How to Use the NFL DFS Optimizer: Video Guide | Fantasy Alarm

Updated: Oct 12, 2026

The Fantasy Alarm NFL DFS Optimizer lets All-Pro subscribers build anywhere from one to 150 lineups for DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo in a few clicks. In the video below, Jonathan Impemba walks through every setting, from contest selection and player exposures to building player cores, and shows exactly how he uses the tool to build his own NFL DFS lineups each week.

Quick Answer: How Do You Use the NFL DFS Optimizer?

Go to the Daily Fantasy tab, open NFL DFS Tools, and click NFL DFS Optimizer (All-Pro subscription required).
Choose your site (DraftKings, FanDuel, or Yahoo), slate, contest type, and number of lineups.
Adjust projections, set minimum and maximum exposures, and lock or fade players.
Build player cores of two to five players in the Team Stack section.
Set your ceiling, diversity, salary floor, and team correlation preferences.
Click Generate Lineups, review your exposures, and export the CSV to your DFS site.

What Is the Fantasy Alarm NFL DFS Optimizer?

An NFL DFS optimizer takes player projections and salaries and builds the highest-scoring lineups that fit under the salary cap, while following the rules you set. Fantasy Alarm's version goes further than a one-click "optimal lineup" button. It lets you control how often each player appears across your lineups, build lineups around specific groups of players, and tune how risky or how similar your lineups are, which is what separates a winning multi-entry approach from one optimal lineup copied 20 times.

The optimizer launched earlier this season and is available to Fantasy Alarm All-Pro subscribers.

How to Access the NFL DFS Optimizer

From the Fantasy Alarm homepage, open the Daily Fantasy tab, select NFL DFS Tools, then click the NFL DFS Optimizer button. The tool loads with the current week's slates and projections already in place.

Step 1: Choose Your Contest Settings

Everything starts in the Contest Settings panel on the left side of the tool. Set these first, because every other choice you make (projections, exposures, cores) is applied to the player pool and salaries these settings load.

Pick Your Site

Choose DraftKings, FanDuel, or Yahoo. Each site has its own salaries, roster construction, and scoring, so the optimizer pulls a different player pool and builds to that site's cap. If you play on more than one site, run each one as its own build rather than reusing a single set of settings.

Select a Slate

Every slate loaded for the week is available, including the main slate, early-only and afternoon-only slates, prime-time games, and single-game Showdown contests. Make sure the slate matches the contest you plan to enter, since a lineup built on the main slate will not upload to an afternoon-only contest.

Set the Contest Type

Choose GPPs (large-field tournaments), cash games (50/50s, double-ups and head-to-heads), or single-entry tournaments. This setting changes the weights the optimizer uses to build lineups:

Cash games reward consistency, so lineups lean toward safer players with high floors.
GPPs reward upside, so lineups make more room for volatile, high-ceiling plays that can separate you from a large field.
Single-entry tournaments sit in between. You only get one shot, so the build balances upside with a reasonable floor.

Choose How Many Lineups to Build

Build anywhere from one lineup to 150. A cash player or single-entry player usually needs one to three lineups. A tournament player entering a max-entry GPP can build the full 150. If you are new to multi-entry, a set of 10 to 20 lineups is a good place to learn how exposures and cores interact before scaling up.

Step 2: Adjust Projections, Exposures, Locks and Fades

The player pool sits in the center of the screen. Click any position to filter the list (QB, RB, WR, TE, FLEX, and DST) so you can work through the pool one position at a time instead of scrolling through every player on the slate.

Edit Weekly Projections

Fantasy Alarm's weekly projections load by default, but you can raise or lower any player's number. The optimizer builds from these projections, so an edit here directly changes how often a player gets selected. Use it when you have a read the baseline does not reflect, such as a backup stepping into a larger role or a matchup you think is better or worse than the projection suggests.

Set Minimum and Maximum Exposure

Exposure is the percentage of your lineups a player appears in, and it is the most important control for multi-entry players. A few ways to use it:

Cap the chalk. Set a maximum on popular plays (for example, 40%) so one bad game does not sink your entire lineup set.
Guarantee a floor on your favorites. Set a minimum (for example, 25%) on players you believe in so the optimizer cannot leave them out.
Sprinkle in tournament plays. Set a low maximum (5% to 10%) on contrarian options to get some exposure without overcommitting.

Lock or Fade Players

Locking a player puts him in every lineup. Fading removes him from the pool entirely. Fade injured or questionable players you do not trust, and lock only the players you are confident enough to play at 100%. You can also lock players directly from the lineup section on the right side of the tool.

Step 3: Build Player Cores and Stacks

The Team Stack section is where Jonathan says he gets the most out of the tool. Instead of letting the optimizer pick every player, you tell it which groups of players should be built into your lineups together, and it fills the remaining roster spots around them.

Create Your First Core

Click the Player Cores button in the Team Stack section.
Add two to five players to the core. They do not have to come from the same team.
Set the core's weight to control how heavily it is used across your lineups.
Save the core build so you can return to it or adjust it later in the week.

