It’s a battle of the walking wounded, as both teams are dealing with a ton of injuries. Nonetheless, the Chiefs are huge nine-point favorites in this home matchup. Let’s take a look at how to build your lineups on DraftKings.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $1.25M Monday Night Showdown [$300K to 1st] (TB @ KC)
Captain’s Picks
Travis Kelce ($13,200 CP): It’s taken a long time for Kelce to get going but last week is where it began. Drawing 12 targets, Kelce made 10 catches for 90 yards and a touchdown, good for 25 DKFP. In a normal season, you’d never get Kelce this cheap, especially at the Captain position. The Chiefs are razor thin at the wide receiver position, as they’re going to be down JuJu Smith-Schuster once again. This should put Kelce in another prime spot to put up some huge fantasy points.
The matchup is a great one for Kelce. The Bucs have been very generous to opposing tight ends, allowing the third most receiving yards and touchdowns. Opposing tight ends are averaging 14.5 DKFP, which ranks sixth in the league.
The tight ends on both sides should be in your lineup and if you want to go for a slightly lower ownership option, Cade Otton ($12,600) is also in the mix.
FLEX Plays
Cade Otton ($8,400): Only $400 separates Kelce and Otton when using them in your Flex spot. Otton is just as good of a play as Kelce and shouldn’t be overlooked. With injuries to both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, Otton has emerged as the go-to option for Baker Mayfield ($9,600). Over the last two weeks, Otton has made 17 catches on 20 targets for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Like Kelce, he’s in a great spot to continue his recent trend, as the Chiefs have also struggled to contain opposing tight ends.
The Chiefs have allowed the most average DKFP at 17.2 as well as the second-most catches and receiving yards. You could very well make the case that Otton is also the best Captain option but at least as of now, the ownership slightly favors Otton. Both will be main pieces in the majority of the builds, so try and mix up how your lineups are constructed with these two in the Captain spot.
Sterling Shepard ($5,600): We have to confirm that Shepard is playing in this game, as he was not practicing on Thursday and Friday. He did practice in a limited fashion on Saturday, so there is some optimism that he can suit up on Monday. If he does, this is one of the better matchups amongst the Bucs receivers. Slot receivers have been able to do some damage on what’s been a stout Chiefs secondary. After logging 60% of his snaps there last week, this is the Bucs receiver you want.
The Chiefs have allowed the second-most fantasy points to opposing slot receivers. Slot receivers have 36 catches on 48 targets for 363 yards (10 YPR) and three touchdowns. Shepard’s target share has been disappointing relative to the injuries the Bucs have suffered. However, there are tough matchups in coverage for guys like Jalen McMillan and Trey Palmer. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mayfield focuses primarily on Otton and Shepard. As long as he’s healthy, start him with confidence.
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Kareem Hunt ($9,800): It’s not going to be hard to pay up for players in this game. With so many injuries, there are only three players priced at $9K+. Normally, I could look over Hunt as the second-most expensive player on the slate. But, with the Chiefs as huge favorites, the volume will be there for Hunt. He’s logged at least 21 carries in three straight games and averaging 19.1 DKFP in that span. It’s going to be hard to trust the Bucs running backs in this game, so Hunt is likely the only back I’ll be rostering. Hunt hasn’t been overly effective when he’s carrying the ball, averaging just 3.7 YPC on 84 attempts. But, the Chiefs have been very willing to hand him the ball in the red zone. Despite being with the team for only four weeks, he has 18 red zone carries under his belt.
Fades
DeAndre Hopkins ($7,000): I think people will gravitate toward Hopkins simply because the Chiefs are so short handed. He only played on 36% of the snaps last week and that number will go up in Week 9. But, I don’t think he can return value, even on a Showdown slate, with his $7,000 salary. The Chiefs were using Kelce a lot, Xavier Worthy, Noah Gray and even Justin Watson, even with Hopkins active. Currently, he’s looking to be about 40% owned on this slate, which would make him the fifth-highest owned player. With so much uncertainty around his role, I can’t risk the $7K on him.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $1.25M Monday Night Showdown [$300K to 1st] (TB @ KC)
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