What is a value play in DFS?
A value play is a player with many projected points for his salary. DFS players measure it as projected points per $1,000 of salary. A cheap player with a good value frees salary for the stars of a lineup. DFS Studio has a free page for the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, college basketball, golf, and UFC with the top 10 value plays of the next DraftKings and FanDuel slate, with no account.
How is value measured?
Divide the player's projected points by his salary in thousands. A player at $4,000 with 24 projected points has a value of 6.0, and a player at $10,000 with 50 projected points has a value of 5.0.
A good value differs by sport and site, because each site has its own scoring and salary cap. Compare a player's value with the others of the same slate.
Where are today's value plays?
- NBA value plays
- NFL value plays: the week's main slate
- NHL value plays
- College basketball value plays
- Golf value plays
- UFC value plays: FanDuel's MMA cap is $100, so its value is points per $1
Each page gives the top 10 by value of each site's next main slate (the NFL page: at most 2 players of each position). The projections change with the news until lock, and the pages with them.
How do DFS players use them?
A lineup needs a few value plays to fit the stars under the salary cap. A salary that dropped after a few small games often makes a value: the salary changes list each rise and drop.
DFS Studio's optimizer finds the best mix of stars and values for your settings, builds up to 5,000 lineups, and fills your DraftKings or FanDuel entries file.
Updated November 12, 2026.