Week 9: DraftKings Optimal Lineup

The scoring wasn’t quite as high in Week 9 as it was in Week 8 which led to a much lower scoring optimal lineup on DraftKings. Once again, Ben Roethlisberger led the way as he threw six TD passes for the second consecutive week. Let’s take a look at who joined Big Ben in Week 9’s optimal lineup:

Week 8 DraftKings Optimal Lineup

Player Pos FPs Salary
Ben Roethlisberger QB 35.7 $7,500
Marshawn Lynch RB 28.8 $6,100
Jeremy Hill RB 28.8 $4,000
Allen Hurns WR 26.7 $3,000
Mike Evans WR 27.9 $4,700
Jeremy Maclin WR 30.8 $7,600
Rob Gronkowski TE 21 $7,600
Matt Asiata FLEX 25.7 $3,500
Dolphins DST 24 $3,100
Total 249.4 $47,100

Once again, there wasn’t a single player that was more expensive than $7,600 in the optimal lineup. A well balanced approach seems to be the best route to take in these big tournaments. While the most expensive players at each position make good cash game plays, they don’t always make the best tournament plays because there is usually going to be players that are quite a bit cheaper that put up a similar level of production. Take Andrew Luck for example. While he played great and finished with 33.66 fantasy points last week, he was $10,100 which is $2,600 more than Ben Roethlisberger who put up a similar performance.

Additionally, not a single player in the optimal lineup scored under 20 fantasy points this week. In order to construct a near perfect lineup like the one listed above, you have to have production from every single position in your lineup. The key to this is twofold. First, you have to create a lineup full of players that each has an extremely high ceiling. Even if a player is only $3,000, you are going to need more than just 10 fantasy points from him if you want to have a chance to take a big tournament down. Second, creating a well balanced team like the one listed above will allow you to afford more of those mid-range players that seem to be carrying these lineups to the top of the leaderboards.

Noto’s Week 9 Lineup

Player Pos FPs
Tom Brady QB 31.72
Marshawn Lynch RB 31.3
LeSean McCoy RB 17.3
Mike Wallace WR 8.0
Andre Johnson WR 3.2
Julian Deleman WR 29.9
Julius Thomas TE 11.3
Ronnie Hillman FLEX 25.3
Seahawks DST 13
Total 171.02

It was a very interesting week for yours truly. Overall I had a solid week with a score of 171.02 despite getting next to nothing from Mike Wallace and Andre Johnson. Luckily, the rest of my team picked up the slack. With so many great options at RB last week, I ended up fading Jeremy Hill so that I could run with a three-headed monster combination of Marshawn Lynch, Ronnie Hillman, and LeSean McCoy. My thought process was to take the proven backs in good matchups rather than the rookie against the Jaguars who had been much better against the run in the last couple of games. After the first half of the early games, I was feeling pretty good about the Hill fade. That quickly changed as he racked up 140 yards and two TDs in the second half alone. Luckily, all three of my RB combinations ended up playing well so it didn’t hurt me too bad in the end.

This was the first week that I really utilized the late swap feature in my cash games. I was hoping to use Tom Brady all week, but the heavy wind and rainy conditions made me gravitate toward Andrew Luck instead. Once it was known that the weather was improving in New England, I quickly made the switch back to Brady and then had $2,000 left to upgrade. My only move was to upgrade Larry Donnell to Julius Thomas. In the end, the difference between the two was miniscule, but I bring it up because the late swap feature adds another skill element to the game. Always check your lineups and see if they can benefit from a late swap.

About the Author

Notorious
Derek Farnsworth (Notorious)

Derek Farnsworth (aka Notorious) is a lead RotoGrinders Expert and one of the most recognizable names and faces in all of DFS. Before joining the RotoGrinders team, Derek received a Master’s Degree from the University of Utah. When he’s not busy providing content, he’s dominating the DFS industry as evidenced by his consistent top rankings in several sports and multiple Live Final appearances. Noto provides expert NBA, NFL, MLB, and PGA analysis for RotoGrinders Premium members on a daily basis and has also been nominated for five different Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association (FSWA) awards. Follow Noto on Twitter – @RG_Notorious