Hopefully as you’re reading this you’re celebrating a seasonal championship in your respective fantasy football league or leagues. The BetCrushers had another successful season in their leagues and have also managed to do pretty well in DraftKings Daily Fantasy Football. While we haven’t notched any notable big dollar wins this season (yet), we did manage to grow our bankroll by a modest 20%, so we continue to head in the right direction. Whether you prefer DraftKings or Fanduel we’ll break down some of the players we’re looking at and share one of our potential favorite DraftKings lineups here with you. Sharing is caring, right?

For starters we should mention that we do not completely go with the analytics computer models as many experts claim that you need to do to win in Daily Fantasy. We’ve played our rosters versus those of computer model sites and we’ve had a higher winning percentage going with our picks over a two year span. Perhaps the toughest part of putting together a lineup for Wild Card Weekend is the fact that injury reports are often tough to decipher as there tend to be a lot of “game-time” decisions of key players as coaches don’t want to tip their hand of who they have available and how much they might play. Some prime examples this weekend are Will Fuller V, Zach Ertz, Miles Sanders and even a guy like Julian Edelman, who figures to play, but how effective he can be is somewhat of an unknown. We’re sharing what our initial roster looks like, however we are monitoring some of these right up until kickoff and we’ll likely make a change or two depending on final status of players.

As we dive into who we’re locking in, we like to start by looking at some guys that we really think are set to have big games, before checking out their salary. When you build with salary first you miss out on players that you really need, who are the true difference-makers. We’re always shooting for the stars with the big dollar contests, so we are also looking for guys with high ceilings as opposed to some of the safe and steady players. For Wild Card Weekend, here are some guys we are keeping an eye on, that we’ll potentially be playing “over” prop bets with as well.

Quarterbacks:
Drew Brees / Ryan Tannehill / Tom Brady

We narrowed our quarterback group down from 8 to 3 as we’re looking at the most points being scored in the Saints and Vikings game or the Titans and Patriots contest. Tannehill has been on fire but he faces the toughest matchup playing against a good New England defense in their building in cold weather. One of the coldest quarterbacks is the GOAT, Tom Brady, but he actually has one of the most favorable matchups and there should be some TD passes in that game. Our initial lean goes to Drew Brees who seems to be the surest thing in this round against a porous Vikings defense. Short of Brees losing out on goal line touchdowns to the running game, he should have a really productive game.

Running Backs:
Alvin Kamara / Devin Singletary / James White

Alvin Kamara has gotten back into the touchdown way of things with four scores in his last two games so you have to consider him in a big spot like Sunday. Devin Singletary may be the quietest “big play” running back of the weekend as he’ll be featured heavily against a team that has struggled stopping powerful backs. After not seeing a high snap count in the season finale, we’re expecting to see heavy doses of James White in this game as the Pats tend to go with White in big spots, and he obviously will be targeted quite a bit in the passing game if he’s in the lineup.

Wide Receivers:
Michael Thomas / Julian Edelman / John Brown / Greg Ward, Jr.

Speaking of the sure bets and the Saints, Michael Thomas is the biggest lock in fantasy land, certainly with the remaining players in the pool. Julian Edelman is normally a great play in a big game, although his injury status makes him a very risky play. The Bills have another somewhat under the radar player at wide receiver in John Brown who is the clear cut number one receiver for the Bills and has a meeting with a very shaky secondary in Houston. Finally, practice squad hero Greg Ward is now the top receiver threat in Philadelphia and could be an option particularly if Zach Ertz is unable to suit up.

Tight Ends:
Zach Ertz / Dallas Goedert / Jared Cook

Unless you have a sleeper you really like at tight end, we generally and painfully suck it up and pay some big bucks for the tight ends that you know will be targeted often. This weekend that basically limits you to the Eagles duo of Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert or Jared Cook with the Saints. If Ertz is healthy you can consider him, although you’d have to be wary of how well he’ll be able to play. If he isn’t in the lineup Goedert becomes a really enticing player to pick. Jared Cook doesn’t have the best matchup, however he’s good enough as is his quarterback to put up good numbers no matter what the situation is.

Defense – Special Teams
Saints / Eagles

Defense is tricky during the playoffs as everyone is playing an at least capable opponent so you can’t load up against a “bottom-feeder” inept offense. The Patriots are always on option defensively, but with the way the Titans offense has been playing it’s dangerous to go with them. The Bills have a top 3 defense, but are going against a potentially high scoring group, and maybe more importantly, are playing on the road. We like to play home defenses when possible as big defensive plays tend to happen more often at home than on the road. That brings us to the Saints who are playing against a quarterback feeling a lot of pressure to win in Kirk Cousins, and the Eagles who know that in order to protect their wounded offense need to play great on defense, which they’ve done the last few weeks to get into the playoffs. Throw in the fact that Seahawks left tackle Duane Brown is doubtful to play and there could be a lot of pass rush on Russell Wilson.

Now that we’ve identified some of the players we believe are set up to have nice games, we can start looking at salaries to determine who we can put on our team and where we patch in other players around them. Here is a look at the top Wild Card Weekend salaries:

Wild Card Weekend Salaries:

Quarterbacks / Running Backs

Wide Receivers / Tight Ends

Defense – Special Teams

SPOILER ALERT – Lineup Below
We’re going to start with the player we feel like we absolutely have to have, and that is the rather obvious Michael Thomas. It’s almost guaranteed that he’s going to grab 10 passes and put up 100+ yards so we can’t pass that up despite his salary. It’s often a great strategy to double-dip with your quarterback and top receiver so we’re going to roll with Drew Brees at quarterback. Russell Wilson could have a huge game, but we’re not going to second guess taking the future Hall of Famer paired up with Thomas. At running back we’re going to pass on Kamara based on his salary and his inconsistency throughout the season. Additionally, Latavius Murray has a “revenge” game against his old team so he could have a nice day and steal some snaps from Kamara. Devin Singletary provides great value as we mentioned he’ll see a big workload both in the running game and the passing game. Our RB2 was a tough call but we’re going with the high ceiling of James White who could be a boom or bust, and we’re hoping he’ll be a boom with 8 catches and a TD or so. Opposite Michael Thomas at receiver, we’re going to again go boom or bust with a couple of Patriots in Julian Edelman, and Mohammed Sanu (based strictly on low salary). At tight end we’re going to pass on the Eagles duo at least until we know Ertz status for sure. Instead we’ll take a chance with the Titans Johnnu Smith who has shown he can make some big plays when given the opportunity. With New England focused on stopping Derrick Henry and A.J. Brown, Smith could find himself open and can hopefully find the end zone and grab a handful of passes. The flex player we narrowed down but decided to go with Carlos Hyde who should see some good volume and is always a threat to punch a touchdown in. And finally, our defense was an easy call as we’ve got the Saints with the noise in their dome against a pressure filled Kirk Cousins.

If you play Daily Fantasy Football we’d love to hear your take and who you like on Wild Card Weekend, find us @TheBetCrushers and let us know. Good luck and enjoy the weekend!