There is an important Thursday Night Football matchup this week, as the Eagles host the Commanders to kick off Week 11 of the 2024 NFL season with first place in the NFC East on the line.
The Eagles have won five straight games and sit just ahead of the Commanders in the standings following Washington’s loss to the Steelers last week. These are two of the best offenses in the league, so it should be an exciting back-and-forth game.
There are plenty of breakdowns for the game’s outlook, player props and more, but this article will look at some of the top DFS options to help you build your Showdown team.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $1.5M Thursday Night Showdown [$500K to 1st]
Captain Plays
Hitting on your captain (CPT) is essential to having Showdown DFS success on DraftKings. Players drafted as the captain earn 1.5x fantasy points, so they can make or break your entry. Here are my favorite captain plays for this week’s TNF matchup:
Jalen Hurts ($16,500)
Jalen Hurts is having a great season for the Eagles. The past few weeks, he’s been doing a ton of damage with his legs. The zone read has become really efficient with the addition of Saquon Barkley this season, which has improved Hurts’ rushing figures. Over his past four games, he has eight rushing touchdowns. In his past two games, he has two of his three highest rushing totals of the season. He should be able to put up similar rushing numbers in this game against Washington, who rank 27th in defensive rush EPA. Hurts should be able to find the end zone at least once on the ground.
In addition to the run game, Hurts has good passing numbers this season as well. He is averaging around 220 passing yards per game and has two passing touchdowns in each of his past two games. The Commanders’ defense is 22nd in defensive pass EPA, and Hurts should be able to hit a couple of deep shots to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The balance of the run game and the pass game means that Hurts can rack up fantasy points regardless of how the Commanders want to defend the Eagles.
Saquon Barkley ($15,900)
Saquon Barkley has been a revelation for the Eagles offense. He is averaging over 100 rushing yards per game and is second in the league in rushing yards behind only Derrick Henry. Barkley got some rest late in the game against the Cowboys last week because of the Eagles’ big lead. Meanwhile, the Commanders played a tightly contested game against a physical Steelers team that went down to the wire. On a short week, their defense could be a bit sore heading into this meeting, while Barkley should be pretty fresh after only logging 14 carries on Sunday.
The Commanders are 27th in defensive rush EPA, 25th in defensive rushing success rate, and 28th in rushing yards allowed per game. They have also given up explosive runs this season. They have allowed 10 runs of 20+ yards, tied for fifth-most in the league. The Eagles should grind them down on the ground and feed Barkley a healthy amount of carries. He should rack up some major yardage in this game and find his way into the end zone at least once.
Value Picks
Austin Ekeler ($8,000)
Austin Ekeler moved to Washington this offseason and has been relatively quiet because he splits carries with Brian Robinson Jr. However, Robinson has missed the past two games and Ekeler has gotten much more action without Robinson on the field. Ekeler has tallied double-digit carries in each of those two games. He also combined for three touchdowns in those two contests, and had a really productive receiving day against the Giants with three catches for 41 yards.
Robinson is questionable for this game, but if he can’t play or is even on a limited snap count, Ekeler has a lot of value on Thursday night. This should be a high-scoring game between two good offenses. That means Ekeler could see a lot of action, even if Robinson is healthy enough to give it a go.
Dallas Goedert ($6,600)
Dallas Goedert missed a few weeks of action with an injury, but made his return against Dallas on Sunday and found the end zone. It was still a relatively limited amount of work for Goedert with just two catches, but he proved that even with a couple of targets he can make big plays happen. He should continue to ramp up his usage every week and should play an integral role in this game. Goedert had two monster performances before his injury, combining for 17 catches and 232 yards against Tampa Bay and New Orleans. If he can reach those types of numbers again, he has tremendous value at this price.
Zane Gonzales ($4,800)
Kicker Zane Gonzales stepped in for the injured Austin Seibert last week for Washington and was flawless. He went 3/3 on extra points and 2/2 on field goals. Both of those field goals came from 40+ yards as well, with a long attempt of 48 yards. With a game total of 48.5, this is expected to be a high-scoring game which should create a lot of kicking opportunities for Gonzales. Jake Elliott is the more expensive kicker in this showdown, but Elliott is only averaging 1.33 made field goals per game compared to the two that Gonzales hit last week. Elliott is also 0/3 on attempts from 50+ yards this season. It is worth taking a shot on Gonzales at a cheaper price to have another productive week for Washington.
Commanders D/ST ($3,600)
The Commanders’ defense doesn’t have great metrics on a down-to-down basis, but they are a bit underrated. They only allow 3.0 red zone trips per game, tied for eighth-best in the NFL. That leads to them being 12th in scoring defense, despite being in the bottom-nine of the league in defensive EPA/play. They are also ninth in the league in sacks and tied for seventh in fumbles recovered. Each week, they have been able to generate some negative plays and limit opponent touchdowns, making them a viable option at this cheap of a price.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $1.5M Thursday Night Showdown [$500K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is blakekrass) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and cannot access any non-public information.
