When putting together an NFL GPP lineup, there are a number of factors you should keep in mind, including the Vegas over/under game totals, weather forecast, and anticipated game flow. In addition, there are a number of GPP ‘guidelines’ or unwritten rules, which players attempt to follow, mostly with sound reasoning. These include stacking a QB with a teammate WR, not pairing a team’s QB and RB, and avoiding usage of RBs playing against each other.

Despite the logic in these guidelines, it is equally important to keep in mind that there are no rules. Any and all of the above can and have been violated at times with great results, and we will look into some examples in future articles.

One of the best ways to improve your game and learn what it takes to land the big GPP pot is to deconstruct the lineups of previous winners. This week, we will take a look at the winning lineups of this season’s FanDuel Sunday Million, making note of some of the do’s and don’ts that went into constructing these big prize squads.

FanDuel tournaments are constructed with a $60,000 salary cap and the nine lineup slots are QB/RB/RB/WR/WR/WR/TE/K/DEF.

Week 1: winning total = 201.32. Salary allocation: QB – 11%, RB – 27%, WR – 37%, TE – 8%, Kicker & Defense – 16%.

Week 2: winning total = 209.66. Salary allocation: QB – 14%, RB – 24%, WR – 34%, TE – 14%, Kicker & Defense – 15%.

Week 3: winning total = 252.10. Salary allocation: QB – 13%, RB – 22%, WR – 38%, TE – 10%, Kicker & Defense – 17%.

Week 4: winning total = 176.12. Salary allocation: QB – 12%, RB – 23%, WR – 40%, TE – 9%, Kicker & Defense – 16%.

Week 5: winning total = 206.54. Salary allocation: QB – 13%, RB – 23%, WR – 39%, TE – 9%, Kicker & Defense – 16%.

Week 6: winning total = 205.80. Salary allocation: QB – 12%, RB – 26%, WR – 37%, TE – 10%, Kicker & Defense – 15%.

Week 7: winning total = 224.32. Salary allocation: QB – 15%, RB – 24%, WR – 38%, TE – 9%, Kicker & Defense – 15%.

Week 8: winning total = 215.54. Salary allocation: QB – 13%, RB – 24%, WR – 37%, TE – 11%, Kicker & Defense – 16%.

You will see from the above salary allocation statistics that the salary percentages by position of the winning teams strongly correlate to one another. Nobody has won maxing out on three top salary WRs, which would total 45% or more of the $60,000 cap, and in terms of the marquee names, none of the winning teams maxed out on the top QBs on the slate. In fact, eight different QBs are represented, yet none of the eight are named Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers.

When putting together a lineup in a massive-GPP field, you will also need to have players that others did not think to use… and they will need to produce. During the week, you will hear a lot of chatter about what matchups look solid, who will put up big numbers, and who is going to see more touches. From this chatter, you can develop a feel on who will be highly owned.

Keep in mind, however, that if you use three or four of these players and they produce, you will need to hit on every other player on your roster in order to snag a top ten finish. You simply will not gain the ground on the field that low percentage owned players would give you. On the other hand, if you avoid all of the ‘hot reads’ and they all produce big numbers, you are dead on arrival.

The logic that normally dictates here is that one or two of the hot reads will end up producing well and the rest of them will not. Let’s take a look at the eight Million winners again to illustrate the importance of zigging when the populace zags:

Week 1: Seven of the nine players used were under 5% owned.

Week 2: Four players under 5% owned.

Week 3: Two players under 5% owned, including K. Allen at 1.6% and S. Smith at 2.5%.

Week 4: Two players under 5% owned, including P. Rivers at 3.5%.

Week 5: Only one player under 5%, and that was 3.6% D. Martin with a team high 17% of the points scored.

Week 6: Five players under 5% owned.

Week 7: One player under 5% owned. The team’s leading scorer, L. Miller, was only 8% owned.

Week 8: Five players under 5% owned.

In summary, don’t be afraid to roll with players you feel strongly about, despite a lack of chatter; the winners above all did so and became very popular at their local banks as a result. Now, head to FanDuel and win one.