DFS Building Blocks – Thanksgiving

Leverage galore. These small slates play similarly to single-game slates in that ownership tends to gravitate toward a few “obvious” plays. So we have a ton of opportunity to make simple pivots and gain a lot of leverage on the field. This is like Matt Damon playing poker without even seeing the cards – this week we can build lineups almost exclusively based on ownership expectations. Example, Josh Allen may be 40% owned making every other QB a leverage option. And, easy to get double leverage by playing Devin Singletary. All it takes is for one or two TDs to go to Singletary instead of Allen and you’re leapfrogging 40% of the field.

Stevenson at 40% owned? Maybe Harris gets the Jamaal Williams role and gets three TDs this week.

Pollard went off last week. Maybe Zeke keeps getting TDs this week.

Lamb/Diggs/Jefferson/St. Brown all at 30%? You don’t have to fade them all, but easy to swap to Gallup and Thielen. I’d say you could swap to Davis instead of Diggs, but he’s nearly 30% as well. Enter Singletary. Again. Singletary provides the single greatest leverage point on the slate (outside of Lions DEF if we’re not considering the actual scoring potential of the play).

Highest owned TE? Dawson Knox. Enter Singletary.

Easy to build a core based on above. Build around another QB/WR pairing, maybe Dak + Gallup. Or you play that the Bills and Lions shootout, with Singletary getting a lot of TDs, so you play Goff + St. Brown. Singletary + Elliott + Harris. Then you can pick either Cowboys or Patriots DEF. I’d lean Cowboys based on the overall quality and health of the Vikings compared to the Giants, but the Patriots DEF is the most like the Cowboys and could give Minnesota trouble.

Interestingly, the Bills DEF, on the road, is projected to be the highest owned. They haven’t been performing well. I’d much rather go to Dallas or New England and get some easy leverage there. Double leverage by building around a Bills and Lions shootout.

I’m going to build my main lineup around all the pivots we talked about above, but in a short slate like this, it’s best to just have fun and build a few lineups.

I’ll also be building a chalk overstack, loading up on the Bills. In a short slate, it’s more feasible to play QB + RB + WR. So something like Allen + Singletary + two of Diggs/Davis/Knox, coming back with St. Brown and maybe even Swift, hoping he gets more involved in a shootout.

I’ll then build some lottery-pick lineups. I’ll play the Lions DEF. I’ll play Barkley + Giants DEF. What if Mac Jones gets into a shootout with Minnesota? What does that lineup look like? Stevenson is already projected to be highly owned, maybe it’s a lot of Stevenson receptions from Jones as they play catch-up. Bonus because your lineup may still be “alive” when this game comes around.

And who will the surprise player be today? Giants TE Cager? Agholor? KJ Osborn? Cowboys TE not named Schultz? McKenzie? Do the Giants have any WRs left? You can build a pretty chalky lineup and throw one of these players in to get unique.

Good luck today. Mostly just have fun with some silly lineups.