FanDuel NFL picks, Super Bowl: DFS fantasy football lineup advice
FanDuel NFL picks and the best DFS fantasy football lineup advice as Super Bowl LV is here with the Chiefs and Buccaneers facing off.
When the 2020 NFL season began, there was no saying whether or not we would ever reach the Super Bowl. While there were certainly some COVID-related bumps in the road, the eventual outcome was a highly competitive and exciting NFL season. This high level of uncertainty also favored the attentive FanDuel DFS fantasy football players who were able to take advantage of last-second swaps and COVID list adds.
If you are used to playing slates with multiple games, the FanDuel Big Game slate will be a very different experience. Normally you must fill nine positions consisting of a QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, WR, FLEX, TE, and D/ST. However, in single-game showdown slates, you only have spots for five players.
Whereas normally you separate yourself from the rest of the pack with a dart throw wide receiver or a quarterback and wide receiver stack, in single-game showdowns, the MVP position, which gives a 1.5x fantasy points bonus, makes all the difference.
The way you approach entering contests should also vary in single-game slates. In a normal Sunday slate, there are infinite combinations of players and lineups. However, if you are playing in a tournament for a single game slate it is highly advantageous to enter the maximum number of allowed entries in an attempt to produce the optimal lineup due to the top-heavy nature of the prize payouts.
However, this method of play can feel mechanical with it being harder to root for specific players and keep track of individual lineups. Therefore, if you want to enter a few lineups, it is highly recommended you play in the cash format or single entry tournaments to increase your chances of cashing out.
Without further ado, here are my FanDuel DFS picks for Super Bowl LV: the final game of the NFL season!
FanDuel Super Bowl picks and lineup advice: Quarterback
Patrick Mahomes ($16,500) is the most expensive player on the slate and projects to come in with the highest roster percentage in both the most MVP and overall. With Kansas City’s rushing game looking highly questionable and the Bucs rush defense continuing to be elite in the playoffs, Mahomes will likely have to shoulder the load in the big game.
This certainly reads like a formula for plenty of fantasy points against a Bucs defense that has been awful against the pass throughout the second half of the season. Even in a winning effort in the Conference Championship Round, the Bucs defense still ceded 346 yards and three touchdowns to Aaron Rodgers.
His expensive price tag means, in order to pair him with Travis Kelce or Tyreek Hill, you will likely have to have a few strong dart throws in mind, though it is hard to imagine an optimal lineup without Mahomes in it.
Do not discount Tom Brady ($15,000), who has thrown for multiple touchdown passes in 10 straight games. With an insanely high over-under of 56.5 and a team implied total of 26.5 for the Buccaneers, this is a streak that is likely to continue.
Though the Bucs have a much more reliable run game than the Chiefs, I would still imagine this game having a relatively fast pace due to the weak passing defenses on both sides. While Mahomes is the clear favorite for the MVP position, Brady is an interesting pivot that gives lots of leverage over the field if the Chiefs offense never gets it going.
However, I much prefer Brady in the flex if you can squeeze him in with Mahomes as the MVP with Mahomes likely to have many more passing attempts.