FanDuel NFL picks, Super Bowl: Best FanDuel DFS Lineup

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

FanDuel DFS NFL picks and advice for the Super Bowl to help you build the perfect DFS fantasy football lineup.

Welcome back to another installment of FanDuel DFS advice, this time for the Super Bowl!  With it coming down to the two best teams in the league, the slate is going to look a lot different than what you are used to in a normal week, with FanDuel only offering single-game lineups.

This means that instead of the usual roster, you will only have to choose five players, one of which is your MVP. The MVP position is what really can set your lineup apart, as that player receives 1.5 times the amount of points they would normally receive. This means that you want your MVP to be the player you think will get the most points in your lineup, regardless of salary.

Before we hop into the game, some general tips for single-game slates are that you want your roster to all follow one game script, as there are two fewer positions and too many other entries for your lineup to not be correlated.

Additionally, I recommend playing solely in tournaments and entering multiple lineups, as there is so much variation in one game that this playstyle will give you the best chance at making money.

Without further ado, let’s get into the final game of the year and our last chance to make money on NFL football!

FanDuel NFL for Super Bowl LVI – Bengals vs Rams (-4, O/U 48.5 Points)

Off the bat, Vegas projects the Rams to win this one in a relatively high scoring affair and while you would be hard-pressed to find people who genuinely think the Bengals have a better team than the Rams, there are some statistics that certainly lean in the Bengals favor and lead me to believe they can at least keep the game close up until the end and give Burrow a chance to lead a comeback.

Perhaps an Evan McPherson game-winning field goal would be the perfect end to this unprecedented Bengals Super Bowl run. It is important to remember that when playing single-game slates you need there to be lots of correlation between your players. For example, playing both Burrow and Mixon or Stafford and Akers will require the respective running backs to catch a touchdown or have a big game through the air for your lineups to have a chance to cash.

In general, I will be building my lineups around a game script that has the Rams getting off to an early lead and leaning on the run to avoid any catastrophic Stafford mistakes while Burrow will have to throw to keep the Bengals in the game.

At the quarterback position, I will likely be playing more Joe Burrow ($15000) than Matthew Stafford ($15500), also making Burrow one of my favorite MVP plays of the week. Deciding which of the quarterbacks you are going to play (or both of them) is one of the most important decisions you will make, as that will also dictate which receivers and running backs you will want to play as well.

The Rams tend to blitz at a heavy rate, while the Bengals blitz at one of the lowest rates in the NFL. Burrow is one of the best quarterbacks in the league against the blitz and Stafford has had lots of trouble against zone defenses throughout the year.

Due to the defensive schemes of the two teams, I could certainly see there being some value in the Bengals passing offense and the Rams rush offense when all is said and done, especially if people are going to be quicker to throw Stafford or Kupp into their MVP slot.

At the running back position, it follows that I am heavily in favor of the Rams running backs over the Bengals backfield. When you factor in the price of Joe Mixon ($12500) and Cam Akers ($10000), it becomes clear to me that Akers is the better play of the two.

One thing I will mention is that Mixon is much more heavily involved in the pass game, whereas Akers is usually substituted for Sony Michel ($7500). With that being said if you believe the Rams will not be in control of this game and will have to pass to catch up Michel will end up being one of the better values on the slate.

Cooper Kupp ($16000) is having an incredible postseason, and I think that continues against a Bengals secondary that is very weak against slot receivers. With how heavily targeted Kupp is, he could still have a good game even if Stafford struggles against the Bengals zone defense. He is my second favorite MVP play behind Burrow, and I think you can get sneaky playing him without Stafford as well.

I will probably be a bit underweight on Odell Beckham Jr. ($10500) and Van Jefferson Jr. ($7000) simply because I believe Stafford will work the middle of the field more but both have the touchdown upside at their price points to change the slate.

I will mention Ben Skowronek ($6000) who should line up in place of Tyler Higbee if he is unable to go and could be in for increased targets in his absence. We saw him drop a deep ball that would have been a touchdown last week, and at only $6000 that is the type of play that could make you big money.

On the Bengals side, Ja’Maar Chase ($12000) and Tee Higgins ($10500) are obviously both strong plays, especially considering I project a strong passing performance from this Bengals offense.

For a cheaper play I like Drew Sample ($6500) if C.J Uzomah is unable to go, since he projects to slide right in and could see a solid target share if Burrow has to resort to dump-offs against a strong Rams pass rush.

While I am never a huge fan of playing kickers, I do think you can make a case for Evan McPherson ($9000) this week. The Rams boast one of the best red zone defenses in the league and the Bengals clearly trust McPherson to consistently hit 50 plus yard field goals.

FanDuel DFS Super Bowl Lineup

  • MVP Joe Burrow – $15000
  • FLEX Cooper Kupp – $16000
  • FLEX Ja’Marr Chase – $12000
  • FLEX Cam Akers – $10000
  • FLEX Drew Sample – $6500

This lineup perfectly summarizes the game script I predict, which is that the Rams will be in control of the game and utilize their running game to maintain the lead while Burrow must pass at a heavy rate to keep up.

Assuming that Akers or Kupp account for a majority of the Rams touchdowns and Stafford does not have a huge day, this lineup has a great chance to cash. However, these already highly variable tournaments become even more random in a single game slate, so enter a variety of lineups and challenge yourself to think of different game scripts to be different from the field. Regardless of your eventual lineup, best of luck in the final slate of FanDuel NFL DFS this year!