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The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers square off in Super Bowl 54 on Sunday, February 2nd. We’ll be breaking down everything you need to know to prepare your daily fantasy football lineups for the big game. We’re starting with a player-by-player preview for the skill position players on the two teams.
Darwin Thompson was selected in the sixth round from Utah State in this season’s draft. There were some with high expectations for Thompson coming into the season, but he has mostly been limited in his workload while not putting up great numbers when given a chance. He’s a speedster who has the ability to break off a big gainer at any time, but he’s been mostly bottled up on his 46 touches this season.
DFS Super Bowl price
DraftKings Captain: $2,700
DraftKings Flex: $1,800
FanDuel: $6,000
DFS opponent position ranking
DraftKings: 3rd
FanDuel: 3rd
Season performance
With the Chiefs suffering multiple running back injuries, including to lead back Damien Williams this season, Thompson did have eight, nine, 11, 5 and five touches, mostly after Darrell Williams and Damien Williams both went down with injuries. In that stretch he rushed 32 times for 120 yards (3.8 yards per carry) and a touchdown and caught 6-of-7 targets for 33 yards.
Those aren’t good numbers, but he also hasn’t fumbled the ball once and recovered a fumble. LeSean McCoy’s natural way of holding the ball when running has caused him to fumble three times but on 129 touches this season. That seems to be enough for coach Andy Reid though, as Thompson has played ahead of McCoy since Week 15.
Playoff performance
So far in the playoffs, Damien Williams has been the no-doubt usage hog in the Chiefs backfield. Thompson has seen snaps, but only one touch in their two playoff games, but that one touch is more than any other K.C. running back. He’s the clear backup, but at this point, that isn’t doing him much good in seeing touches.
Matchup
The 49ers have allowed the third-fewest DraftKings points to running backs through 18 games and are probably the best defense at stopping running back receptions as they rank first in DVOA against receiving backs and have given up the second-fewest receiving yards to the position.
DFS pricing and analysis
Thompson is cheap on both sites and we will need to take risks if we want to win GPPs. He also has home run hitting ability but he has yet to show it in the NFL and isn’t getting touches. If you roster him and Williams gets hurt, you’re looking pretty savvy, but the odds are against you and I rather keep my cash in my wallet.