When it comes to winning your fantasy football league the one constant piece of advice that will be offered is to know your scoring system inside and out. The same goes for playing Daily Fantasy Sports on FanDuel, the first thing you should be doing is mastering the scoring system. You need to try to find every advantage possible each week to compete with the competitive players in the DFS world, and knowing the scoring system is one way that you can have some control over the outcome. With only starting 9 players each week (1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 PK, 1 DEF) and having a $60,000 salary cap you have to make each position count to its fullest. I want to take an in-depth look at how the scoring structure breaks down for each position and discuss different strategies for how to allocate your salary cap for each position.
OFFENSE
| PLAY | POINTS |
| Rushing Yards | 0.1 Points |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 6 Points |
| Passing Yards | 0.04 Points |
| Passing Touchdowns | 4 Points |
| Interceptions | -1 Points |
| Receiving Yards | 0.1 Points |
| Receiving Touchdowns | 6 Points |
| Receptions | 0.5 Points |
| Kick-return Touchdowns | 6 Points |
| Punt-return Touchdowns | 6 Points |
| Fumbles Lost | -2 Points |
| Own Fumbles Recovered Touchdown | 6 Points |
| Two-Point Conversions Scored | 2 Points |
| Two-Point Conversions Passes | 2 Points |
QUARTERBACKS
The Quarterback position on FanDuel is a very important one as you only get one shot at the guy who will be touching the ball on every offensive snap. With FanDuel's scoring system of 4 points per passing touchdown the goal is to find a QB that can give you 2+ touchdowns a game and a base of 250 passing yards and to ensure those numbers you usually have to look to one of the more expensive top QB options each week. Another nice option when selecting your QB is to look at the bonuses you can get if your QB gets a rushing TD (6 Points) and the 0.1 points per rushing yard, this makes the running QBs like Cam Newton, Robert Griffin III, Colin Kaepernick, and Russell Wilson even that much more valuable. Any chance you have to play an angle on FanDuel to acquire bonus points is only going to help your cause in the long run.
RUNNING BACKS
Choosing a running back in redrafts and dynasty leagues can often be tough as injuries seem to hit them harder than any other position. This is where it makes things fun with the DFS games, as at the start of each week you have a fresh start and don't have to worry about injuries to your backfield as you get to start over from scratch. As the weeks go on in the season knowing the RB depth chart of teams can be very beneficial in terms of choosing your FanDuel starting RBs. Some of the scoring rules to watch for are the 0.5 points per reception for all positions (RB, WR, TE). This can be very helpful when trying to decide between a Stevan Ridley type and a Darren Sproles type. When you have the tough calls at RB each week lean towards the back that is going to see a few more targets out of the backfield. Also get to know the defense your player is facing, if that defense struggles against the run he has an advantage and may be worth starting over bigger named backs. Generally you want to look for a RB that has a good matchup and has potential to touch the ball 20+ times a game. Touchdowns are one of the biggest things to look for as well when it comes to choosing your RB, for example your starting RB could rush for 20 times and only pick up 60 yards but if he picks up a pair of 1 yard TDs you have an 18 point game from that player.
WIDE RECEIVERS
The ability to start 3 wide receivers each week allows for you to go out more on a limb at this position than any of the others. Being a PPR (0.5 Point Reception) format you have a variety of options at how you can attack the position and if you can hit on all 3 of your WR spots you will be well ahead of the game and your opponents on a weekly basis. Often you can find the better value players at the WR position and your 3rd WR spot can be viewed more as a Flex option to help free up some salary for some of the other positions. The best way to attack this position is to look for the best matchups and then look for players that get the targets on a consistent basis each week. There is nothing worse than putting up a low score from one of your 7 offensive starters (1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE) because you didn't put in the research. Sure injuries can happen in the middle of the game but for one of your WRs to play a full game and only see 2 targets will ruin your entire day at FanDuel. One of the nice bonuses to also pay attention to is the punt/kick return touchdowns (6 Points) which makes players like Cordarrelle Patterson, Randall Cobb, Percy Harvin, and DeSean Jackson even more appealing.
TIGHT ENDS
Tight End is the position I like to go all in on and players like Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski are at a premium in a league like FanDuel where there is no option to start a Flex player. It is a position that you don't need to over think when making your selection, you have one shot and need to make it count. When you get past the Graham, Gronkowski, Thomas, and Cameron names you are playing with fire at the TE position as it is hard to find consistency on a week to week basis. I often found that the times I tried to get cute at the position and take a stab at a mid-level TE I would often get burnt and regretted not spending a little bit more of my salary to ensure the stud TE.
KICKERS
| PLAY | YARDS | POINTS |
| Field-goals from | 0-39 yards | 3 points |
| Field-goals from | 40-49 yards | 4 points |
| Field-goals from | 50+ yards | 5 points |
| Extra-Point | 1 point |
When people say that the kicker position doesn't matter in fantasy football, they are not referring to FanDuel. At FanDuel the kicker position is one that matters a great deal as it is one of your 9 starting positions and with every point so critical in a salary league you have very little margin for error. The things I like to look for when choosing my kicker:
- Does he play on an offensive team that can move the ball well?
- Does the opponent have a strong redzone defense?
- Big leg kickers are more valuable as they get 4 points for a 40-49 yard field goal and 5 points for a 50+ yard field goal.
- Know the point spread, if the game is going to be a blowout the kicker could still kick 2-3 FGs in the second half.
- Check for weather updates and field conditions. Sometimes the doom kickers are the way to go and hold a better value.
DEFENSE
|
PLAY |
POINTS |
| Sacks | 1 Point |
| Opponent-fumble recovered | 2 Points |
| Interception Return Touchdowns | 6 Points |
| Fumble Return Touchdowns | 6 Points |
| Kickoff Return Touchdowns | 6 Points |
| Punt Return Touchdowns | 6 Points |
| Safeties | 2 Points |
| Blocked Kicks | 2 Points |
| Interceptions | 2 Points |
| 0 Points Allowed | 10 Points |
| 1-6 Points Allowed | 7 Points |
| 7-13 Points Allowed | 4 Points |
| 14-20 Points Allowed | 1 Point |
| 28-34 Points Allowed | -1 Point |
| 35+ Points Allowed | -4 Points |
Just as kickers play a major role in your weekly lineup, selecting a defense can also separate you from the pack in your different leagues. The nice thing about playing in weekly leagues is having the option to play matchups. You are not stuck with a defense all season long or trying to find the best defense on the waiver wire that week, you have the chance to select anyone of the 32 teams each and every week. Use this to your advantage and play the matchups and look for opportunities that a strong defense is playing against an inexperienced QB, as turnovers are a big part of the defensive scoring breakdown. You are essentially looking for a defense that is going to score a touchdown each week and those 6 points are going to set your squad apart from a lot of the other weekly entries at FanDuel.