NFL DFS Showdown SZN 2023: Dolphins vs. Patriots

Welcome to this edition of the NFL DFS Showdown SZN breakdown. The aim of this post is to look at the best players to build around and constructions to focus on for the night's NFL DFS showdown contests on Draftkings. We run the new Showdown Contest simulations to see what differences we can find in projected ownership and likely exposure. Likewise, we take into account the whole lineup's projection and ownership.

Main Points:

• The captain offering the most leverage is DeVante Parker, while the most leverage offered on the slate is Tyreek in the FLEX
• Building with a lean towards the Patriots is a straightforward way to use Tyreek in more unique ways
• Avoiding the combo of Tua, Rhamondre, and Tyreek in the FLEX will help considerably with your dupe management

For conversation and game theory on the charts with updated ownership distributions as well as the top ownership lineups, jump in the Paydirt discord! Free with this link: https://discord.gg/mQ6u5dfawF

Captain ownership distributions

The highest exposures in the contest simulations go to Rhamondre Stevenson and Mac Jones, but the highest leverage belongs to DeVante Parker. His exposure of 10% is considerably higher than his projected captain ownership of under 2%. This makes him a premium captain option on a slate that should have very condensed ownership at the high price points. On the other side of this table is Tyreek Hill, who has the worst leverage offered at captain with a -7% rate of exposures minus projected ownership.

FLEX ownership distributions

Where Tyreek lacks at captain leverage, he makes up for greatly at FLEX leverage. He offers by far the most leverage on the slate at a 30% mark here, as the field is overvaluing his captain value and undervaluing his FLEX usage. Rhamondre Stevenson comes in second in terms of leverage gained with an exposure minus projected ownership of just under 20%. The largest negative leverage offered at FLEX is Kendrick Bourne, making him a worthwhile fade in GPPs.

Some other notes on optimization exposures and projected ownership:

• There’s not really a free square on this slate, but Tyreek Hill is pretty close. He should be locked into the majority of your lineups at FLEX.
• As we typically see with top heavy showdown slates, lots of cheap players project as underowned, so leaning into the uncertainty to take advantage of the studs works here.

The Patriots defense appears appropriately valued, but the Dolphins defense is overvalued. It sets up well for a Patriots 4-2 lean.

Duplication projections and DFS lineups to avoid

Here is a sample of the lineups in terms of highest ownership from the contest simulations. To clarify, you should avoid playing these lineups in large field GPPs tonight:

The lineups with some of the highest projected ownership follow the typical pattern of a top heavy showdown: cheap captains and jamming in the studs. We see a handful of kicker captains with Jason Sanders, along with some Mac Jones and DeVante Parker. In the FLEX, we see three main pieces: Tua, Tyreek, and Rhamondre Stevenson. This offers multiple interesting leverage points in GPPs, as avoiding that 3-man combo is going to help your dupe count immensely. Going with Jaylen Waddle instead of Tyreek or Tua, for instance, is a way to manage duplications while maintaining solid upside.

Especially considering the opportunity cost of using Tua and Tyreek together, it makes a lot of sense to fade Tua for Waddle and hope for a Patriots gamescript that controls the ball and limits upside.

DFS Showdown SZN: Final Thoughts

This game has kind of an odd vibe. The Dolphins are a high octane offense, but they have a very clear gameplan, which Bellichick has made a career of shutting down. On the other side, the Patriots are a team without a true identity early in the season, and the Dolphins defense looked good in week one against a better Chargers offense. My guess is that people just put all their eggs in the Tua/Tyreek basket and largely ignore Waddle and Mostert as viable upside options.

A build focused on the Dolphins win through the run game and a fade of Tua is one of my favorite ways to attack. The other more obvious route is a shootout that leans 4-2 towards the Patriots with Devante Parker at captain.

Some players that look overvalued:

• Kendrick Bourne
• Tyreek Hill (captain)
• Dolphins DST

Some players that look undervalued:

• DeVante Parker (CPT)
• Jaylen Waddle
• Patriots stacks

Good luck and bink a unique

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