After a full afternoon of fantasy football, the day comes to a close with a showdown of rookie QBs as the Falcons visit the Commanders in Washington, D.C. Both teams are still in the playoff chase, so there should be plenty of storylines to follow as both teams look to get critical wins. As you build your DFS entries for Showdown contests like the NFL Showdown $1M Sunday Night Showdown [$250K to 1st] (ATL @ WAS), both teams offer several strong options to consider for your Captain’s Pick at 1.5x the salary and 1.5x the points. My favorite two plays are Terry McLaurin ($15,300 as Captain’s Pick) of the Chiefs and Michael Penix Jr. ($13,200 as Captain’s Pick) of the Falcons.
Of the two options, Penix is definitely a higher risk but leaves plenty of salary for your FLEX spots, while McLaurin offers a very high ceiling but will be a more common selection and stretch your salary cap.
Here’s a deeper look at why I like these Captain’s Picks and how I’d go about building a lineup from top to bottom:
Terry McLaurin as a Captain’s Pick
McLaurin has a great matchup since no team in the NFL has allowed more fantasy points to wide receivers than the Falcons have. Receivers have scored 20 touchdowns in 15 games against the Falcons while averaging 155.2 receiving yards on 13.5 catches per contest.
The Commanders have leaned heavily on McLaurin as their top receiver this season, and he has delivered a great year with 1,029 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns on 73 catches. McLaurin has been especially effective over the last four weeks, racking up over 17 fantasy points in each of the last four weeks. In that span, he has at least five catches in every game and has totaled six touchdowns while averaging 77 receiving yards.
McLaurin catches long touchdowns and short touchdowns and has become even more of the focus of the offense with Noah Brown out for the year.
The matchup and his recent workload set him up for monster game, and if he keeps getting int ot he end zone, he has a very high ceiling as a Captain’s Pick play.
Michael Penix Jr. as a high-risk alternative
If you’re looking to go with a spicy contrarian option, Penix is very affordable and comes with a high ceiling. He was solid but not exceptional last week against the Giants, throwing for 202 yards by completing 18-of-27 passes. He let the defense and Bijan Robinson ($11,000) carry the workload but will probably be asked to do more this week against Washington.
Penix showed enough arm strength to take shots down the field during the draft process and has very good receiving options to work with. Offensive Coordinator Zac Robinson will likely continue to limit Penix when possible, but he may have to let the rookie open it up.
Quarterbacks have thrown 11 passing touchdowns and added two rushing touchdowns against the Commanders in their last seven games. They have averaged 200.3 passing yards on the season with at least 180 yards in four of the last five weeks.
Penix has a high enough ceiling to be worth a contrarian play since his ceiling is so high compared to his price point.
Lineup Advice
If you’re building around McLaurin as Captain, it makes sense to include Jayden Daniels ($11,800) as a flex play, since he’ll be involved in all of McLaurin’s production. It’s an expensive duo to build around, so you’ll have to use some of the value plays below, but you can still include one other star. Bijan Robinson probably makes the most sense if you think he’ll carry the Falcons’ offense instead of Penix.
You can also include Robinson as part of a Falcons’ stack built around Penix as Captain. Drake London ($9,400) and Ray-Ray McCloud ($5,400) can be solid parts of that stack as well. You could also go with Penix as Captain and then lean into Daniels and McLaurin as FLEX plays leaving just under $5,000 for the remaining three FLEX spots.
Value plays
One of my favorite bargains is Olamide Zaccheaus ($6,400), who should be the second option in the Commanders’ passing game again this week with both Noah Brown and Dyami Brown (hamstring) ruled out. Zaccheaus had five catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns for 24 fantasy points last week against the Eagles last week and will look to build on that this week. You could even use him as a Captain’s Pick, if you really want to get wild.
Another even cheaper value to consider from Washington is Jeremy McNichols ($2,800) who had four catches last week and serves as the second running back behind Brian Robinson Jr. ($9,000), who has been inconsistent and injury-prone at times this season.
On the other side, value is a little harder to find in the Falcons offense. Tyler Allgeier ($4,000) does mix in enough to be a cheap option with upside, and the Falcons DST ($3,600) has at least three sacks in each of their last four games with double-digit fantasy points in three of those games. The Falcons defense is a high-risk play against Daniels, but they have proven that they can make big plays.
The Crown Is Yours: Sign up for DraftKings and experience the ultimate host for games and betting experiences!
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson) 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 do not have access to any non-public information.
