The San Francisco 49ers (2-0) will host the New York Giants (1-1) in a Week 3 NFC clash for Thursday Night Football. Kickoff from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. ET while streaming on Amazon Prime.
Below, we’ll run through our DraftKings DFS Showdown picks and strategy for this matchup.
NFL DFS Showdown strategy: 49ers vs. Giants
Captain’s Picks
Christian McCaffrey, RB, 49ers ($19,800)
This pick doesn’t need much explanation. McCaffrey is arguably the best fantasy player in the NFL right now, backing that up with 29 and 26 fantasy points respectively to start the season. Now he faces a Giants defense that has given up 68 total points in the first two weeks. James Conner of the Arizona Cardinals ran through New York last week for 106 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. There’s a great chance that a dynamic RB like McCaffrey could punish the Giants even more.
Deebo Samuel, WR, 49ers ($13,200)
Brandon Aiyuk stole the show in Week 1, but then Samuel came through as San Francisco’s top receiver in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams. Some of that is due to Aiyuk hurting his shoulder in that game, as he’s currently listed as questionable for this matchup with the Giants. With his fellow receiver banged-up, Samuel recaptured his alpha role with six catches (nine targets) for 63 yards and five carries for 38 yards and a touchdown. As mentioned above, the Giants defense hasn’t stopped anyone this season, so Samuel could follow up last week’s masterclass with another dominant fantasy performance.
FLEX Options
Darius Slayton, WR, Giants ($5,600)
The Giants receiving corps is difficult to predict from a fantasy perspective. Their first game yielded very few insights, then TE Darren Waller led the team in targets for Week 2 while WR Isaiah Hodgins caught a touchdown. However, Darius Slayton is second among New York pass-catchers with 11 total targets, and he caught three passes for 62 yards last week. With Saquon Barkley injured and the Giants likely playing from behind, Slayton could get plenty of looks in the passing game. He’s substantially cheaper than fellow pass-catchers like Waller and Hodgins.
Jake Moody, WR, Giants ($4,200)
The 49ers have been an absolute buzzsaw through the first two weeks of the season, and that will likely continue in this Thursday matchup with the Giants. Thanks to outstanding field position and a hyper-efficient offense, seemingly every drive ends in some type of score. Moody has capitalized while going 3-of-3 on field goals and extra points in each of the first two games this season (14 fantasy points each). In what could be a lopsided score, Moody makes plenty of sense to add to your lineup for double-digit fantasy points.
Players to Avoid
Giants Defense ($3,200)
This one probably goes without saying. The Giants gave up 68 total points in their first two games, and now they are playing one of the best overall teams in the league. Big Blue’s defense has come through with a grand total of negative two fantasy points on the season so far. There’s a decent chance that tally keeps moving in the wrong direction after Thursday.
Parris Campbell, WR, Giants ($4,400)
Campbell is relatively inexpensive, but he’s not cheap enough to where I’m actually considering him for my DFS lineups. Put simply, the upside isn’t there. Even though Campbell has 10 targets through the first two games, he has only turned that into five catches for 23 yards. His depth of target is minuscule, and he’s probably not worth the $4,400 salary because of that.
