Thursday Night Football DraftKings Showdown Strategy Survey – Giants vs. 49ers
Every Thursday we’ll break down the Thursday Night Football DraftKings Showdown slate in this survey format between Steve and myself. Check out our favorite captains, cheap/contrarian captains, must plays, fades, builds, and more!
Be sure to check out the Sibling Showdown DraftKings Strategy show on the Fanspeak Network on Youtube too!
TOP 3 CAPTAINS (ANY PRICE):
STEVE:
MEG:
Christian McCaffery, Deebo Samuel, 49ers Defense and bonus: Darius Slayton (contrarian)
WHICH 3 PLAYERS WILL BE IN YOUR LINEUPS MOST OFTEN? (Captain or Flex):
STEVE:
CMC, Daniel Jones, Deebo Samuel
MEG:
CMC, Daniel Jones, Deebo Samuel
FAVORITE CONTRARIAN PLAY:
STEVE:
MEG:
I also think it will be contrarian to play just one Giants’ player that is not Daniel Jones. I may do that a couple times with Slayton.
FAVORITE CHEAP/PUNT PLAY: (Under $4K):
STEVE:
I’ll cheat here and say Jake Moody at $4,200. Eli Mitchell is the only guy under $4K I want to play, and I don’t want to play that much.
MEG:
FAVORITE LINEUP BUILD? (4-2, 5-1, etc with teams listed):
STEVE:
4-2, 49ers
MEG:
LINEUP STRATEGY:
STEVE:
On the San Francisco side, they are big home favorites and I’m going to play into that locking in Chrisitan McCaffrey and their defense vs. a banged-up Giants OL. Deebo Samuel is a fantastic play regardless of Brandon Aiyuk‘s status (Editor note: Aiyuk ruled out), and will play a little Kittle and Jauan Jennings as well.
If Aiyuk is out Jennings will get a little bump up. Brock Purdy is an okay play, but he won’t need to put up a big score, so he’s not an option for the captain and might be too pricey for your flex. I think one of the best plays is 49ers kicker Jake Moody, he’s 6-6 on FGs this year including 2 40+, and 1 50+, add in a few extra points and he’s a strong bet for 8-12 points at $4,200. On a slate without a lot of value that really stands out.
The one semi-value play on the 49ers is back-up RB Elijah Mitchell. He hasn’t been used a lot in the first 2 games, but last year he got decent work in blowout situations behind McCaffrey. There has been some coachspeak suggesting he’ll be used more, and with it being a short week, they probably will look to sit McCaffrey early if they get up on the Giants by a significant amount.
From the Giants’ side, it’s not looking pretty. Traveling to San Francisco on a short week was never an ideal spot, even when the hope was the Giants would be playing as good or better than they were to end last season. Instead, they’ve started this year extremely flat on both sides of the ball, and are now missing their top offensive weapon in Barkley, 2 starting offensive linemen, and at least one key defensive starter.
This might not be as bad as the 40-0 drubbing vs. the Cowboys in week 1, but it could be pretty bad. That being said, I still think Daniel Jones is almost a must-play here. With Barkley out he will be even more of a rushing threat, and he could still put up some decent passing yardage vs. the 49ers secondary. Real life it could be an ugly stat line filled with sacks and turnovers, but in fantasy, it could be enough to be necessary for your line-up.
Generally, I’m out on trying to utilize any of the Giants’ back-up running backs vs. this 49ers defense. I just don’t see the upside, for them to pay off, especially if Jones is taking more of the work. I will also probably be off of Waller in this game. The 49ers have very athletic LBs and safeties that can do a good job taking him away and limiting him. Even if the defensive match-up wasn’t a concern, Hodgins, Slayton, and Campbell are getting similar target shares, at far less cost and ownership, I’d rather bank on that. Slayton to me is the one Giants skill player I want to be overweight on, as he has the combination of volume and deep-threat ability.