This article is part of our DFS NFL series.
RotoWire has partnered with RankingBall lor the NFL season! We'll be introducing you to the site while also providing weekly analysis to help you make the best selections, and hopefully win some cash along the way! I'm going to show you how all the contests work in this introductory article, but we'll be placing a special focus on their Pick8 Football contest, where you can potentially win ONE MILLION DOLLARS.
Before we begin, we want to lay out the great promotions being offered when you sign up.
· $5 credit on signup
· WEEKLY PROMO CODE to get 1 FREE Ticket to play Pick8 (Available to all registered users)
· During our promotion period, you get one FREE Ticket to play Pick8 every day you log in. (1 ticket per day)
· Referral program: Invite a friend and you get 5 FREE Tickets and your friend gets 3 FREE Tickets to play Pick8.
THE PICK8 CONTEST – HOW IT WORKS
First off, let's quickly navigate to the Pick8 page. Sign up and receive your bonuses! NOTE: Upon returning to the site in the future, use GoRankingBall.com. This is the U.S. facing site. Typing in Rankingball.com will take you to a similar site, but it isn't set up for U.S. players or the Pick8.
All of RankingBall's contests revolve around a 3x3 board that resembles a tic-tac-toe board, but there are no X's and O's. Instead, think of it as a Bingo board, with players and defenses in the squares instead of numbers. When your player or team scores points, the bingo square lights up. If you connect three across, diagonally or up or down, your score gets multiplied with a Bingo Multiplier. This is how RankingBall's regular game-by-game contests work, and I'll expand on those opportunities a bit later in the article. Pick8 works the same way, but with some significant differences.
For each square, Pick8 requires you to select who you think the BEST POSSIBLE player/team would be in a given week, based on the following categories:
QB Passing Yards
QB Passes Completed
RB Rushing Yards
RB Receiving Yards
WR Receiving Yards
WR Receptions
K Field Goals
Defense Least Points Allowed
There is no multiplier for this board. Instead, the center square is filled with a PICK $1M square. If you are able to pick FOUR Bingo lines (up and down, diagonally and across through the $1M center square), you win the big money! The added wrinkle to your overall strategy is that once you've made your selections, you can move the squares around to make your best combinations align and increase your bingo probability. If you hit all four lines, you win $1,000,000! Three correct lines will pay $10,000, two lines will pay $10, and one line will pay $2. But remember – only the BEST player in those categories will give you a square! Not an easy task, but I'm here to help you out. Let's look at some of my picks for these categories in Week 2.
QB Passing Yards
Matthew Stafford, DET vs. SD
I think this will be a shooting match between Rivers and Stafford in Detroit, and the former Georgia Bulldog put up 385 yards passing in Week 1. Not only did Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay produce, the Lions also showed off a new toy in tight end T.J. Hockenson. I like Stafford's chances.
Matt Ryan, ATL vs. PHI
The Eagles gave up 370 yards passing in Week 1 to Case Keenum – don't you think Matt Ryan could fare a bit better than that? With a host of receiving weapons, including a resurgent Austin Hooper, Ryan will try to get things done in the air and I think he's a leading candidate.
QB Completions
Ben Roethlisberger, PIT vs. SEA
The Seahawks allowed for more completions (35) than any other team against Andy Dalton in Week 1. While I think Dalton is another worthy candidate, I think Big Ben and the Steelers are due for a bounce-back game this week. Lest we forget, Roethlisberger led the league in passing yards AND completions last season. If he can get things clicking this week, look out.
Drew Brees, NO at LAR
Brees attempted 33 passes last week and has almost always been in the Top 10 in this category by year's end. The Rams are tough on the run and it'll be more difficult for Alvin Kamara to get loose. Brees will need to air it out often and get the ball into the secondary, where the Rams have a few question marks.
RB Rushing Yards
Mark Ingram, BAL vs. ARI
Ingram finished with 107 yards rushing last week, and I suspect it would have been higher were it not for the blowout inflicted on the Dolphins.
Derrick Henry, TEN vs. IND
The Colts let both Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson run free in Week 1, and the Titans seem to be set up as a run-first team, at least in the early going.
RB Receiving Yards
Austin Ekeler, SD at DET
Speaking of Ekeler – he led all running backs in receiving yards last week. The Lions allowed David Johnson to get out in space in Week 1 for 55 yards receiving, so it isn't out of the question for Ekeler to repeat in this category.
