NFL DFS Sims: SimLabs Lineup Generator Building Blocks for Week 7

This season marks the third year 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.

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 7.

Dak Prescott + Jacory Croskey-Merritt

As I discussed extensively in my main slate breakdown for Week 7, the clear best game for DFS purposes is Commanders/Cowboys. The 54.5 total is six points higher than any other game on the slate, making it an obvious option to approach.

Most of the field seems intent on building around Commanders QB Jayden Daniels, who we’re projecting as the highest-owned QB this week. That approach makes sense. The Cowboys are dead last by a long shot in points allowed to QBs, and Daniels is a dynamic QB with plenty of rushing upside as well.

However, he might not have any wide receivers to pass to, with Terry McLaurin ruled out and Deebo Samuel a game-time decision who might be on the wrong side of questionable. That could make it tough for Daniels to do enough to justify his price tag.

Prescott is both cheaper and projecting for much lower ownership and will also be forced to attack through the air if the Commanders offense is scoring. Unlike Daniels, he’s getting receivers back this week, with CeeDee Lamb set to play for the first time in a few weeks.

Pairing him with Croskey-Merrit is a bet on the Commanders getting a lead and choosing to go run-heavy due to a lack of wide receiver options. That would simultaneously force the Cowboys to the air, creating a double dose of volume for this stack. SimLabs can then decide which Cowboys pass catchers to include, and if one of the Commanders’ cheap receiving options merits (Croskey-Merrits?) inclusion.

Justin Herbert + Jonathan Taylor

Lost in the Cowboys/Commanders enthusiasm is another solid game for fantasy purposes between the Chargers and Colts. The Colts have been the highest-scoring team in the NFL this season, led by their ground game, while the Chargers prefer to attack through the air, with the second-highest PROE in the NFL through six games.

That makes the pairing of Herbert and Taylor especially appealing. Taylor is the RB1 in most fantasy scoring settings this season, and the Chargers rank 26th in DVOA against the run. The Colts don’t need much encouragement to lean on their star back, but the Chargers make it an especially strong spot.

On the other side, Indy has faced the second-highest PROE of any defense, and the Chargers are likely to continue that trend. Herbert has all three of his top receivers healthy this week, and they all have target shares between 17% and 21%.

That makes it hard to know which combination of pass catchers to include with Herbert, but that’s where SimLabs comes in. The correct answer might be that he spreads the ball around enough to have a good game without any individual receiver standing out, or maybe one or two of them does. Those are tough decisions to make based on projections alone, but something a simulator handles well by running through the entire slate thousands of times.

Jalen Hurts + AJ Brown

Hurts is the highest-rated QB in optimal-projected ownership score this week, as the field has soured on him and the Eagles offense — despite his solid 21.1 points per game average and the Eagles’ continued usage of the “tush push” play to pick up easy touchdowns for Hurts.

Brown ranks top-five in that metric at WR and is priced all the way down at $5,800, which would’ve been incomprehensible last season when his salary was regularly around $8,000. 2025 has not gone well for Brown, but he’s still an uber-talented WR1 with a top-12 target share in the NFL.

There’s nothing especially appealing about a matchup with the tough Vikings defense, other than the fact that the Eagles offense is due for some major positive regression. This might be the lowest point we can buy in on them, both in terms of ownership and salary, so I want some exposure.

Pictured: Justin Herbert

Photo Credit: Imagn

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.

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 7.