Analysis
11/3/22
3 min read
How to Utilize Rostership Data to Win DFS Tournaments
At The 33rd Team, we have FREE Rostership data for both DraftKings and FanDuel, which will help you drastically in tournaments. Finding the one player nobody else is getting to makes a massive difference, and we have this data available for every slate each week!
If you are new to DFS, check out our introductory pieces, such as DFS 101, Contest Selection, Stacking and Lineup Construction.
Link to DraftKings Rostership: https://www.the33rdteam.com/nfl-draftkings-rostership-projections/
Link to FanDuel Rostership: https://www.the33rdteam.com/nfl-fanduel-rostership-projections/
What is Rostership?
Rostership is how popular a player will be by a percentage. This projection is based on the biggest contest for the biggest sample size. Rostership percentage is a projected number that will continuously update, so look at this data leading up to when the slate starts.
How to use it
I have always learned new things by seeing examples of them, and last weekend we had a great example of utilizing this data. Say Titans RB Derrick Henry against the Texans comes in at 45% rostered projection. That means he's a popular player, and for a smaller-sized contest, he will likely be even more popular.
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These smaller contests give you an easy way to be unique because if he's more popular, that means the players around his price range are less popular. 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey had a 7% rostered projection against the Rams at a similar price to Henry because nobody knows if he will have a significant enough role in San Francisco, and it scared people away.
In a smaller contest, people are even less likely to play him because of this risk, giving you an easy way to make your lineup unique. Both players had phenomenal games, and even though Henry had more than 200 rushing yards, McCaffrey ended up being the better player.
Rules to Follow
You don't need to stay away from popular players in your lineup, but you should have one unique spot in your lineup. The popular players have good matchups and are popular for good reasons. I attempt to put at least one player under with less than 10% rostership into my lineups.
You do not want to get different with a minimum-salary player because the point differential doesn't usually lead to that big of an upside. For example, instead of playing the $8,500 for Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill against the Lions at 35% projected rostership, you could play $7,700 for Eagles WR A.J. Brown against the Steelers at 6%. It is not always an easy task, but there is a way to provide yourself with the upside while still being unique.
WATCH MORE: A.J. Brown or DeVonta Smith in DFS?
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