Success in NFL survivor pools is all about strategically plotting your way through the NFL schedule. You only have to pick one winner each week, but because you only get to use each team once, you have to make sure have several locks left as you progress through the season. At the same time, if you try to finesse your NFL survivor picks too much, you'll be knocked out of the competition early. The Week 1 NFL schedule is loaded with difficult decisions as you make your NFL picks, with 12 games featuring NFL spreads of 4.5 points or fewer. Should you lock in the Bengals (-9) as the week's largest favorite over the Patriots with your NFL knockout pool picks, or do you avoid the obvious choice and hope that a shocking upset takes out a large portion of the field in your NFL eliminator pool picks? Before locking in any 2024 NFL survivor picks, be sure to check out the NFL survivor strategy from Vegas NFL expert R.J. White.
White has been SportsLine's No. 1 NFL against-the-spread expert over the last seven years, going 636-534-34 against the spread to put him up more than 48 units on those picks at SportsLine since 2017. He has also delivered a 56.7% hit rate on his Vegas contest picks over the last nine seasons and has two finishes in the money, including finishing 18th out of 2,748 entries back in 2017.
Now, White has turned his attention to the 2024 NFL schedule and locked in his top NFL survivor pool picks and alternative strategy for the entire season. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top 2024 NFL survivor picks and strategy
One part of White's 2024 NFL survivor strategy: He is not choosing the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1, whom he considers the consensus play. Quarterback Joe Burrow is coming off an injury for Cincinnati, while the Patriots are going to have a new mentality under first-year head coach Jerod Mayo. New England's defense gave up just 301.6 yards per game last season, which ranked seventh in the NFL.
The Patriots struggled offensively in 2023, scoring less than 21 points in 15 of their 17 games last season. However, veteran QB Jacoby Brissett, who's considered the favorite to start Week 1, is an experienced player who can create some problems for a Cincinnati defense that gave up 374.6 yards per game last season, the second-worst mark in the NFL. White isn't ruling out the Patriots potentially pulling off a stunner in their opener, so he is going in a different direction with his Week 1 survivor pick. See the rest of White's NFL survivor contest picks right here for every week.
How to make survivor pool NFL picks for the 2024 NFL season
White is taking a little more risk in Week 1 "by playing a lower-tier team." This team will not be on many survivor players' radar, potentially giving its backers a huge boost. This pick could be the difference between winning your survivor pool or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here.
So which NFL survivor picks should you make for the 2024 NFL season, and which Week 1 pick could separate you from the pack? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NFL survivor pool picks and advice from an expert who has gone deep in one of the most prestigious betting tournaments, and find out.
