The final week of the NFL Regular Season features a full afternoon of fantasy football, and the day builds to a crescendo with the biggest matchup of the day capping things off on Sunday Night Football. The Vikings and Lions meet in Detroit to complete the playoff picture. The winner secures the NFC North title and the top seed in the NFC, which results in a bye next week while the loser will go on the road next week for the Wild Card round. In addition to the playoff implications, the matchup brings some big DFS showdown contests, like the aptly-named NFL Showdown $1.2M Battle for a Bye [$300K to 1st] (MIN @ DET). As you build your lineups for Sunday Night Football, my favorite Captain’s Pick plays are Jahmyr Gibbs ($17,400 as Captain’s Pick) and T.J. Hockenson ($8,100 as Captain’s Pick).
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:
Jahmyr Gibbs as a Captain’s Pick
Gibbs has been the focus of the Lions’ offense lately, and the young running back has established himself as a true fantasy football stud. Gibbs has over 28 fantasy points in each of the last three weeks. Three weeks ago, David Montgomery (knee) sprained his MCL, leaving Gibbs to carry the workload in Detroit’s backfield.
Gibbs has racked up over 100 rushing yards in each of his last two games without Montgomery and scored a rushing touchdown in each game as well. Additionally, Gibbs has featured in the passing game with at least four receptions in four straight games with 30+ receiving yards in each of those contests and a pair of receiving touchdowns during that stretch.
On the season, Gibbs has averaged 20.6 fantasy points per game while totaling 16 touchdowns and racking up 1,273 rushing yards. One of his best games came back in Week 7 in Minnesota, when he lit up the Vikings for 116 rushing yards, two touchdowns and 35 fantasy points.
The Lions will look to give Gibbs another big workload as they try to secure home-field advantage and potentially get Montgomery back in the postseason. Gibbs has a very high ceiling as a Captain’s Pick, and he’s worth paying up for even though he’ll be a popular option in this star-studded showdown contest.
T.J. Hockenson as Captain’s Pick in a balanced build
Another way to approach Sunday night’s contests are to go with as many stars as you can instead of just one pay-up play. To fit in multiple big-name stars, you’ll have to go cheaper with a Captain’s Pick, and my favorite play in this price range is former Lion and current Viking T.J. Hockenson ($8,100 as Captain’s Pick).
Hockenson has at least five targets in each of the last six contests with a total of 27 catches for 334 yards. He has at least 45 yards in four of those games, including three of his last four.
The tight end has faced his former team two times since being traded to the Vikings and has totaled 10 catches on 12 targets for 135 yards.
He should be a solid source of catches and yards, and the Vikings could work to get him his first touchdown of the season. Minnesota definitely likes to throw the ball in the red zone, but most of the red zone targets have gone to receivers.
Lineup Advice
If you’re building around Gibbs, you’re counting on him to have a huge game since you’ll have to adjust your flex plays to some cheaper options. Hockenson is definitely a solid play to consider, but you’ll need at least one other cheap option and some solid plays around the price point around the level of Jameson Williams ($7,600) or Jordan Addison ($7,400), who are both solid plays as WR2.
If you build around Hockenson, there are plenty of good options. You can pair him with his QB Sam Darnold ($9,400) and Justin Jefferson ($11,400) for a big Vikings stack, or you can go Jared Goff ($9,600) and Amon-Ra St. Brown ($10,600), which is slightly cheaper overall. You can even cram in both QB-WR tandems, but you have to punt your last flex spot with just $900 left. Another build that makes sense is to go with Gibbs as the main Lions play and Darnold, Jefferson and Hockenson as your Vikings. Going with Hockenson opens the door to building way more depth if you think the scoring will be more evenly distributed among the stars.
Value plays
Since both offenses are so potent, the DST’s aren’t my favorite options. However, Will Reichard ($4,800) has averaged 10 fantasy points per week in his 12 games as Vikings’ kicker and Jake Bates ($5,000) has averaged 9.6 fantasy points while starting all 16 games for the Lions. With plenty of points expeced on both sides, both kickers are strong options as value plays and have high floors since they should score points in almost any game script.
Craig Reynolds ($3,000) has been sharing some of the load in the Detroit backfield while Montgomery has been out, but he is questionable for Sunday night with a back injury. However, since the Lions didn’t elevate Jermar Jefferson ($2,000) from the practice squad, Reynolds appears on track to play. He had 8.6 fantasy points last week taking seven carries for 31 yards and adding two catches for 35 more yards. On the other side, Cam Akers ($3,400) isn’t quite as cheap, but also makes a lot of sense since he’s been mixing in with Aaron Jones Sr. ($8,400), who doesn’t have an injury designation but had been battling a quad injury. If you have the salary, I prefer Akers over Reynolds but both are solid cheap options.
As depth pass-catchers Jalen Nailor ($4,400) and Tim Patrick ($3,600) make some sense, especially since Nailor is coming off a five-catch game last week.
If you to punt a roster spot, Kalif Raymond ($200) is ultra-cheap but was activated from IR and is questionable for Sunday, although he looks on track to return. Raymond had 16 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns earlier this season and remains a big-play threat that makes sense if you just spend to the bottom to squeeze in more stars.
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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.
