DFS Lineup Review Checklist: 6 Checks Before You Enter

By Splash Play Staff · A guide to reading the tools

Review a DFS lineup in this order: the right players, eligible for this slate, under the salary cap, actually playing, stacked the way you meant, and at the exposure you set. The first four catch mistakes that make a lineup unusable. Do them before you spend any time on whether the lineup is good.

The six checks

Identity. Every slot holds the player you think it does. Two players with the same last name on one slate is all it takes.
Eligibility. Every player is on this slate and fits his slot. On a Showdown slate, captain and flex are different slots.
Salary. The total is under this site's cap, using this site's salaries.
Availability. Nobody has been ruled out since you built it. Keep confirmed news apart from what the projections assumed.
Stacks. The teammates and opponents you paired are the ones you meant to pair.
Exposure. Across the whole set, each player appears as often as your limits allow and no more.

One error, worked through

A made-up example. A nine-player DraftKings lineup totals $49,300 against the $50,000 cap. The salary check passes. But one of the nine plays in a game that isn't on this slate. The lineup can't be entered, and the passing salary check told you nothing about that.

Fix the slot, then go back to the top. A replacement player changes the salary total and can break a stack, so one repair means running all six checks again.

The exposure math

Exposure is a count. A player in 6 of your 20 lineups is 30% exposure. A 25% maximum across 20 lineups allows him in 5. Maximums round down and minimums round up: with 7 lineups, a 30% maximum allows 2 and a 30% minimum needs 3. Count the finished set. The list you were browsing before you built can show different percentages.

Write down what you checked

Example record: Salary passed at $49,300. One player was off the slate; replaced and re-checked. Exposure counted against the finished set. One availability question still open, so not final.

Keep the lineup you rejected beside the one you fixed. "Looks good" can't be checked later. A record can.

In the tool

For a full set, the Portfolio Builder shows the number built against the number requested, and the final player exposures. Check both before you export. If the build is incomplete or reports an error, fix that first. Exporting does not enter a contest: you upload the file to DraftKings or FanDuel yourself and confirm it there.

The Portfolio Builder is part of Apex, for NFL and MLB. Open the NFL tool for the current slate, read the field guide for the step-by-step workflow, or compare memberships. Most of these errors start earlier, in the pool: see how to build a DFS player pool. A checklist catches errors. It does not make a projection right.