Last NFL season, our new SimLabs tool went live to the public. It’s a powerful new feature that allows casual players to build competitive lineups effortlessly — or serious players to leverage their convictions more effectively. This week, 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 earlier in the year. 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 3.
Jalen Hurts + Devonta Smith
Hurts has had two solid games so far this season, averaging about 22 DraftKings points per game but with no real outlier performance.
That could be in the cards this week as his Eagles take on the high-scoring Saints. New Orleans won’t continue to average 40+ points per game, but even getting to the 30 mark should be enough to keep Philly aggressive throughout this one.
The Eagles should have a fairly concentrated offense with AJ Brown likely to miss again. That leaves Smith and Saquon Barkley as the primary skill players in this one. However, Barkley and Hurts have a bit of inverse correlation since Hurts’ production relies so much on rushing touchdowns, therefore I like the Smith skinny stacks.
SimLabs can figure out which Saints bring-backs make the most sense, as all of Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, and Rashid Shaheed make sense. My gut says we’ll want two Saints skill players coming back, but I’m more than happy to surrender that decision to the sims.
It’s worth noting that Hurts leads the slate in “Optimal vs. Projected ownership” this week, making him a top play.
Don’t forget to check out our SImLabs Lineup Generator to create advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation:
Dak Prescott + Derrick Henry
I broke down the logic behind this pairing in my Week 3 Main Slate Breakdown, and I love using it as a SimLabs piece.
The Cowboys are a team built to play from in front, with a speedy defense and a strong pass rush that’s weak against the run. That should force Prescott and the Cowboys to open up the offense early, which bodes well for the passing game.
The even better scenario would be the Ravens getting the lead. Henry has taken a back seat in terms of snap counts to Justice Hill so far this season, but the Ravens are 0-2. Should they find themselves in a positive game script, they’re likely to feed the big dog.
His success would put the Ravens farther ahead, forcing the Cowboys to throw more aggressively, creating a virtuous cycle of fantasy goodness.
We could also include CeeDee Lamb in this stack, but I suspect SimLabs will have him in the bulk of the lineups built this way.
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Kyler Murray + Marvin Harrison
The slate’s highest-total game has one fairly concentrated offense (Arizona) taking on one with plenty of mouths to feed in the Lions.
That makes betting on the Cardinals side of things much easier, as the bulk of their passing production is centered around Marvin Harrison and tight end Trey McBride.
I considered including McBride as a building block here, but I want to leave room for SimLabs to work in some of the Lions TE Sam LaPorta — while not rostering two tight ends for a total of more than $12,000 in salary.
Another option worth playing with is including Lions running back David Montgomery. In game scenarios where the Lions get out to a lead, we should get a heavy dose of “D-Mont” with the Cardinals airing it out on the other side.
