NFL DFS First Look at Salaries & Matchups for Week 18 (Fantasy Football)
Every week the First Look article gives you a taste of the slate and some of the more intriguing salaries that DraftKings and FanDuel release. The goal is to identify early-week cash game considerations, as well as potential tournament plays before we piece together the stacking options. On Tuesdays, I share some of these insights on the Fantasy Footballers DFS & Betting Podcast if you want further commentary on some of the salary standouts.
Check back later in the week when Matthew Betz and I share our official DraftKings and FanDuel picks for cash and GPPs exclusively in the DFS Pass.
Here are the games for this week’s main slate* including team-implied totals (TIP) for each matchup.
Overview
For newcomers, the main slate for DFS includes the Sunday early (1:00 EST) and afternoon games (4:25 EST). At first glance, here are a couple of things to note:
- Off the Main Slate: PIT, BAL, HOU, IND, BUF, MIA
- Bye Week Teams: N/A
- I highly recommend reading Betz’s Week 18 Team Motivation & Player Incentive article on our site. Familiarize yourself with what each team is playing for and who you can have confidence in receiving a full allotment of snaps. The field has a hard time sorting out these slates because you can’t approach them the same as the previous 17 weeks.
- Some of the pace statistics over the last month are helpful to get a feel for each team but keep in mind we will see backups playing across the league.
Pace over expected leaders:
Get a matchup between two of the slowest teams this week between the Rams and 49ers pic.twitter.com/JRtgaRCvE6
— Sam Hoppen (@SamHoppen) January 2, 2024
Quarterbacks
- Dak Prescott ($8100) seems to be the lone expensive QB worth leaning into this week. With the highest team-implied total of the week, Dallas onslaught stacks make a ton of sense.
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