Squirrel Patrol’s Wild Card Saturday-Only Classic Slate Strategy
Wild Card Weekend kicks off on Saturday with two games: the Rams visit the Panthers (+10.5) in Carolina, while the Packers head to Chicago for a divisional clash with the Broncos (+1.5). These smaller two- and three-game slates are a personal favorite of mine because they combine Showdown strategy with a classic multi-game format, resulting in a long and entertaining night of NFL action. I also won my only solo Milly Maker on one of these slates in Week 2 of 2023, which helps to build my personal attachment to this format. The action kicks off at 4:30 PM ET on Saturday, so make sure you note the early start time when planning your evening.
The strategy for these slates is just as important as the picks, so I’ll highlight some of the main points here:
- While the number of teams in this format is limited, the number of positions isn’t. With a full nine roster spots to choose from, differentiation isn’t hard. One low-owned player is usually enough—I rarely dig deeper than a third wideout or a primary backup running back.
- I typically stack my quarterback with more teammates than I would on a full main slate. With just two games, there’s a decent chance one turns into a dud, so I want as much exposure as possible to the higher-scoring matchup.
- While I want to over-stack my lineups, be cautious on FanDuel, where we are limited to four players from the same team. If you set a rule to pair your QB with at least two WR/TE pass-catchers, you can’t also roster both that team’s RB and D/ST (since that would total five players from that team).
- On a two-game slate, it’s perfectly fine to roster offensive players against the opposing defense. A special teams score can swing everything, and gives the ball right back to your offense.
- With the first game kicking off at 4:30 PM ET and the second game kicking off at 8:00 PM ET, you should be considering whether to late swap in your lineups – especially if you are playing the extended six-game weekend slate. If your lineup missed on a player who has a huge score early in the Rams – Panthers game, consider a switch to more off-the-board players in the late game. Conversely, if your contrarian player hit for a big score early in the first game, you have some leeway to play things chalkier in the late game.
Let’s break down the positions, spotlight some of the best DFS options, and map out a path to the top of the leaderboards.
Quarterbacks
This slate features two road favorites, and with both games carrying similar totals, the massive double-digit spread on the Rams makes their implied team point total (28.0) stand out above the other three teams. I’ll prioritize Rams players throughout this slate, starting with MVP candidate Matthew Stafford at the QB position. Between Caleb Williams and Jordan Love, I’ll side with the favored Love, returning from a concussion suffered in Week 16. The Packers are slight road favorites, and before his Week 16 injury, Love had thrown for eight touchdowns over the previous three games. Bryce Young is the clear fourth-best option with the Panthers massive underdogs to the Rams.
For multi-entry contests, I’ll have exposure to all four quarterbacks, focusing on differentiation through heavy stacking and lower-owned plays at other positions rather than at QB. In single-entry or small-field builds, I’ll prioritize Matthew Stafford, who may not see the level of ownership he should despite likely being the highest-owned QB.
QB rankings:
Running Backs
At running back, we’re going to see some massive chalk, with ownership concentrating heavily on the four starters. I think RB is a great position to get different on this two-game slate, with three of the four starting RBs sharing carries with their backup more than the field may realize. My rankings – heavily influenced by ownership on this two-game slate – at the RB position:
Josh Jacobs stands out to me as the workhorse running back from Green Bay after seeing limited work in Week 17, followed by a week off in Week 18. He is my clear favorite at the position. For the remaining running backs, I expect to go overweight on the backups at the expense of the starters for each team. Kyle Monangai has a rushing yards prop (44.5) just a tick behind D’Andre Swift (60.5) while coming in at a cheaper price tag and a fraction of the ownership. Blake Corum had four weeks recently in Weeks 13 through 16 where he had at least one touchdown in each game, with five total touchdowns. He could see more work than expected, particularly if the Rams take a big lead through the passing game. Chuba Hubbard is just $4,500 – a full $1,000 cheaper on DraftKings than Rico Dowdle – and played 40% or more of the snaps in four of the Panthers’ last five games. Like the other backups, he should come in with significantly less ownership than the starter.
Wide Receivers
While on some smaller slates, wide receiver is the best spot to get different, on this slate, I’ll likely play things closer to projected ownership. Looking at the wideouts, my rankings are:
Puka Nacua leads the way on the Rams after leading the league in receptions, ranking second in receiving yards, and tied for sixth with 10 receiving touchdowns. Salary isn’t as much of a constraint on this slate as a larger, regular-season slate, and with Puka’s consistency, I’ll find the salary to spend up for Nacua in more than half of my lineups. Puka’s teammate, Davante Adams, ranks second for me after leading the NFL in receiving touchdowns and carrying the best Anytime TD odds (-140) on the Saturday slate.
After the Rams’ dynamic duo, I’ll target Christian Watson on the Packers. Watson tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns and ranked second in receptions and receiving yards despite playing in just 10 games for Green Bay this season. Following Watson, I’ll bypass Tetairoa McMillan for ownership reasons and drop down the salary list to Jalen Coker, who had three receiving touchdowns for the Panthers in the team’s last five games.
Among the value WRs seeing lower ownership, I’ll target the following players:
Rome Odunze is expected back from injury in his first action since Week 13. While Luther Burden may get more ownership due to recency bias, Odunze was tied for the team lead with six receiving touchdowns and should get less attention from DFS players. Romeo Doubs led the Packers in receptions and receiving yards, but should see less ownership with both Christian Watson and Jayden Reed healthy again for Green Bay. D.J. Moore is another Chicago wide receiver I’m interested in, ranking second on the Bears in receptions and receiving yards. Finally, Xavier Legette is a salary saver who could make a difference on this slate if the Panthers are forced into an extended pass-heavy game script against the heavily-favored Rams.
Tight Ends
With just two games on the slate, our tight end options are limited. Colston Loveland finished the season strong and ended up leading the Bears in receptions and receiving yards, but he is also likely to see the highest ownership at the position. Colby Parkinson is the next player on the salary list on DraftKings, but he will also be competing with teammate Tyler Higbee for targets that don’t go to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. I’ll split my ownership between the two Los Angeles tight ends, with not much differentiation between them.
With the tight ends all projecting as usable options but with no player standing out as a clear option, I’ll likely pair my tight end with my quarterback in a large portion of my lineups. The tight end in the winning lineup is likely to be the one who catches a touchdown pass, and I’ll aim to capture that correlation for both the QB and the TE positions of my lineup.
