NFL DFS Sims: SimLabs Lineup Generator Building Blocks for Week 1

This season marks year four of our SimLabs tool being available to the public. It’s a powerful feature that allows casual players to build competitive lineups effortlessly — or serious players to leverage their convictions more effectively. We’ve also added the feature of being able to export lineups from SimLabs directly to our models for easy tweaking of lineups.

I broke down some general uses of the tool from an evergreen perspective last season. Moving forward, we’ll be checking out some suggested starting points for building lineups.

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The process is simple: from the SimLabs home screen, first select the field size and desired range of outcomes for your lineups. The field size depends on the contest type, while the “results range” allows you to customize how unique you want your lineups to be.

Then, find the box titled “include players” and type your preferred options — then sit back and let the sims do their thing. You can generate as many or as few lineups as you want, then upload directly to DraftKings to be entered into contests.

For more on what SimLabs is and how it works, check out our user guide.

Let’s check out some potential starting points in Week 1.

Baker Mayfield + Ja’Marr Chase + Tee Higgins

The Bengals/Bucs game has the highest total on the slate, but the field seems to be piling onto Bengals QB Joe Burrow rather than Bucs QB Baker Mayfield. Burrow is projecting for roughly 3x the ownership despite being more expensive and there being some fairly easy strategies that make Mayfield a better play. Check out where both QBs fall in the “Optimal vs. Projected Ownership” rankings from SimLabs:

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Beyond the data above, it feels fairly easy to capture most of Burrow’s production without actually playing Burrow and much harder with Mayfield. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins accounted for 55% of the Bengals’ total targets and 57% of their passing yards last season despite missing a combined three games. Rostering both of them captures most of the upside from Cincinnati’s passing attack.

On the flip side, the Bucs have a crowded and uncertain wide receiver room, plus tight end Cade Otton. On top of that, Mayfield contributes a bit with his legs. Thus, by rostering “naked” Mayfield, we can account for all of the Bucs’ passing points while capturing the Bengals’ passing points via their top wide receivers – all at lower ownership than a traditional stack + bring-back.

Jared Goff + Chris Olave + Boost Lions Pass Catchers

We have a similar dynamic in the Lions/Saints game, which has the second-best total on the board. Detroit has a plethora of weapons in the passing game, with Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and Sam LaPorta likely to have big receiving games at various points this season.

It will be hard on a weekly basis to predict which of those players has the big game, so it makes sense to cast a fairly wide net, boosting (to various extents) each of them in builds in which you lock Goff. I’ll be boosting St. Brown the least because his high ownership makes him less valuable relative to a different player going off, but any combination of players with Goff makes sense. SimLabs also does a good job of determining how many players to stack based on your contest size, so be sure to adjust your setting appropriately:

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As for Olave, he’s a fairly obvious bring-back choice against a weak Lions’ secondary. If New Orleans keeps pace, it’s likely because of him, and if they fall behind, he’ll see plenty of targets. Either of those scenarios is good for the game stack, so I’m not overthinking that side of things.

Pictured: Baker Mayfield
Photo Credit: Imagn