NFL Lineup Optimizer
Cap-legal FanDuel single-game lineups off our FanDuel-scored projections — 5 spots from one game, $60,000 cap. Pick the side your MVP comes from, lock or fade anyone.
Showdown rosters a kicker, and kicking is the one thing we project barely better than a coin flip — our own weekly test put it at a 0.08 correlation. Treat any K here as a salary decision, not a read.
- MVP＋ tap a player to add
- FLEX＋ tap a player to add
- FLEX＋ tap a player to add
- FLEX＋ tap a player to add
- FLEX＋ tap a player to add
1 game· pick the side your captain comes from
How the NFL DFS lineup optimizer works
5 slots in one game — a MVP at 1.5× points and 1.5× salary, the rest any position, $60,000. The solver is exact — it searches every cap-legal combination rather than filling slots greedily, so the lineup it returns is the highest-projecting one available, not a good guess. Ask for several and each one is built around a different mvp, which is where real variety comes from; re-rolling the same solve just returns the same lineup.
The projections underneath are the ones on our player prop boards, from a drive-level simulation of every game. We grade them in the open and say where we have no edge — the prop markets came back projections-only, and that is published rather than buried.
The book toggle at the top is not a display switch. DraftKings is full PPR and FanDuel is half, and DraftKings pays 3-point bonuses at 100 rushing or receiving yards where FanDuel pays none — so switching re-solves against that book's own salaries AND its own scoring. A ten-catch slot receiver moves five points before a single yard, which is why a lineup ported straight across is rarely the right lineup. The NFL DFS guide has the full comparison.
NFL DFS optimizer — FAQ
What is the best free NFL lineup optimizer?
MatchWiz's NFL lineup optimizer is free and runs on our own weekly fantasy-point projections — the same numbers we grade against real box scores in the open, so you can check the track record instead of trusting a black box. It builds cap-legal lineups for DraftKings and FanDuel — Classic on both, plus DraftKings Showdown and FanDuel Single Game — and supports QB stacking and bring-backs, player locks and excludes, and exposure limits across multiple lineups, then exports straight to that site's own upload CSV.
How does the DraftKings NFL Classic roster work?
Nine slots under a $50,000 cap: one QB, two RBs, three WRs, one TE, one FLEX and one team defense. The FLEX takes any running back, receiver or tight end. There is no kicker slot in Classic — DraftKings only rosters kickers in Showdown, its single-game format. FanDuel's Classic roster is the same nine slots with the same positions, under a $60,000 cap; its single-game format is five spots with an MVP at 1.5x.
Does this work for FanDuel as well as DraftKings?
Yes, and the toggle at the top switches the whole board rather than just the label. FanDuel runs a $60,000 cap against DraftKings' $50,000, and scores half a point per reception where DraftKings scores a full one — plus DraftKings pays 3-point bonuses at 100 rushing or receiving yards and 300 passing yards that FanDuel doesn't. So switching re-solves against FanDuel's own salaries and our FanDuel-scored projections. Both books refresh every morning, and both cover the single-game format as well as Classic — DraftKings Showdown at six spots with a captain, FanDuel Single Game at five with an MVP. Every game on the card has one.
What is a QB stack, and should I use one?
Stacking means pairing a quarterback with his own pass-catchers. It works because their scores are the same event: a touchdown pass is points for both. That correlation raises a lineup's ceiling, which is what wins tournaments. A bring-back adds a player from the opposing team so the lineup still scores if the game turns into a shootout the other way. For cash games, correlation matters less and a straight points-max build is usually fine.
Where do the projections come from?
A drive-level simulation of each game, run thousands of times. It projects team plays and pass rate, splits the work across the players expected to dress, then draws each play's outcome. Every market it produces is graded against real results and published, including the ones where we have no edge on the market.
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Projections and salaries for research. Not betting advice. Neither DraftKings nor FanDuel is affiliated with MatchWiz.