The Do’s and Don’ts of Playing Preseason NFL DFS

As the self-proclaimed “niche sports extraordinaire” of FTN, you’ll typically see me navigating the college sports or alt-football streets. I’m honored to be a part of the NFL preseason DFS coverage FTN is offering – starting right now with this piece on how to play NFL preseason DFS. Grinding college football, the CFL, USFL and any other alt-football league you can think of has allowed me to sharpen my skills and enhance my overall ability in the DFS realm. I will apply this knowledge to help you win money in the preseason and extend our edge over the rest of the industry.

You can expect to see “Top Plays” style writeups from me for each preseason slate, which will include core plays, PrizePicks props and strategy talk. However, in order to be truly successful at preseason NFL DFS we need to delve into the do’s and don’ts before we get into breaking down the actual slates. In this piece, I will highlight what is beneficial to this process while also elaborating on anything that I consider to be detrimental or borderline useless when building preseason lineups.

Do: For NFL Preseason DFS, Utilize Twitter, Discord or Other Social Media Outlets to Digest Player/Team News

If you have followed me over the years, you’ll know that a large portion of my edge in niche sports comes from tracking player/team news. For me, this includes following beat writers on Twitter, monitoring trustworthy message boards, processing info on the FTN Discord and networking with knowledgeable sources. I can’t begin to tell you how many times we have benefitted from late scratches or surprise starters late into a slate simply because we were vigorously tracking the news. This is going to be especially important for the preseason because there will be announcements about starters playing limited snaps, positional competitions and player cuts. We will be sharing all pertinent information with you in the Discord but it’s important to realize that we sometimes have to process any changes quickly and will be forced to make snap decisions based on that news. You would be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t have notifications turned on for beat writers or reporters on social media in addition to staying active in the FTN Discord.

Don’t: Take Everything You Read as Gospel

What do I mean by this? Well, there are some trolls out there in the social media world who get a kick out of posting false info or impersonating beat writers. You must vet your sources and ensure that you’re digesting reputable information. Verifying an account has a checkmark on Twitter is an easy way to do this. However, some really good accounts/reporters don’t have a check mark and are still trustworthy. Prior to the start of the season, it’s a good idea to prune your follow list and turn notifications on for relevant accounts. You can use Tweetdeck, which allows you to look at multiple timelines or posts in your feed. There are also lists on Twitter that you can follow or create. I will be building some lists for various sports news and accounts, which I will pass along to all members when completed.

Do: Beware of How Deadlines and Schedules Impact NFL Preseason DFS

Each team has three preseason games this year with the exception of the Raiders and Jaguars, who will have four because they’re taking part in the Hall of Fame Game. The roster cuts take place on the following dates this year:

• Aug. 16: Teams must reduce their active roster to 85 players
• Aug. 23: Teams must reduce their active roster to 80 players
• Aug. 30: Teams must reduce their active roster 53 players

Positional competition can be fierce when player cut deadlines are looming, and this essentially goes hand in hand with tracking team news. Oftentimes we will see a player get featured more prior to a cut deadline to see if he has what it takes to play in the league. This is a sneaky way to roster players with guaranteed touches which is something that will set you apart from the rest of the field. Properly predicting touches in preseason can be tricky but rewarding if you get it right.

Don’t: Just Plug in Well-Known Commodities and Regular Season Starters

This might seem like a no-brainer, but you’ll be shocked to see how many of your opponents’ lineups out there are filled with regular season starters and big-name players. I’m not saying to never play those guys obviously, but we will let the news help guide our lineup-building decisions in that regard. You’ll see someone like Jonathan Taylor rostered even when it’s announced that he will see limited snaps or won’t play at all. Punish opponents that get lazy with news and watch your bankroll expand like one of your kids’ Magic Grow Animal Capsules.

Do: Treat Each NFL Preseason Week Like It’s a New Season

I’m the guiltiest of this, but in DFS I find myself latching onto certain players and rolling with them repeatedly. This is fine and dandy during the regular season but can get you into some serious trouble in the preseason. You may strike gold with a low-rostered player who got extended run one week but isn’t even guaranteed to get touches in the next game. This could be from many reasons. His performance may have solidified his roster spot or perhaps the team wants to feature someone else to see what they can offer. Don’t get married to a particular player during these games.

Don’t: Ignore Your DST Slot Until the End of Your Build

This one might have you scratching your head if you’re new to preseason DST, but hear me out. Points are tough to come by in the preseason, and you will even find yourself cashing contests with a 0 because of how low scoring slates can be. With that said, prioritizing DST can be a profitable maneuver especially when it comes to showdown slates. There is guaranteed point production with a DST, and they’re far more predictable than the offenses because we don’t have to guess at snap counts. Teams will move through their various offensive groups quickly in preseason games while first and second team defensive players may play longer. This creates scenarios in which a starting caliber group of defenders are facing off with third string offensive players. When that happens, it’s “boom goes the dynamite” time.

Do: Use All of the Tools We Offer at FTN and Digest the Content We Offer

This may come off as pompous, but I really do feel we offer the best content in the business in all sports. Not only will we offer slate breakdowns but there will be projections, livestreams, Q&A sessions, Discord strategy talk and more. Using this information and processing it in a productive manner will make you a better player and put you in a position to take money from your opponents’ accounts and drop it right into yours.