Locker Thursday Night Football Review

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Published on September 13, 2024

I was excited to open the Locker app Thursday night for the game between the Dolphins and the Bills. I love analyzing a game in real time, and Locker is the first live fantasy games app, so that was a match made in heaven for me! The concept of playing against other fantasy players in real time is a unique and exciting way to play DFS.

For the Thursday night game, I played in Locker's Blitz contest. The Blitz game allows users to play separately in each of the game's four quarters. In Blitz, users can win 1.8x their money by finishing in the top half of the contest.

What's the best strategic approach on Locker?

In terms of strategy, these were the concepts I started out with:

I expected the Bills defense to play a soft zone to limit big plays from Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. As a result, I targeted any choices that focused on the running backs and tight ends seeing a lot of work, as that's what the defense would likely allow.
Offensively for the Dolphins, I didn't expect them to bang their head against the wall by consistently going bombs away against the zone. That said, I would need to predict the drives when there would be the customary deep shot (or two) to Tyreek Hill.
When Buffalo had the ball, I was mindful of the fact it was a short week. The prior Sunday, James Cook had 19 carries. Anytime there was a chance to target backup running backs Ty Johnson or Ray Davis, I would take my chances that one or the other would see work.
I also expected the Bills to work the middle of the field in the passing game. I would take a closer look at Dalton Kincaid and Khalil Shakir when they were listed as options to produce.

Once the game started, I would pay attention to game flow:

For the first quarter and change, I was able to stick with my pre-game philosophy. The game was 7-7 after the first quarter.
Once the mid-second quarter began, my strategy went out the window. Tua Tagovailoa was turning the ball over. As a result, the Bills began to pull away.
From that point on, I would lean into the Bills being very conservative. Any contest question that led me to a Buffalo RB was one I was tempted to go after.
Unfortunately, Tagovailoa suffered a head injury. Honestly, I was throwing darts when making selections when Skylar Thompson was playing QB for Miami.

Overall, I did very well in the first and second quarters. However, as the game went off the rails, I was not nearly as successful after halftime.

Join me in playing in the RotoWire League on Locker, which kicks off with Sunday's Week 2 slate of games. Sign up here.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Jim Coventry plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: mvp1986, DraftKings: mvp1986.