Alvin Kamara, NO at LAR
You can never count Kamara out in this category. The Saints are going to have to find creative ways to get the ball in his hands, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Kamara with more receiving yards this week. The Rams gave Christian McCaffrey a wide berth in Week 1.
WR Receiving Yards
Sammy Watkins, KC at OAK
With Tyreek Hill (collarbone) on the sidelines, is it out of the realm of possibility for Watkins to repeat in this category? I think not. The only player to rival Watkins in terms of opportunity on this squad is Travis Kelce, but I think Watkins will be the guy. The Raiders just lost Johnathan Abram to injury, and that's a huge loss in the secondary.
Keenan Allen, SD at DET
The Chargers lost Hunter Henry (knee), so I expect Allen to see more yards than he saw last week. Los Angeles certainly needs guys like Mike Williams to step up as well, but I think this is Allen's ship to steer.
WR Receptions
T.J. Hockenson, DET vs. SD
If you haven't noticed, I like the over in this game. The Lions could very well start giving the ball to their rookie more often this week after a flashy Week 1. Stafford doesn't usually favor getting the ball to a tight end, but this guy is too talented to overlook.
Evan Engram, NYG vs. BUF
The Bills defense is surprisingly tough, but Engram seemed to be everywhere in Week 1 and could have had a more catches if it weren't for a few errant passes from Eli Manning. It might be foolish to go with two tight ends in this category. I think Watkins has a chance in this square as well, but who else is Manning going to get the ball to consistently?
Kicker
I think this might be the toughest square of all to nail. Ideally you want a kicker in good weather conditions with a team that gets in the red zone often but fails to seal the deal.
Robbie Gould, SF at CIN
It'll be sunny and 88 degrees in San Francisco on Sunday, so Gould is in good shape in the weather category. He also checks the box with a team that struggled to see the end zone in Week 1. Assuming Jimmy Garoppolo can get them on the short end of the field, Gould should be set up with many opportunities.
Wil Lutz, NO at LAR
Assuming the Rams can get keep the Saints out of the end zone, it could be a good day for Wil Lutz. I think Lutz will fare better than Greg Zuerlein here, but he's a kicker you can't ignore either.
DEFENSE
New England at MIA
An obvious choice if there ever was one. Is it too obvious? Maybe. I personally plan on streaming every defense that plays Miami this season. If there's ever a year to bet on an 0-16 prop, it's this year with the Dolphins.
Cleveland at NYJ
Sam Darnold has mono. Enter Trevor Siemian. Le'Veon Bell is limited. It's a perfect storm for the Browns to take advantage of, but it is the Browns we are talking about. Maybe this is the week that we finally see some of that purported Cleveland magic. Any other team in this category is a sleeper after the Pats, but it's still a pick you can get behind in this game script
So, there you have it. My Pick8 selections!
At least for this article, I think it's worthwhile to introduce you to the other contests available on the site, although I won't be giving any advice on them moving forward.
Rather than spell out the mechanics of the game, RankingBall has provided an informative YouTube video that runs you through the basics of gameplay, and you can find the link to it here. I suggest watching it so that we can discuss more specifics about the site below. Another helpful section of the site is the How It Works page. It is a great reference as you learn more about the site.
As you can see from the video, gameplay is centered around a 3x3 square It's exactly like Pick8, with a couple of notable exceptions. From the list of players available, you select eight players and are able to arrange them as you like on the board. The center space is reserved for a defense. The most obvious variation of this game is that every contest is focused around one game, and one game only. So, in a sense these contests are like their own mini-showdown contests that you see on other DFS sites.
Sounds simple? Well, there is another wrinkle to gameplay that adds a crucial element to our overall strategy. Like Bingo, matching three squares in a row (up and down, across or diagonally) activates a BINGO BONUS, which takes your total score on that row and uses a multiplier to give you a bonus. The multipliers range from 1.1x to 1.5x. A square lights up when your player registers points.
The 1.5 multiplier obviously gives you the biggest bonus, and it happens when you get a DIAGONAL bonus on the board. The lowest multiplier is a vertical row on the left side of the board. What does all of this mean? It means that your CORNER squares should be where you place your top performers. Not only will they be candidates for the highest multiplier, but they have the ability to be a part of another bingo as well. Every player square has the ability to hit two bingos, but none really compare to what the corners can provide. This page shows you the multipliers in more detail.
There are positional limits on the squares. You can only use one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, a tight end and a kicker.
While you're at the site, look over the game offerings for this week, but don't forget to focus on the Pick8! It's one of the best DFS deals going right now!
