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 Captain: Matt Stafford
Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams come into Sunday Night Football installed as huge 8 point home favorites. I have no faith in the Bears offense with Andy Dalton at the helm, and I will be utilizing a five man Rams stack in single entry contests tonight. Stafford is the highest mean projection on tonight’s slate, and it wouldn’t shock me to see McVay show off his shiny new toy in his first game.
Favorite Value: DeSean Jackson
DJax is the top value on DraftKings in my opinion, checking in at just $1,400. With Gerald Everett gone and Matt Stafford at QB, it appears Sean McVay wants to revert to his pre-2020 offense and utilize more three wide receiver sets. Jackson is expected to be the third WR behind Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp, and we have seen McVay smartly utilize speedsters like Sammy Watkins and Brandin Cooks in years past. Even if he doesn’t receive a heavy target-share, we know he will receiver high aDOT targets and he only needs one play to crush this price tag.
Top Overall Play: Cooper Kupp
As I noted above, I will be stuffing in five Rams players on DK. You can certainly pair Kupp with his partner in crime Robert Woods, but I believe Kupp grades out slightly better if choosing just one. Kupp is someone I view as due for some better luck when it comes to scoring touchdowns in 2021. He found the box just three times in 2020, after totaling 16 total scores in the two years prior. He also gets utilized in the red zone, with 12 targets inside the 20 in 12 games last season. He’s a few hundred cheaper than Woods, and my favorite FLEX play on tonight’s slate.
Bales’ GPP Process
This is an interesting game. I don’t feel even slightly comfortable with the Chicago Bears offense. Neither does Vegas, as the Los Angeles Rams are sizeable favorites in this game. Similar to Ben, I likely want to use a 5-man Los Angeles stack in SE GPPs, as the majority of the field isn’t doing that on Showdown slates.
Where do we go for the Bears, though? Andy Dalton isn’t good, and he’s going to limit a deep threat like Darnell Mooney. Allen Robinson could see plenty of time against Jalen Ramsey in this game. With that said, he could see enough volume to be a viable option. David Montgomery is in a similar spot, as he could see plenty of snaps, although the matchup is terrible Furthermore, I don’t trust that Nagy won’t pull him in favor of Damien Williams if Chicago goes does big early. I do think you can throw a dart on Williams, who should work as the passing-down back. Two other interesting players are Cole Kmet, who should see plenty of snaps and opportunities. Damiere Byrd is the minimum price tonight, and he played quite a few snaps with Dalton in the preseason (although Robinson was sitting out). He certainly comes with risk, but he could open up quite a bit of salary.
I’ll also be looking to use Matthew Stafford, although I’m unlikely to use him as my captain. Instead, I’d like to get one of the receivers as my captain. Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, and DeSean Jackson are all options I love for their price tags. Another one of my favorite plays on this slate is Tyler Higbee, who should see a bigger role in the Los Angeles offense with Gerald Everett in Seattle. At running back, Darrell Henderson and Sony Michel are expected to split snaps, making both of them risky options. If you’re looking for other dart throws, Van Jefferson and Tutu Atwell could see a few snaps as the WR3, rotating with Jackson.
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.
