Our NFL Premium Package is Now Available for the 2022 season! Get full access to our best bets on sides, totals, and player props, all in one place, through the end of the Super Bowl.
Get $15 OFF with code NFL15 - Offer valid through October!
By Ben Martinez
Every week daily fantasy sports (DFS) players are aiming to create a near perfect lineup in order to take home the most money in their GPP (guaranteed prize pool) tournaments. The top entries will typically have a few representatives from this "perfect" lineup, and it's important to be mindful of what player combinations and correlated stacks are needed to win big from week to week. In this weekly recap article, we'll take a closer look at the previous week's perfect lineup and compare it to the winner of a large GPP DraftKings contest. We'll reflect on strategies and trends for our future lineups.
This is one of the most bizarre DraftKings NFL $4M Fantasy Football Millionaire lineups I have ever seen. The week four winner “Hoop2410” drafted two sets of triplets and a pair of running backs who have struggled to meet expectations this season. Every player in this lineup was involved in one of the three highest scoring games of the week and we are here to break it down and compare it to what would be the perfect lineup. You can find the winning lineups at the bottom of this article.
The Stack and a Stack Back
This stack is as unique as it comes. I personally have never seen a winning lineup that includes a double stack with three bring backs in it before. These players were involved in a game that was projected to be one of the highest scoring games of the week and this pair of triplets came out on top. With a mix of chalk and contrarian players, let's talk about what went right for this lineup. First the chalk, with D’Andre Swift out this week and Seattle having one of the worst run stopping defenses in the NFL, Jamaal Williams ($6,100) was second in overall ownership percentage at 38% and fifth in scoring with 26.90 points for all running backs. Despite Craig Reynolds handling a majority of the passing down plays and the two-minute drill, Jamaal Williams was used as a workhorse back with 19 carries for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Williams also had to share a couple carries with Justin Jackson who handled some running downs. Williams' two teammates, T.J. Hockenson ($4,100) and Josh Reynolds ($4,600) were high chalk players too. Hockenson was the number one overall used tight end at 19.8%. T.J. had a career day not having to share any targets with Amon-Ra St. Brown and DJ Chark. Hockenson scored two touchdowns with 179 yards receiving on eight receptions and a monstrous 12 targets. Hockenson's teammate Josh Reynolds was owned by 11.4% of contestants with a final point total of 21.10. Both of these pass catching Lions benefitted with the absence of the regular starters.
The set of Seahawks players used begins with the chalky wide receiver Tyler Lockett ($5,900). Detroit weakness on defense is their secondary which has been exposed these past three weeks. Contestants trying to attack the wide receiver position obviously wanted to go cheap by adding Lockett who at cost was a $900 discount compared to D.K. Metcalf. Turns out Lockett would be the lowest scoring player in this lineup, but his two teammates would be the highest scoring wide receiver and second highest scoring quarterback of the week. D.K. Metcalf ($6,800) and Geno Smith ($5,400) are the only two contrarian plays of these two sets of triplets. Geno sliced the Lions' secondary up, passing for two touchdowns and rushing for one with zero turnovers. Smith had no problems finding Metcalf who had 151 yards on the day with seven receptions. Metcalf and Lockett combined for 18 targets. If we combined all the snaps taken by the other nine skill position players for Seattle, they combined for only 10 targets.
The Rest of the Best
Josh Jacobs ($5,500), Austin Ekeler ($7,700), and the Eagles Defense ($3,800) round out the rest of this lineup. Both of these running backs have been huge letdowns so far this season for season long fantasy players. Personally, I play both DFS and season long which, at times, I feel hurts my decision making when it comes to playing DFS because I never would have picked either running back. A lot of the DFS pros I follow on social media had both these guys around their top five for the week but yet Ekeler ended up being the chalk of these two running backs at 15.2% and Jacobs was the contrarian play at 6.1%. Ekeler's bounce back game included three touchdowns with 109 combined rushing and receiving yards. Austin's three touchdowns were from 10 yards or more. Sony Michel and Joshua Kelly continue to take carries out of Austin's hands, as the duo had 10 total carries to Ekeler's 13. Ekeler's usage continues to be down compared to last season. For the third week in a row, Josh Jacobs has had at least 18 touches and also O p+ back to back weeks with five receptions. Jacobs finished with two touchdowns and 175 combined rushing and receiving yards. This million dollar roster didn’t punt on their defense, the Eagles ($3,800) were the second most expensive defense available which ended up scoring the second highest amount of points.
The Perfect Lineup
This week's perfect lineup includes five players from “hoop2410” million dollar lineup...Austin Ekeler, Josh Jacobs, DK Metcalf, TJ Hockenson, and the Eagles Defense. The perfect lineup looks a little more common to most winning lineups compared to what “hoop2410” setup this week. The perfect lineup includes a standard single stack with a bring back but it also includes a rare offensive player matched against the defense of the other team. Let's take a look at the other four players not used in the winning lineup and talk about how they meshed with the other five.
Stacking For Perfection
The perfect lineup stack has been used this season in previous weeks, QB-TE and a wide receiver bring back. Jared Goff ($5,900) and TJ Hockenson ($4,100) with DK Metcalf ($6,800) helped stack this lineup to perfection. All three players were the top of their respective positions, we already talked about the chalk that was Hockenson and the contrarian play that was Metcalf. Goff was left out of most lineups this week only being used by 3.6% of most lineups. He tossed four touchdowns with 378 passing yards, getting the 300 yards passing bonus and converting two two-point conversions, one with his legs and the other in the air. At the price of only $5,900, Goff ended up being the steal of the week as most people passed on him since both of his starting wide receivers, St. Brown and Chark, would miss this game.
Mini-Stack Teammates
Austin Ekeler ($7,700) and Mike Williams ($7,000) were the two highest cost players in this perfect lineup but they were worth every penny. Ekeler would shred the Texans defense on the ground, but shared the air yards with Williams who caught seven passes for 120 yards. Coming off an awful performance last week at home against the Jaguars, Williams had an amazing bounce back game and led all Chargers skill based position players in snaps with 65.
Stack Against Yourself
This perfect lineup included a stack that had a wide receiver playing against the opposing defense. Just like the winning lineup, the perfect lineup included the Eagles Defense ($3,800) but also had Jaguars wide receiver Jamal Agnew ($3,000) who was second in targets for Jacksonville this week. He caught two touchdowns with 50 receiving yards and only played in 0.12% of lineups. It was a great game from Agnew but his performance was a fluke. He split snaps in the third spot with Tim Jones and once Zay Jones is healthy Agnew won't see the field much at all. Miles Sanders ($6,000) is the second Eagle to be part of the perfect lineup. It was a down week for many Eagles players including as Jalen was mediocre, Boston Scott was out with a rib injury, and Kenneth Gainwell timeshare carries decreased. All of that helped Sanders to have a positive performance. Miles Sanders put the offense on his back, rushing for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Sanders had an amazing bounce back game after only getting 46 yards rushing last week. After not scoring a touchdown in 2021, Sanders now has three on the year. All of them have come inside the redzone and allowed him to tie three other running backs for first, with seven redzone touches.
