NFL DraftKings Wild Card Saturday Lineup Strategy

The NFL Playoffs start Saturday with two close matchups. How you should construct your DraftKings lineup for this two-game slate?

Just because the NFL regular season is over doesn’t mean you can’t play DFS. DraftKings has a few different slates for the NFL Playoffs. They have a full four-game slate for all four Wild Card games and then two separate slates, one for Saturday and one for Sunday. Here’s how you should play your lineup for the Saturday games.

The Wild Card weekend kicks off with IND/HOU at 4:35 and then SEA/DAL at 8:15. Those two games could go either way as far as the winner goes. However, with DFS, even the losing team can put up a lot of fantasy points, which is all that matters when playing DFS.

Looking at the four quarterbacks, they all have their go-to wide receiver. Deshaun Watson has DeAndre Hopkins, Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton (listed as questionable) and Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett. The latter probably has the highest bust potential, though.

Looking at their secondary pass-catchers, all four teams have room for improvement. I would give the advantage to Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks. They have Doug Baldwin, David Moore and tight end Ed Dickson.

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Watson has Keke Coutee (questionable) and tight ends Ryan Griffin and Jordan Thomas. Prescott’s other targets are Michael Gallup, Cole Beasley and tight end Blake Jarwin, who had a big game in Week 17.

Luck will also be throwing to tight end Eric Ebron and wide receivers Dontrelle Inman (questionable) and Chester Rogers.

It’s not the greatest lineup of wide receivers but there’s bound to be one breakout performer in these games. Based on the defensive matchups, the Colts have the best option as the Texans rank 16th against wide receivers. The Colts are ranked 14th so, the Houston receivers will also be worth using.

The running backs will have just as easy of a time. The Colts rushers are the only ones that may struggles as the Texans rank eighth against the run. No other defense rank in the top 15. The obvious target is Ezekiel Elliott but he’ll cost you $9,000 in the process.

The next best option would be Seahawks running back Chris Carson. He’s scored five touchdowns in his last four games. He’s priced at $6,800. The only negative is how much the coaching staff will work in Mike Davis and Rashaad Penny throughout the game.

Lamar Miller is also a good play against the Colts. He has three rushing scores in his last five games. He’ll cost just $4,900 and will make a good RB2 in lineups.

Picking a defense in this slate is going to be difficult. You want a defense that won’t allow a lot of points or rack up the turnovers. A combination of the two would be preferred. Of the four, I think the Texans defense have the best shot at doing that. They have an excellent pass rush and a good secondary.

The defense has at least one interception in three of their last four with a total of nine sacks in the same span. Any defense you pick won’t cost a lot of money. The Cowboys are the most expensive at $2,800.

My final lineup is Watson, Elliott, Miller, Hopkins, Lockett, Beasley, Ebron, Jarwin and Texans. I like having the QB-WR combo in Watson and Hopkins. Regardless of the matchup, Hopkins catches everything thrown his way.

In a PPR format, Beasley is a good play to rack up points. Ebron is the Colts No. 2 wide receiver and Jarwin is seeing an increase in playing time over the last couple of weeks. Even in a run-first offense in Dallas, Jarwin could see some red zone targets.

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This is just a guide. You build your DraftKings lineup the way you want. Read everything and play the players you think are going to score the most points. Good luck. I’ll have another piece ready for the Sunday Wild Card games.