This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Football series.
Wild card weekend comes to a close with a Monday Night Football clash between the Cowboys and Buccaneers at 8:15 p.m. EST. Yahoo has been and will continue running DFS contests every day that playoff football is on, including single-game contests such as Monday's.
Monday's biggest NFL DFS contest on Yahoo is the NFL $50K MNF Wild Card Baller. This contest pays out a guaranteed prize pool of $50,000 to the top 950 entries, including a grand prize of $10,000 to first place. Each entry is $15, with a maximum of 3,920 total entries and 115 per participant. The Saturday Baller will still run if it doesn't fill, potentially providing you with enhanced odds of winning, also known as overlay.
Playing in guaranteed prize pool (GPP) contests is about chasing upside, while lineups geared towards head-to-head, 50/50 or double-up formats should prioritize high floors. The players you want to target for these different contest types aren't mutually exclusive, but winning a GPP tournament usually requires finding a hidden gem or going against the grain in a spot or two, while building a solid base of the same chalk plays you would use anywhere. Against-the-grain plays typically consist of big-name players in tough matchups or boom-or-bust types with uncertain roles.
Keep in mind that Yahoo DFS contests use 0.5 PPR scoring rather than full PPR, which lowers the comparative value of wide receivers and running backs (in that order) while especially affecting high-volume pass-catchers. Your NFL $50K MNF Wild Card Baller lineup for Monday's playoff matchup will consist of one SUPERSTAR spot that has the same cap hit but scores with a 1.5X multiplier, as well as four FLEX spots. The recommendations below will be broken down by position, but you can use QBs, RBs, WRs, TEs or D/ST units with no minimum or maximum requirements per position.
QUARTERBACK
Tom Brady ($24) is a terrific value and should be in consideration for your SUPERSTAR spot. He heated up down the stretch, throwing for 1,025 yards in his last three full games to go with a 7:4 TD:INT and a rushing TD. Dallas has a tough defense on turf, but the Cowboys fell apart on that side of the ball when they had to play on natural grass, which is what Tampa Bay uses at Raymond James Stadium. In road games at Philadelphia, Green Bay, Jacksonville, Tennessee and Washington, the Cowboys allowed 27.2 points per game, which is well above Dallas' season average of 20.1 PPG against.
Dak Prescott ($29) is also a SUPERSTAR spot candidate. He threw multiple touchdowns in eight of the last 10 games, and the Buccaneers defense will likely prioritize stopping the run and making Prescott prove he can beat them with his arm. Dak has also shown he can make plays with his legs in the postseason, scoring a rushing touchdown in each of his last three playoff games.
RUNNING BACK
Both teams employ backfield timeshares, but the Dallas duo of Tony Pollard ($19) and Ezekiel Elliott ($18) was far more effective than Tampa Bay's backs. Pollard produced 1,378 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns, while Elliott mustered 876 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground with minimal contributions as a pass catcher. Given Pollard's superior per-touch productivity, the Cowboys could opt to raise his workload at Elliott's expense in this win-or-go-home scenario, though a steady diet of Elliott runs would be on the table if Dallas takes the lead and begins milking clock.
Leonard Fournette ($15) struggled for much of the season behind a subpar Tampa Bay offensive line, but he's nicknamed "playoff Lenny" for a reason. In eight career postseason games, Fournette has run in nine touchdowns, caught another and topped 100 scrimmage yards five times. Rookie Rachaad White ($13) got double-digit touches in eight consecutive games before the Buccaneers limited key players' workloads in the season finale, so White should maintain a robust role as well and offers nice value at just $3 above the minimum.
WIDE RECEIVER
Chris Godwin ($22) is as steady as it gets, while Mike Evans ($21) is more high-risk, high-reward as far as Tampa Bay's wide receivers go. Godwin caught at least six passes in all but one of the last 14 games, and he had five catches in the other. He also produced at least 54 yards in each of the last eight games while finding the end zone three times over that span. Evans was often running wide open behind defenses but Brady was missing him for much of the season. They finally got on the same page in Week 17 against Carolina, as Evans caught 10 of 12 targets for 207 yards and three touchdowns. Evans secured his ninth 1,000-yard campaign in as many NFL seasons thanks to that outburst, then sat out the regular-season finale. Russell Gage at $17 and Julio Jones at $10 are also on hand to provide depth in Tampa Bay's robust receiving corps.
CeeDee Lamb ($27) is the go-to guy in the Dallas passing game and should earn some SUPERSTAR consideration, though he'll likely see a healthy dose of stingy cornerback Carlton Davis. Lamb reached the 100-yard threshold in three of Dallas' last four games and finished the regular season fourth among wide receivers in catches (107), sixth in receiving yards (1,359) and tied for fourth at the position in touchdowns (nine). Michael Gallup at $14 and Noah Brown at $12 both had more busts than booms in 2022, but T.Y. Hilton ($12) was an intriguing late-season addition who reached the 50-yard threshold in two of three games down the stretch.
TIGHT END
Dalton Schultz at $18 took on a larger role down the stretch, drawing at least nine targets in three of the Cowboys' last five games. His season stat line was buoyed by a pair of two-touchdown performances, but Schultz wound up scoring more than 6.0 fantasy points only seven times in 15 appearances. The Buccaneers allowed the fifth-most touchdowns to tight ends (nine), but with no positional requirements, Schultz is outclassed by the likes of Pollard and Elliott in this price range.
Cade Otton ($10) has some bargain bin appeal after leading all Buccaneers tight ends with 391 receiving yards and two touchdowns, though fellow min-priced tight ends Cameron Brate, Ko Kieft and Kyle Rudolph (knee) could all be involved to some degree as well. If you find yourself with only $10 left to fill your final lineup spot, Otton's as good an option as any.
DEFENSE
The Dallas Cowboys defense has had a terrific season, but it's hard to justify paying $19 for this unit. Brady takes care of the ball in the playoffs, with only 44 combined interceptions and fumbles in 47 playoff games. He's had a few other notable would-be turnovers over the years that didn't count for one reason or another, but just ask Dez Bryant whether Dallas can expect to get the benefit of the doubt on a close call in the postseason. Without forcing multiple turnovers or scoring a touchdown, Dallas will have trouble earning its lofty valuation. Fournette (11.9) averaged more fantasy points per game than the Dallas defense (10.0), so paying top dollar for a defense is rarely worth it.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($10) defense is actually the more viable unit in this format due to its modest valuation. This unit totaled 39.0 fantasy points over the first two weeks of the regular season then scored 8.0 or fewer in every game the rest of the way, but if you stock up on pricey players and need to fill a spot on the cheap, the Bucs D is right up there with Otton and Jones among your top options for such a scenario.
