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The XFL postseason has arrived. Four teams remain alive in the hunt for the XFL title, with Arlington facing Houston on Saturday night before Sunday features Seattle against D.C. Which two teams will punch their ticket to the XFL title game, which is set for May 13th at the Alamodome in San Antonio?
Thanks to everyone who read RotoBaller's XFL coverage this season. And don't worry—if you're going to miss our XFL coverage now that the season has wound down, you can always check out our USFL coverage.
Below, you'll find my thoughts on the Division Championships DFS slate of XFL contests on DraftKings, which goes live on 4/29/2023 at 7:00 p.m. ET. Be sure to also read all our other weekly XFL fantasy football articles. Let's get to it, and good luck RotoBallers!
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DraftKings Quarterbacks - Division Championships XFL DFS Picks
Ben DiNucci - Seattle Sea Dragons - @ DC Defenders - $11,200
With A.J. McCarron's St. Louis team missing the postseason, there's no question who the top fantasy quarterback left is: Seattle's Ben DiNucci.
DiNucci had one major blemish on his resume this season—a league-high 13 interceptions—but was otherwise extremely good, throwing for an XFL-best 2,671 yards, with his 20 touchdown passes only trailing McCarron.
Even better, DiNucci has a great matchup this week. DC allowed 266.1 passing yards per game in the regular season, more than any other team. And while the SeaDragons were 0-2 against DC in the regular season, DiNucci played well against them, including a 301-yard, three-touchdown game earlier this month.
Jordan Ta'amu - DC Defenders - vs Seattle SeaDragons - $10,000
Don't think we can afford to go value this week with Luis Perez or whoever starts in Houston. Lock in one of the top two quarterbacks and build a lineup around them.
Ta'amu wasn't as accurate as DiNucci and McCarron, completing just 62.6% of his passes this year, but he was still third in passing yards and third in touchdown passes while also protecting the ball well, as he threw just three picks all season and was sacked just six times. Ta'amu threw for 247 yards and four touchdowns the last time he faced off against this Seattle team.
DraftKings Running Backs - Division Championships XFL DFS Picks
Abram Smith - DC Defenders - vs Seattle SeaDragons - $9,800
The four best run defenses in the league are in the postseason, making it really tough to find value at running back. But since the worst remaining run defense is Seattle's, then we should probably talk about Abram Smith.
Smith ran for 788 yards in the 10-game regular season, an average of 78.8 rushing yards per game. Second in overall rushing yards was Jacques Patrick at 443, and second in yards per game among qualifying players was Brian Hill at 53.1. Smith was by far the best running back in this league.
But there are some concerns here. Two of his three worst games by rushing yards came in the final two games of the year, and those games were also his lowest usage games. But now that we're in the postseason, maybe the Defenders go back to feeding Smith the ball over and over?
Leddie Brown - Arlington Renegades - @ Houston Roughnecks - $4,700
Here's the thing: Abram Smith and De'Veon Smith are the only two running backs I trust this week. But De'Veon didn't play last week with an ankle injury, and Leddie Brown got 14 carries with him sidelined.
Smith's probably good to go this week. But since that's the first game on Saturday, there's time to keep an eye on things and see if Smith has any setbacks. If he does, then Brown's got some value, though he's essentially a value punt play.
DraftKings Wide Receivers and Tight Ends - Division Championships XFL DFS Picks
Jahcour Pearson - Seattle SeaDragons - @ DC Defenders - $10,600
Whichever QB you play, I vote you try to stack him with one of his wideouts. And the most obvious stack—if you're willing to grab some value plays around it to make the salary work—is DiNucci with Jahcour Pearson.
Pearson was the XFL's top receiver this season, catching a league-high 60 passes for an also-league-high 670 yards. He only found the end zone four times, half of what Hakeem Butler got for St. Louis, but his consistent production was huge in DFS.
In 10 games, Pearson was held below 40 receiving yards just three times, and he saw six or more targets in every game. He ended the season with touchdown receptions in three consecutive games as well, which is a good time for a player with his kind of volume to peak. Can that momentum continue?
Lucky Jackson - DC Defenders - vs Seattle SeaDragons - $9,200
If you play Ta'amu, Lucky Jackson is the obvious stack. Jackson caught 36 passes for 572 yards and five touchdowns this season, with his 15.89 yards per catch leading all players with 30 or more receptions.
Jackson came on particularly strong near the end of the year. In Week 9, he caught a pair of touchdown passes, and then a week later he had 84 receiving yards, his third-best total of the season. The volume was a little down, but he made the most of each target. If we get a bump back to his midseason volume this week, Jackson could really post some big numbers.
Tavonn Salter - Houston Roughnecks - vs Arlington Renegades - $3,000
Deontay Burnett wasn't targeted last week for the Roughnecks. Maybe they were just playing it safe with their star receiver, but also...the two weeks before that, he had a combined three catches for 12 yards. Maybe he just isn't the No. 1 guy anymore.
That's why I love Salter this week, because he's $3,000 despite leading the team with six targets last week, which he turned into four catches for 47 yards. He's really risky he didn't have a single reception all year before Week 10, but if I'm paying up for a DiNucci/Pearson stack, then I'm going to need to fill out the lineup with high-risk, decent-reward plays like Salter.
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