We are finally closing in on Super Bowl Sunday in Tampa with a battle between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. With just a single game, the DFS format and strategy change significantly from the traditional weekly contests from the regular season and earlier playoff rounds.
On FanDuel lineup construction consists of five positionless slots that include one MVP slot, which generates 1.5 times the fantasy points, and four flex spots that just accumulate their typical fantasy points.
When building your DFS lineups using this single-game format, your lineup needs to tell a story of how the game could play out and the relevant players that would excel for each storyline. So, with that, here are a few potential storylines that we could see in the Monday morning newspaper. What other storylines could you see happening?
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Super Bowl comes down to the final play in a high scoring affair.
This headline is what most football fans are probably hoping for in the Super Bowl and what the Vegas line tells us with the Chiefs as about a field goal favorite and a total of 56 points. If the game is truly a close back-and-forth, high-scoring matchup, then our primary focus when building a DFS lineup should be centered around the quarterbacks.
Using both Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady with one of them in the MVP slot would likely be the optimal build with both QBs looking to match each other drive for drive. However, using both of the two highest-priced options does force you to fill in with at least two cheap options to round out your lineup. Consider using a cheap pass-catcher from each team in the $6,500 to $7,500 range and then finish off your lineup with either Travis Kelce or Tyreek Hill.
Sample Lineup:
Patrick Mahomes (QB – KC): $16,500
Tom Brady (QB – TB): $15,000
Travis Kelce (TE – KC): $14,500
Scotty Miller (WR – TB): $6,500
Mecole Hardman (WR – KC): $7,500
Mahomes and the Chiefs win in Super Bowl romp.
This headline assumes that the Chiefs came into Tampa and dominated the home team Buccaneers. If this is the headline on Monday morning, then we should be focusing our DFS lineup on a Chiefs onslaught using four of the slots, including the MVP on the Chiefs offense.
In this storyline, you would expect the Chiefs offense to jump out to a big lead with their passing attack led by Mahomes and at least one of Kelce or Hill and then shift to the ground game in the fourth quarter which brings either Clyde Edwards-Helaire or Darrel Williams into the mix. The lone Buccaneers player should probably be a go-to receiver. Also, don’t be afraid to leave some salary remaining in this lineup.
Sample Lineup:
Patrick Mahomes (QB – KC): $16,500
Tyreek Hill (WR – KC): $14,000
Clyde Edwards-Helaire (RB – KC): $10,000
Sammy Watkins (WR – KC): $7,500
Mike Evans (WR – TB): $11,500
Brady adds to legacy with 7th Super Bowl victory.
This headline means more talk of Brady as the GOAT as he helps lead the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title in his first year with the team. I don’t see a scenario where the Buccaneers win in a blowout, so still expect the Chiefs to keep it close in this scenario.
This should lead us to a fairly balanced lineup that maybe doesn’t even have either quarterback in it but instead focuses on individual star players from each side. Can you really fade Mahomes? Well, over the last eight games played by Mahomes and the Chiefs playmakers, Mahomes was only the Chiefs leading point scorer in three of them as Kelce took that honor in three games and Hill twice. Brady is a little bit tougher to fade since he spreads the ball around so much, but he could be outside of an optimal lineup if Leonard Fournette steals a score or two.
Sample Lineup:
Travis Kelce (TE – KC): $14,500
Tyreek Hill (WR – KC): $14,000
Leonard Fournette (RB – TB): $12,500
Chris Godwin (WR – TB): $12,000
Cameron Brate (TE – TB): $7,000
Buccaneers win Super Bowl, Mahomes injured.
This is a headline that I hope we don’t see. However, in a large GPP contest like the NFL Big Game Bowl that has almost a million entries, sometimes we have a take a shot on the unexpected to come out on top and get unique. Mahomes is dealing with a toe injury and has had a recent round in the concussion protocol that forced him out of a playoff game, so it is not impossible.
In this unlikely scenario, we can load up on the top options on both teams and then slip in a min-priced Chad Henne, who would take over for Mahomes. Even if Henne had to just come in for a brief stint while Mahomes gets evaluated, he could offer some upside to a lineup with so many high-priced studs in a unique lineup construction.
Sample Lineup:
Tom Brady (QB – TB): $15,000
Travis Kelce (TE – KC): $14,500
Tyreek Hill (WR – KC): $14,000
Mike Evans (WR – TB): $11,500
Chad Henne (QB – KC): $5,000
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Brad Richter is a featured writer at FantasyPros and a contributor at DailyOverlay. For more from Brad, you can view his archive or follow him @RotoPilot.
