Hittin' The Nuts - Squirrelpatrol's Lineup Advice: Week 18 Saturday Slate
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The NFL starts our final week shenanigans a day early in Week 18, with a two-game Saturday slate. The Steelers visit the Ravens in the first game kicking off at 4:30 PM ET, with Pittsburgh favored by 4 points in a game with a 35.5-point total. That game is followed by the Texans visiting the Colts in a game with a 47.5-point total and Houston favored by 1.5 points. The final week of the NFL regular season is known for a mix of playoff pushes and preseason atmospheres, so let’s dig into the slate and figure out what to do with our lineups.
NFL DFS Picks: Lineup Advice for Squirrelpatrol’s ‘Hittin’ The Nuts’ (Week 18 Saturday Slate)
Three Teams With Something To Play For (And One Team With Everything Locked Up)
One of the keys to understanding Week 18 in the NFL is figuring out what each team’s motivation is heading into their game, and with this slate, things are fairly simple. Pittsburgh, Houston, and Indianapolis each have a shot at making the playoffs with a win and will be playing accordingly, while Baltimore is locked into the top seed in the AFC and will be aiming to get their key players as much rest as possible. The first decision point I make on a smaller slate is how I should spread out my QB exposure among both single-entry and larger-field contests. This week, I’ll likely aim to be over the field on two of the QBs at the expense of two others.
I’ll first aim to be over the field on Gardner Minshew, playing at home in a close game against a Texans pass defense that allows the 6th-most receiving yards per game and the 9th-most yards per reception. The Colts are only 1.5-point underdogs in this game, but I expect the field to give C.J. Stroud much higher ownership, while Minshew arguably gets a better matchup and comes at a discounted price to Stroud. There’s no question – Stroud is a top QB with some excellent receivers – but I think it’s a coin flip between these two, so I’ll take the cheaper side of the coin that has less ownership.
In the first game on the slate, I’ll aim to be over the field on Tyler Huntley, taking some of the projected ownership we have going to Mason Rudolph and allocating it to the Baltimore QB. It’s hard to remember, but last year around this time, Huntley was actually getting ready to go to the playoffs and then the Pro Bowl after leading the Ravens to 3 wins in 5 games once Lamar Jackson went down with an injury. Huntley averaged 31.8 rushing yards per game in that stretch, and I love cheap QBs with rushing upside. If Huntley can get into the end zone on both the ground and through the air, it’s not hard to see a scenario where he lands on the winning lineup.
After I select the QB for my roster, the rest of my lineup will depend heavily on the QB that I select. If I’m using Rudolph, Minshew, or Stroud in a lineup, I’ll make sure to pair him with 4 or 5 RB/WR/TEs from the same game, and I’ll also likely pair my QB with at least 2 of his own pass catchers. With Huntley having the ability to get points on the ground, I’ll be a little more lenient in my stacking rules for Huntley lineups, but I’ll still likely pair him with at least one Baltimore receiver.
How Nuts Do We Get At Running Back?
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