Ben and I [Bales] are working on adding Showdown success to our resumes throughout the 2021 NFL season. We’ll be posting Showdown Core Plays for every Thursday, Sunday, and Monday night game of the season. These Core Plays will go along with our usual mains late Core Plays that we offer.
In this article, Ben will focus on a few of his favorite plays for the showdown slate, while I focus more on the strategy I’m deploying in tournaments, specifically single-entry leagues. If you want more access to us, join our free Discord chat.
Ben’s Top Plays
Favorite CPT: D’Andre Swift
Swift was one of my highest-owned season long players this season and I was extremely encouraged by his Week 1 usage under Anthony Lynn. Despite health concerns, he logged just under 70% of the total snaps and was extremely valuable in the passing game. There is expected to be some big wind gusts tonight, which could further Swift’s involvement as a check down for Jared Goff. Even in negative game-script his passing game role can be valuable on the full-PPR DraftKings, and he is so cheap it allows you to fit whatever else you want.
Favorite Value: Amon-Ra St. Brown
St. Brown is another player I was high on coming out of college, and thought he was a decent bet to lead this team in targets for the season once Breshad Perriman was let go. He drew just four targets in Week 1, but ran a route on over 70% of Goff’s drop backs. That target total could increase tonight with Tyrell Williams out, and Kalif Raymond banged up. He played primarily in the slot, and should avoid Jaire Alexander coverage.
Favorite Overall Play: Aaron Rodgers
This is obvious. Rodgers and the Packers are in an elite get right spot following their disappointing Week 1, at home installed with one of the highest team totals on the entire Week 2 slate. Not only is this Lions defense exploitable, but they are also now without top CB Jeff Okudah for the rest of the season. QB’s are always optimal plays in showdown, especially in single entry contests, and Rodgers will be locked into my builds tonight.
Bales’ GPP Process
The Green Bay Packers were embarrassed by the New Orleans Saints in one of the most surprising games of last week. That’s the reason I’m locking two players into my Showdown Core tonight – Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams. There are people claiming that Rodgers is trying to force his way out of Green Bay through poor play, which is as ridiculous as it sounds. Instead, he gets a divisional matchup on prime-time television to remind the world who he is tonight. I expect him to take advantage of this matchup with Adams being his obvious go-to target.
The other elite option for the Packers is Aaron Jones, who is an extremely versatile option. He’s the third elite player I’m looking to add to the group, utilizing the trio that is likely to account for the majority of Green Bay’s production. Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s been a deep threat throughout his short career, but there were reports that he added to his route tree during the offseason, and that was on display last week. He’s one of the higher upside options for his price tag. If I weren’t so all in on Rodgers and the passing attack, AJ Dillon would be an outstanding option, as he could be featured late in the game if Green Bay grabs an early lead. He’s an option with far too low of a price tag. Robert Tonyan is always in play because of his price tag, but I’m intrigued by using someone like Marcedes Lewis for his price tag. It opens so much up, and he ended 2020 with only 2 fewer red zone targets than MVS and Allen Lazard. It’s risky, but that’s how I like playing showdown slates.
On the other side, four players stick out, although I’ll be going almost all in on Green Bay to be different tonight. Jared Goff is coming off of a solid game, and quarterbacks generally come with inherent safety and upside compared to other positions. T.J. Hockenson is the go-to guy in the Detroit offense, and I expect him to continue to find success this weekend. D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams both saw plenty of targets last week, and they could see a similar role this week. I’m not expecting 20 targets between them again, but they should have solidified roles. I’m not really looking at mid-priced options for Detroit – Kalif Raymond and Qunitez Cephus – on this slate. Instead, I’d rather drop down to the cheaper options in Amon-Ra St. Brown or Trinity Benson and use the extra salary elsewhere.
As always, more goes into Showdown slates than solely what’s written in this article. You can get access to us in our Premium Discord along with our Thursday, Sunday, and Monday showdown Core Plays and our normal main slate Core Plays through our premium package.
