With Week 1 of the NFL regular season here, it’s time to start preparing your Week 1 NFL survivor pool strategy. While the NFL survivor pool rules are simple (pick one team to win each week and you can only use a team once per season), crafting a successful strategy that allows you to outlast your opponents can be tricky. One of the more common strategies anyone making NFL survivor pool picks uses is to take the heaviest favorite in the weekly NFL odds. For Week 1 of the 2024 NFL schedule, the Bengals are the largest favorite of the slate. Cincinnati is a 7.5-point favorite at home against the New England Patriots. Should the Bengals be considered a safe NFL Week 1 survivor pick? 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. The Bengals aren’t that far removed from their AFC Championship in 2021, and Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow is once again healthy. Cincinnati will host the Patriots, who are in the midst of what looks to be a lengthy rebuilding project. Even if New England is better than expected, it’s hard to see them containing Bengals playmakers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
“The Bengals are going to be the overwhelming pick for Week 1; they’re the biggest favorites in the market and should probably be laying even more points. And there aren’t too many key spots worth saving them for, but there is one. In Week 9, the Ravens and Chiefs both have very easy matchups, but they also cover other tough weeks as well. If you plan on using the Bengals against the Raiders that week, you’ll need to pivot to something else in Week 1, and if you’re not using any of those teams, you might be stuck backing the Titans to beat the Patriots at home,” White told SportsLine. 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.
