FanDuel Single-Game Daily Fantasy Football Helper: NFC Championship
One of the more unique NFL contests you can play on FanDuel is the single-game contest, where you roster five players, all from the same game. You pick one player to be your MVP, and his point total is multiplied by 1.5.
With only two games on Sunday, single-game contests will likely be more popular than usual. So how should you approach them?
Let's look at some players to target in the NFC Championship game between the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers
MVP Options
Davante Adams, WR, Packers ($14,500)
You might think it’s crazy to start off this game slate with a player from a team currently implied to score the fewest points in the Conference Championship round, but Davante Adams makes a compelling case for MVP in this contest.
If there’s one player on the Packers you want to bet on having a big game, it’s Adams. He led all Packers in FanDuel points last week against the Seattle Seahawks, posting a stat line of 11 targets, 8 receptions 160 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. He also led all Packers this season in target share, and it really wasn’t even close. Adams saw 23.50% of the teams targets, which was 10.88 percentage points more than the next player (Aaron Jones). That trend continued last week as Adams saw 40.74% of the targets.
While the Niners' defense has been stout all season, Adams has the best matchup of any Packer this week. Per PFF’s wide receiver/cornerback matchup chart, Adams is expected to be up against San Fran cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, who has been the biggest liability for the 49ers' secondary all season.
Per our projections, Adams is currently forecasted to score 16.8 FanDuel points, the most of any receiver playing in either game Sunday. He’s the only receiver projected to see double-digit targets this week, as well.
George Kittle, TE, 49ers ($13,500)
George Kittle has to be on the MVP radar.
He is a force to be reckoned with and should have his way with the Packers’ defense. Per PFF’s tight end matchup chart, Kittle is expected to face off against Green Bay safety Darnell Savage Jr.. PFF is giving Kittle a 13% advantage in this matchup, which is the highest among any tight end playing in this round. Kittle is five inches taller than Savage and roughly 50 pounds heavier.
We currently have Kittle projected to be the second-highest scoring tight end of the two-game slate (trailing Travis Kelce), but he certainly has the upside to break a single-game slate.
The Niners' offense can be tricky to predict, but Kittle has been the most consistent offensive weapon for this team. He hasn’t seen fewer than five targets in a game dating back to Week 13 of the regular season, and he saw fewer than five looks in only two games all season.
Flex Plays
Aaron Rodgers, QB, Packers ($15,500)
If you’re going to use Adams as your MVP -- or even at the flex position -- you’ll have the option of stacking him with Aaron Rodgers. Considering the Packers implied to score only 19.5 points, you don’t have to stack the two together, but doing so might be a contrarian move.
Rodgers does have a tough matchup against a Niners defense that allowed just 16.0 FanDuel points per game to opposing quarterbacks this season, the 10th-fewest across the league. But as 7.5-point underdogs in this contest, the Packers will likely be playing from behind, which should give Rodgers more opportunity to put up points via the passing game.
Deebo Samuel, WR, 49ers ($10,000)
Outside of Kittle, Deebo Samuel has been the most efficient receiver for the Niners.
Dating back to November, Samuel has scored double-digit FanDuel points in seven of his last nine games. During that stretch, he’s averaging 6.1 targets per contest. That may not seem like a lot, but he’s accounted for almost 17% of the 49ers' targets this season, the second-most behind Kittle.
He also brings a bit of rushing upside to his game, as well. During the month of December, Samuel averaged 1.8 rushing attempts per game while averaging 13.55 yards per carry. He scored two rushing touchdowns during that six-game span.
Going by our numbers, Samuel is projected to be second-highest scoring wideout in this game, behind only Adams.
Tevin Coleman ($12,000) and/or Raheem Mostert ($10,500), RBs, 49ers
The Niners should be able to beat the Packers on the ground, but figuring out who exactly is going to be the primary back for the Niners is tricky.
Toward the end of the regular season, it was Raheem Mostert who took the control as the primary back for this team. He scored a touchdown in each of the Niners' last six regular season games, averaging 16.8 FanDuel points per outing during that time. Prior to last week, this looked to be Mostert’s backfield.
However, that changed in the Divisional Round as it was Tevin Coleman who ended up being the top back for the Niners. He had 22 rushing attempts -- compared to Mostert’s 12 -- while rushing for 105 yards and 2 scores.
If you can figure out who the Niners' plan to lean on in this game, roster that running back. The Packers have been susceptible to the running back position all season, allowing 23.7 FanDuel points per game to opposing backs, the eight-most across the league.
Because of the cost savings you can get with Mostert, I would lean that direction, or you could go the contrarian route and roster both running backs.
Griffin Swanson is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Griffin Swanson also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username GriffDogg_. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. (edited)