What Makes a Good Core

Cores work best when they tell a story about how the game will play out. Common structures include:

QB plus pass catcher: If the quarterback throws a touchdown, his receiver or tight end likely scored it, so their points move together.
QB, pass catcher plus bring-back: Add a player from the opposing offense to capture both sides of a potential shootout.
Game-script cores: Pair players who benefit from the same outcome, such as a running back and defense from a heavy favorite.
Non-team cores: Group any players you simply want together, such as your three favorite values on the slate.

Example From the Video

Jonathan built a core around Jacoby Brissett in a high-total matchup against Detroit, added D'Andre Swift and used Lions receiver Jameson Williams as the bring-back. Every lineup the optimizer generated started from those three players, and the tool filled the rest of each roster around them.

Add Multiple Cores and Manage Exposure

Once your first core (Stack A) is set, you can add Stack B, Stack C, and more. Each additional core splits exposure with the others. Two cores both set to 100 will each appear in roughly 50% of your lineups or less, depending on how many cores you add. Three equal cores would land near a third each.

This is how Jonathan builds his own lineup sets: create several cores representing the games and outcomes he likes most, then adjust each core's weight so his strongest opinion gets the most exposure. Building this way keeps a large lineup set organized around a handful of clear angles instead of 150 unrelated lineups.

Step 4: Fine-Tune Your Lineup Generation Settings

Below the stacks, a set of sliders and inputs controls the overall personality of your lineup set. These apply to every lineup the optimizer builds, so adjust them after your cores are in place.

Setting	What It Does	How to Use It
Ceiling vs. Floor	Shifts lineups toward higher-upside, riskier players or toward safer, higher-floor plays.	Slide toward ceiling for GPPs and toward floor for cash games.
Diversity	Controls how different your lineups are from one another.	Raise it for large multi-entry sets. Lower it when you want similar builds that differ by a player or two.
Max Ownership	Caps the total projected ownership of a lineup.	Ownership projections are not loaded yet. Once they are, use this to avoid overly chalky builds in GPPs.
Salary Floor	Sets the minimum salary each lineup must spend.	Set it so you leave no more than about $500 unused, which keeps lineups from wasting salary on weaker plays.
Team Correlation	Favors stacks of correlated players or more individual plays.	Raise it for tournaments where stacks drive upside. Lower it for cash games.

Suggested Starting Points

For cash games, lean toward floor, keep diversity low, use a modest team correlation, and build one to three lineups. For large GPPs, lean toward ceiling, raise diversity and team correlation, and rely on your cores and exposure caps to shape the set. Adjust from there based on how the generated lineups look.

Step 5: Generate, Review and Export Your Lineups

Generate Lineups

Click Generate Lineups and the optimizer builds your set using every setting above. In Jonathan's 20-lineup example, the Brissett, Swift, and Williams core landed in every lineup, and the optimizer filled around it with a Brissett and Trey McBride pairing, Jahmyr Gibbs alongside Williams, and Tre' Harris as a value play. Most builds used nearly the full cap, with as little as $100 left over.

Review Before You Export

Do not export blindly. Scroll through the lineups and look for plays you would not make on your own. Jonathan noted he probably would have faded the Chargers defense the optimizer selected. When you spot something like that, fade the player or adjust his projection and regenerate, rather than editing lineups one at a time.

Check Your Exposures

The exposure view lists every player used across your set and the percentage of lineups each one appears in. In the video, the 20 lineups used 58 different players. Confirm your core players, caps, and minimums landed where you intended, and sort the lineups however you like to review them.

Export and Upload

Export the set as a CSV formatted for DraftKings or FanDuel, then upload the file through the site's bulk lineup upload for your contest. Check for late-week injury news before lock, and if something changes, return to the optimizer, adjust, and re-export.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of the Optimizer

Start with cores, not the whole pool. Building around two or three players you believe in gives your lineups a clear thesis instead of a random mix.
Use bring-backs in high-total games. Pairing a quarterback with an opposing receiver captures both sides of a shootout.
Match contest type to your goal. Cash settings and GPP settings weigh players differently, so switch before you generate.
Check exposures before exporting. Make sure no player is over or under where you want him across the full set.
Override when you disagree. Edit projections or fade a player rather than accepting a build you would not play.

NFL DFS Optimizer FAQ

Which DFS sites does the Fantasy Alarm NFL optimizer support?

The optimizer builds lineups for DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo, and exports CSV files for direct upload to DraftKings and FanDuel contests.

How many lineups can I build at once?

You can build anywhere from one lineup to 150 lineups, which covers single-entry contests through max-entry tournaments.

Does the optimizer work for Showdown slates?

Yes. Showdown, main slates, early and afternoon slates, and prime-time slates are all available.

What is a player core in DFS?

A player core is a group of two to five players you want built into your lineups together. In the Fantasy Alarm optimizer, cores do not have to come from the same team.

Does the optimizer include ownership projections?

Not yet. A max ownership setting is already in place, and ownership projections will be added to the lineup generator.

Who can use the NFL DFS Optimizer?

The optimizer is available to Fantasy Alarm All-Pro subscribers.

Get Help Building Your Lineups

Have questions about the optimizer? Jump into the Fantasy Alarm Discord and tag Jonathan Impemba, Howard Bender, Andrew Cooper, James Grande, or Dan Malin for help with your builds. Then head to the Daily Fantasy tab, select NFL DFS Tools, and open the NFL DFS Optimizer to start building this week's lineups.