been Minshew’s favorite target all season and should feast on a Texans defense that is 23rd in DVOA against the pass. While I like Collins as well, my preferred pass catcher on the Texans is Schultz. He’s back to playing a full allotment of snaps and faces a team that has allowed the 9th-most fantasy points to tight ends this season.

squirrelpatrol: + + – The PIT/BAL game could give us plenty of opportunities to get different with our lineups, so I’ll likely play a large amount of core players from the HOU/IND game despite high potential ownership. I’ll aim to be over the field on Minshew, playing at home in a close game against a Texans pass defense that allows the 6th-most receving yards per game and the 9th-most yards per reception.

Krayton: + + – This is a must-win game for the Texans and Colts, and it is the game that I will be overweight on. I also like including in my stacks, as the Colts are allowing the 4th-most rushing yards per game to RBs (108). Even though it was back in September when these teams last met, Collins had a big game, going for 146 yards and touchdown. And last week, went for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns against this Colts defense. In a game that will be very competitive, I expect the main playmakers to be involved quite a bit, so I will be heavily invested on both sides.

ebeimfohr: + – I’m doing my best to get different on this slate using the PIT/BAL game, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be utilizing the core pieces from the HOU/IND game, and Collins + Pittman is my core. With the Texans’ WR injuries, these two WRs are two of the highest-projected target share WRs in the league in solid matchups in a dome, and they should benefit from this game being a must-win for both teams. I’ll be taking my points here and getting different elsewhere.

Stevietpfl: + – I’ll be mixing-and-matching my quarterbacks and stacks on this smaller slate. With that said, I want to be overweight on the two playmakers that have the highest ceiling on the slate. Pittman has a 30.7% target share, which is the 5th highest in the NFL this season. He’s also top 10 in targets and red-zone targets. Collins has battled injuries this season, but when he’s healthy, he has the ceiling to be the highest-scoring player on the slate. This is a must-win game for both teams, and I’m hoping they feed their best players.

eys819: + + + – The Texans offense should be extremely condensed with and out for this game. They have the highest implied team total on the slate in an indoor game. Over-stacking and including Singletary should help keep lineups unique. He has enough of a pass-game role to correlate with the stack, or the Texans could simply put up significantly more points than the other three teams to make his inclusion viable.

Bobby Gomes: + – The Texans are going to be reliant on the Stroud + Collins connection, as has been ruled out. Stroud should be able to gash this young Colts secondary. In Week 2 agains the Colts, Stroud threw for over 300 yards, and Collins had 7 receptions for 146 yards.

Who’s your top contrarian play on the board and why?

Notorious: – Call me crazy, but I see some regression coming for . I know he’s been incredible with under center, but I’m not sure Rudolph is the only thing that has been missing so far for Pickens. The Ravens are going to rest starters on both sides of the ball, but I still like their chances of limiting big plays in this one. I see the matchup setting up better for Johnson, who runs more routes underneath. I will gladly take Johnson at half the projected ownership of Pickens.

squirrelpatrol: – I’m interested in Kolar because he fills the TE position, but I have some interest in all of the Ravens receivers who could be playing three quarters of this game after the starters sit. It’s not hard to envision a scenario where sits early in this game, and if Kolar is able to get a touchdown along with a handful of receptions, he could come close to beating out the other tight ends.

Krayton: – Downs has not put up very big fantasy numbers in the last 8 weeks. However, with such a small slate and the Colts being a team that needs to win, I like getting to Downs, who was targeted 5 times the last time they played the Texans. He is definitely a receiver that has the potential to have a big game, and with likely being very popular, I like getting to the lesser-owned Downs.

ebeimfohr: – The Ravens are sitting many starters in Week 18, and I suspect Kolar gets the majority of the run at TE to rest for the playoffs. That leaves Kolar at an incredibly weak TE position in an offense that produces elite TE fantasy scores at reasonable projected ownership for a 2-game slate. Kolar is a talented pass catcher in his own right, with almost 2,200 receiving yards in his Iowa St. career.

Stevietpfl: – Looking at this 2-game slate, I’m expecting , , and the Steelers running backs to get most of the ownership. Baltimore is resting starters, and I don’t expect them to give a ton of carries. I don’t want to play a lot of Gordon, but I think he’s going to be low owned, so I won’t need to play much to be overweight. I’m playing Gordon for some touchdown upside, hoping he outscores the Pittsburgh running backs.

eys819: – Pierce earned just 1 target last week against the Raiders, but he had averaged over 5 targets per game in the 5 games prior. I will take some shots that last week was an outlier and he still has a decent role in the offense. He is cheap and has big-play ability. One long touchdown could be enough for him to pay off his price tag on a small slate.

Bobby Gomes: – On a 2-game slate, we are sometimes grasping for straws to be contrarian. The Ravens will be without and in Week 18. Bateman has had 4 or more targets in 5 straight games and could be the WR1 for .

What is your preferred tournament format (e.g. large-field, single-entry) to play this week? How do you plan to beat that field of opponents? What tactic or strategy will set you apart?

Notorious: My preferred format is single-entry and small-field tournaments. We can eat a little more chalk in these contests, and I plan to eat plenty of it in the HOU/IND game. I like both quarterbacks, both running backs, all the wideouts, and . I’ll look to get a little different in the PIT/BAL game by targeting the likes of , , and .

squirrelpatrol: I’ll play the largest-field tournaments and look to get different at the WR3, TE, and D/ST positions. I’ll likely focus the majority of my lineups on stacks of the HOU/IND game with low-owned one-off players from the PIT/BAL game. I’ll specifically look for any news on the expected playing time for the Ravens players, as they’re the team most likely to have low-owned players who could play the majority of the game.

Krayton: I will be playing single-entry tournaments, but I also plan on playing some 20-entry-max tournaments and going very overweight on the IND/HOU game. I will be over-stacking that game and may end up locking in every lineup that I make. I will also be very overweight on , as he is just 74 yards away from gaining an additional $125,000 incentive and has clearly taken over the backfield from .

ebeimfohr: I’m actually looking to the larger-field tournaments for this particular slate, a little change up for me personally, but it’s largely because I am honing in on the lower-owned game, PIT/BAL. I’ll be utilizing the core pieces from the HOU/IND game but working through the low-owned options, particulary on the Baltimore side with the field gravitating away from them due to uncertainty.

Stevietpfl: I’m going to be overweight on and . I’ll be mixing-and-matching my quarterbacks but will make sure my teams are heavily correlated with players in meaningful spots.

eys819: In large-field tournaments, I will basically throw out any rules I typically have for larger slates. Playing the opposing defense against my stack and over-stacking one side of a game in any lineup are two constructions I will use to help build unique lineups.

Bobby Gomes: MME – Particularly on 2-game slates, my preferred format is large-field MME tournaments. Most of my attention will be on the HOU/IND game, as I’ll be overweight on , , and . We’ll need to be a little different to gain leverage. I’ll be full game stacking with some lower-owned leverage plays like Alex Pierce, , and .

What is your hot take of the slate?

Notorious: tops 100 yards and scores a touchdown.

squirrelpatrol: Three near-minimum priced Baltimore Ravens end up on the winning lineup on both sites.

Krayton: finally scores a TD and goes for 110 yards.

ebeimfohr: More players in the winning lineup come from the PIT/BAL game.

Stevietpfl: goes for 150+ yards and 2 touchdowns.

eys819: The Texans score at least 2 more touchdowns than any other team on the slate.

Bobby Gomes: drops 20+ fantasy points and is the top RB on the slate.

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