NFL DFS Strategy: Slate-Defining Performances

by Scott Hanson (escot4) Last Updated 2018-10-15 00:57:03 Premium Content Part of the product Core4

Picture this: It’s Sunday, early afternoon. You’re cautiously optimistic as your lineups are already off to a great start. Now your highest exposure running back scores a touchdown and things look better by the minute. Then, it happens… an 80-yard TD to a wide receiver that you have in exactly zero lineups. You check his stats, and find that he has 8 catches for 150 yards with 2 TDs, and your chances at winning big are now the same as your exposure to him… zero.

Situations like this happen almost every week, but what exactly makes a performance that defines a slate? Which players did we absolutely need last season? How can we use this information to avoid missing out on the key performances this season? Well, let’s get into it!

What makes a player define a slate?

I have three different criteria that I use in order to determine whether or not a player is basically “necessary” to have in order to achieve a massive win. The information I’ll be using is from last season’s Fantasy Football Millionaire tournaments on DraftKings.

1) Raw points: Even at high costs, if any player hits 35 or more DK points, it’s highly likely that you’ll need that player to have a shot at winning a tournament.

2) Positional Point Scarcity: Obviously points matter, but what matters even more is how irreplaceable those points are. Some weeks there are four different WRs who top 30 DK points, some weeks there are zero or one. If there’s only one, you’re going to need him. Alternatively, if the top scorer at any position is far ahead of everyone else, it’s very difficult to catch up unless the rest of your lineup is filled with slate-definers at other positions.