Welcome into the NFL DFS Building Blocks designed specifically for showdown contests this season! If you’ve never read my main slate Building Blocks article, I will be highlighting my favorite overall plays and how I intend to build my main lineup. I will be providing both core plays and prop picks for every primetime game this season, and you can gain access to those here. With that being said, let’s dive into the first game of the season…
Top CPT Plays
Courtland Sutton
Sutton is primed for a huge season, and I like buying into that narrative tonight. For starters, it’s been reported by multiple people that Sutton is Wilson’s go-to receiver. Even if he isn’t, we’ve seen Wilson support two elite fantasy wide receivers before and now he is will be operating in a much more fantasy-friendly offense. Sutton has the reputation of a big body, contested catch guy…but that’s not exactly the case. He dominated the Air Yards for this team a season ago, and was first on the team among qualifiers in aDOT as well. He has big-play ability and I could certainly see him getting lose tonight against a young Seahawks secondary.
Jerry Jeudy
I’m also going to write up Jeudy as a top CPT play tonight. Everyone seems to be on Sutton, and rightfully so, but that should leave Jeudy much lower-owned. There is always the chance that Russ leans on him instead of Sutton, it’s a complete unknown. Jeudy is a very good receiver and could be in for a huge game if he gets fed. He will not be owned at CPT, and using him without Sutton is a way to separate in larger-field contests.
Top Flex Plays
Geno Smith
If you’re grinding cash games on these showdown slates, it’s tough to avoid playing both QB’s on most slates. Smith is someone that has NFL starting experience and it’s not like we are getting some unknown UDFA playing. He seems way too cheap on DraftKings given that the last time we saw him as a starter — last season — he averaged over 15 fantasy points per game. You can always build differently in tournaments but I think he is a must in cash game / small-field stuff tonight.
Brandon McManus
I LOVE playing Kickers in showdown and it’s pretty crazy how often they can end up in a winning lineup. Denver is expected to roll offensively tonight and that should result in the chance to score points for McManus. He is cheap enough that he could get by with 6-10 points and there is always the chance he beats that. Overall, this game doesn’t profile like the TNF Bills/Rams game — we just can’t project that many points to be score. McManus is priced near Albert Okwuegbunam who is projecting for over 30% ownership. I’ll take the savings with McManus and hope he can outscore him.
Top Value Plays
Dee Eskridge
Value looks pretty gross to me tonight so I will likely be building a balanced lineup as opposed to a stars and scrubs one. If you’re looking for a pure punt, however, Eskridge is probably the one to bet on. Eskridge should be first in line for the Seahawks WR3 job, which means he should play a lot tonight. But, if he ends up being chalky you could pivot to Marquise Goodwin, who could also be the number three WR and half the ownership. This will come down to those pre-lock OWN% projections — and I would simply take the lower owned guy in big GPPs. Like I said above, I’ll lean balanced builds in my single entry stuff.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
