Fantasy football: DFS stacks in divisional round should start with Lions

As we wake up this Saturday morning, it is the final Saturday of football for months. No NFL, no college, no football.

Well, at least not “real” football. I don’t even know what days of the week has games for whatever spring league is in operation this season. But if they do play on Saturdays, they don’t count.

And with the ebbing number of games comes shorter and shorter fantasy slates. In fact, next week is the last week that won’t be a one-game format affair until September. So enjoy it.

Of course, the best way to enjoy it is to win some coin. But with shorter slates come fewer choices, and with fewer choices comes fewer opportunities to “unique-ify your rosters. There are just four games, and none of the main contests at either at primary DFS sites features all four games, because … well, we don’t know. It doesn’t make sense to us either.

Nevertheless, we’re tracking down a four-game slate, and we can find some smaller contests at FanDuel, though none at DraftKings. So to FanDuel we go.

Last week, we spread out our roster a bit, but our primary stack the Rams-Lions game, expecting a shootout. That didn’t materialize, but it hasn’t spoiled our affinity for the Lions. We think they could boat race the Buccaneers, and we want some exposure to what we expect to be a rout.

The problem is, we can’t afford too many Lions on the same roster. So we’re going to fit as many as we can, but we’re going to fit them around Christian McCaffrey, who doesn’t come cheap ($10,000).

If we’re going to stack Lions, we’ve got to start with Jared Goff ($7,600), and we want to pair him with his favorite target, Amon-Ra St. Brown ($9,200). We counter on the other side with Mike Evans ($7,600).

All of these players underperformed last week (or for CMC, the last time he played). That is one reason we like them — good players don’t underperform regularly, so we like their chances to bounce back. We also hope it sours some other DFS players from using them, lowering their usage rates a tad.

But make no mistake, all these guys will be popular picks. But in short slates, you have to find some cheap options to fill out the roster, so we’ll look for our unique-ification there.

The Ravens’ backfield is a mess, so much so newly added Dalvin Cook to the 53-man roster. At $4,500, we’ll take that cheap option hoping for a cheap touchdown.

We’ll opt for the cheapest defense. Uh-oh, that’s the Packers against the 49ers. Never mind. We’ll go next-cheapest, the Texans ($3,400), with visions of nasty weather and a continuation of Lamar Jackson’s postseason struggles.

We want a tight end who at least plays, so we go with Luke Musgrave ($5,100). That leaves us enough room to squeeze in another Lion, David Montgomery ($7,000) at Flex with enough leftover for a deep Houston WR option, Xavier Hutchinson ($4,800), who has some upside with Noah Brown injured.

So we have what we think is a solid Lions stack and enough other legitimate options filling out the roster that we can enter the divisional round with dollar signs in our eyes.

Divisional Do’s & Don’ts

Key picks you should consider for this weekend’s FanDuel and DraftKings contests:

Josh Allen QB, Bills, vs. Chiefs (FD $9,400/DK $8,000)

If you eschew the cheaper QB options, it is hard to go wrong with Allen. He averages around 25 fantasy points per game, more than any other QB option. And he has posted good numbers against the Chiefs in the past, including earlier this season.

Baker Mayfield QB, Buccaneers, at Lions (FD $7,300/DK $6,000)

Sure, the Lions are a great matchup on paper, but this is going to be an incredibly hostile environment for an overachieving Bucs team. We want a better discount. In Mayfield’s price range, we prefer Jordan Love or C.J. Stroud.

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Betting on the NFL?

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Aaron Jones RB, Packers, at 49ers (FD $7,400/DK $6,700)

Was great last week, but the 49ers likely will put up more resistance than the half-hearted Cowboys in the wild-card round. It is easier to get at the San Francisco defense through the air.

Gus Edwards RB, Ravens, vs. Texans (FD $6,900/DK N/A)

Never a fun option, because if he doesn’t score, it is a wasted pick. But like his chances for a TD in what is expected to be brisk and somewhat windy conditions. Also a good fade-up option for those fearful of the useage rates of newly acquired Dalvin Cook.

Mike Evans WR, Buccaneers, at Lions (FD $7,600/DK $7,200)

Ho-hum game last week, and he doesn’t normally have back-to-back ho-hum games. He has routinely posted monster numbers without needing Mayfield to also have a big fantasy day.

Insanity’s Daily Dose

Daily fantasy league lineup suggestion by Drew Loftis:

Team FanDuel
Type: Tourney
Salary: $60K
Fee: $9
Slate: Sat.-Mon.
Top Prize: $10K
Tot. pot: $100K

QB: Jared Goff $7,600

RB: Christian McCaffrey $10,000

RB: Dalvin Cook $4,500

WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown $9,200

WR: Mike Evans $7,600

WR: Xavier Hutchinson $4,800

TE: Luke Musgrave $5,100

Flex: David Montgomery $7,000

DEF: Texans $3,400

For late roster changes, follow @NYPost_Loftis on X, formerly Twitter

Season risked: $189.44
Season winnings: $106