DFS Strategy: Tips for Draftkings GPPs and Lineup Picks

GPP is a guaranteed prize pool tournament on Draftkings. It's a bigger type of tournament where the prize pools can be huge even for a small buy-in.  If you don't have a Draftkings account, or haven't dabbled in DFS, you can sign up for Draftkings here and get a juicy deposit bonus through RotoBaller.  If you sign-up and make a deposit of any size, we'll give you a full year's subscription to RotoBaller's weekly expert DFS picks service.   Just email us your Draftkings username after you make your deposit - make sure to use the above links to enter Draftkings, otherwise we won't know you signed up!).

GPP Strategy on Draftkings

First off let me state that you should go about building your GPP lineup differently than your head to head and 50/50 lineups.  Before you even start constructing your roster, jot down a few players with good matchups that you want in your lineups. Then go ahead and build around these players.

At a high level, some tips to win these GPP’s include starting players that most will not have in their lineups.  You can call these guys boom or bust type players.  Do not be afraid to fade popular plays either. A good example this week is Matt Forte as you know everyone and their mother will be playing him. Save some cash for the week and start a guy like Ellington instead who is very much involved in the passing game for Arizona. Draftkings uses PPR scoring which boosts RBs like Andre Ellington, Matt Forte, and Demarco Murray. If you're playing on other sites like Fanduel, make sure you know their scoring setup.  Let's dig into some GPP strategies in further detail.

Go Cheap at Quarterback

Personally, I like to go cheap on QB in order to stack the rest of my lineup. Nick Foles, Andy Dalton, and even Tom Brady stick out to me. All of these are priced at 6800 or below.  You will see plenty of Peyton Mannings this week but 9400 is a bit pricey to me, and as mentioned if everyone is playing him there's less room to gain an advantage over your competition.  The odds Peyton scores about 36 fantasy pts this week are very slim.  If you pay attention to over under vegas totals for the week, you'll get some good insights. For example Matt Ryan and Jay Cutler look like great plays for the week in what should be a shoot out, as the over under total for that game is the highest for the week at 54 points.

Studs + Value at Running Back

At running back, I like to go with a clear cut stud and a value play.  As mentioned above, Matt Forte will be a popular option as he is a great receiver out of the backfield.  The Falcons defense comes in at 32nd in opponent rank on Draftkings.  However, Forte's price tag is at 8800 meaning you need around 20 pts for him to pay off at that price.  Lesean McCoy has been an utter disappointment on the season but at 6000 against the Giants he seems like a very wise play.  In fact, I have him in my lineup with another cheap RB allowing me to spend more on WR’s which I recommend in PPR formats. A couple more good value plays to consider when constructing your GPP lineups include: Lamar Miller, Ronnie Hillman, CJ Spiller, Branden Oliver, and Andre Ellington.

Scoring Specifics and Tourney Size

I believe this is where you can win or lose your GPP based on the upside of your Wide Receivers.  While TDs are important to place or even win GPP’s, an 8 catch performance with 120 yards is worth 23 points without any TDs. Pay attention to the scoring of the site you play on. I can not say this enough as people will get confused with the scoring since they play on so many different DFS sites.

While it is very hard to win a large field GPP, you should be more focused on just placing.  I recommend joining smaller field GPP’s and prefer single entry ones. However, if you want to become the next millionaire on DK, take some plays out of left field if you want a chance to take it down.  Going with the crowd will not get you far if that player is chosen by 30% of the field.

Wide Receiver Strategy

Now onto some actual WR plays for the week on Draftkings.  Julio Jones will be another popular play and I would fade him just like I will fade Matt Forte.  Instead opt for Julio’s running mate in Roddy White who is bargain priced at 4800.  He should give you about 15 pts barring injury.  Kendall Wright is another mid priced play at 5500. He scored a couple TDs last week and was even given some looks out of the backfield.

Remember what Keenan Allen did to Jacksonville? Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter can do the same thing.  I am also a fan of Alshon Jeffrey this week. It seems like opposing defenses scheme to take away Brandon Marshall but in my opinion Alshon Jeffery is just as good as Brandon Marshall. Also, do not forget about Golden Tate who has posted 2 good weeks with Calvin Johnson limited.

Tight End Picks and Strategy

How do you approach TE? There is no perfect strategy here as some will pay up for the Jimmy Grahams while others will see value in Owen Daniels and save cash for other spots.  I am torn at times at what to do in picking a TE. Last week, I decided to pay up for Jimmy Graham and we all know he left early with an injury.  This week I like Larry Donnell, Zach Ertz, Martellus Bennett, and Gronkowski. There really is only 4-5 TEs I would even consider playing this week. Just save the $ this week and pay up elsewhere.

Defense Picks and Strategy

A solid defensive output really can put you over the top. Last week, I used the Steelers and Seahawks.  Many expected the Jags offense to engage in a shootout with the Steelers but that never happened. The Steelers picked off Bortles a couple times and returned one for a touchdown. I expect the Titans to get a couple interceptions and are a worthy defensive play this week. A couple other defenses to consider are the Chargers, Ravens, and Patriots.

GPP Stacking

In closing, let me touch on stacking in GPP’s. This simply means starting a QB and WR from the same team looking for essentially double points.  Some will even take this to the extreme and start a QB, RB and even both WR’s from the same exact squad. This is very risky but it does work sometimes. I am sure you will see some Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, Alshon Jeffrey, and Brandon Marshall lineups.  These lineups can definitely place and win you some $ but I have my doubts that they can take down a large field GPP as someone will definitely get “lucky” and hit on random players who go off.

My advice to players is to not be afraid and construct several different GPP lineups. I limit myself to around 10 bucks in GPP’s and focus most of my time on 50/50’s and H2H’s.  Many newbs will be chasing the big bucks and be hitting the deposit button every week. Do not get sucked into this trap and make sure you practice bankroll management which is essential if you want to stick around in DFS.  Put around 10 hours of research a week, read every article and in the end always start your own plays.  You will deposit a few times before you get the hang of this and see your bankroll increase. Never bet your whole balance and set aside a limit in terms of dollars spent on GPP’s and other games for the week. Stick to your plan and hope you get lucky and hit a big pay day.  Just make sure to enjoy playing DFS.