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FanDuel advice: Lessons from the biggest performances
Good games aren’t enough in FanDuel tournaments. You need GREAT ones. What do those have in common?
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If we’re being honest about our FanDuel fantasy football preparation, at least as far as the tournaments are concerned, what we really want is a home run.
Ten, 15 points per player across a whole roster lands you in the low-to-mid 100s, which, in a tournament, is a good way to make zero dollars. Even a 20-point average is 180 for a full roster, and that will win you 50/50s games, and you’ll probably cash in a tournament, but you aren’t going to be changing your lifestyle with that prize. (And that 20-point average ignores that you probably aren’t getting 20 from your kicker or defense, so we’re aiming even higher across the regular positions.)
So today, I’m looking at what goes into the biggest performances. I identified every single time this year in which a quarterback put up 30-plus fantasy points or a running back, wide receiver or tight end put up 25-plus (this is in standard scoring, because that’s my spreadsheet, but good performances translate), and looked at a few identifying marks. Let’s explore:
- We talk about stacks: Pairing your quarterback with a key pass-catcher or what-have-you. Well, out of 71 performances I noted through 14 weeks, 20 of them featured teammates (10 pairs). Stacks are good. Stacks are really good.
- You want guys at home. I mean, we knew that in general, but the numbers here back it up: Of the 71 big games, 45 (63 percent) came by players in home games.
- Here's one that's fun: Stacks aren't one-team things. A big percentage of games came with guys playing against other guys who also had big games. It stands to reason, as offenses keep their foot on the gas when the other team is scoring, as well. If one team can score at will and the other is shut down, the stars stop performing. Remember that big A.J. Green/Steve Smith Sr. game in Week 3? Or Eli Manning and Drew Brees going back and forth in Week 8? But it was interesting to see the numbers back it up, too. Of those 26 big numbers in road games, 11 were against some of those big home performers. To sum up: 56 of the 71 big performers were guys at home and/or guys playing on the road against fellow big performers. That's 79 percent. Stack home guys, and look at their opponents, too.
Those were a few of my takeaways. I’ll hit a few more next week, as we wind the season down. Learning. Always learning.
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