The NFL season has officially arrived. It has been 207 days since the Philadelphia Eagles were crowned Super Bowl Champions and prevented the Kansas Chiefs from becoming the first team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl in three consecutive seasons. The Eagles will unveil their new banner before the Thursday Night Football season opener as they prepare to face their NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys, and mark the official launch point of the 2025 season.
There are plenty of ways to get involved in the action with DraftKings Sportsbook and Daily Fantasy Lobby. As you seek to maximize your DFS lineups, here is a look at a few players in line to outperform their price point to help give you an edge. Capitalizing on the Captain’s pick is essential, and here are my top picks and players to avoid for the Thursday Night thriller.
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Captains Play:
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 slate. Here are my favorite captain plays for this week’s TNF slate:
Saquon Barkley ($16,800)
Saquon Barkley enters as the highest-priced player on the game slate, but for good reason. The Eagles standout broke the single-season rushing record last year and finished with 2,005 regular-season rushing yards and 15 total touchdowns. Common sense would point you towards the conclusion that Barkley cannot quite repeat this caliber of season. But Barkley should not be viewed in the same light as any average NFL player, and the Eagles’ offensive line still looks as dominant as ever.
Additionally, the Cowboys have struggled significantly to stop the run. Last season, they ranked 32nd in rushing touchdowns allowed and 29th in rushing yards given up to opponents. Barkley combined for 233 rushing yards and three total touchdowns in his two matchups with Dallas last year. Philadelphia also won the pair of games by a combined 75-13 margin and did not need to lean on its star for much of a workload. $16,800 is a steep price point, but it could take Barkley just one carry to change the game and DFS outlook with an 80-yard housecall. It is fair if you want to prioritize more flexibility on the rest of the roster, but Barkley is a safe bet for leading this matchup in fantasy production and a worthy captain’s choice.
Dak Prescott ($13,500)
If you do want to go cheaper, getting Dak Prescott as your captain’s choice at $13,500 is really solid value. Injuries limited Prescott to just eight games last year, and he did not impress when he was on the field. But this is the same Cowboys quarterback who averaged 21.7 fantasy points on DraftKings scoring the season before and finished sixth among all players in total fantasy points. Questions about the running back production have only reinforced Dallas’ intentions of being a pass-first offensive team, and the game script should also play to Prescott’s favor for putting up numbers.
The biggest weakness on this Eagles roster is likely in their secondary. C.J. Gardner-Johnson is no longer on the team. Kelee Ringo and Adoree Jackson have still been fighting out for the CB2 spot in the final days of training camp. Especially if the Eagles can grab an early lead, expect Dallas to be ready to air it out and for Prescott to have a high volume of passing opportunities. Getting the Cowboys quarterback as the fifth most expensive captain’s option is great value.
Value Picks:
Brandon Aubrey ($4,800)
I am a sucker for a good kicker in a DFS contest. Sure, they do not hold the highest ceiling and will not produce an output that will win your week. But there is also a more comfortable floor than most positional players, which appeals to me.
Brandon Aubrey led all kickers in fantasy production last year wth 192.0 total points based on DraftKings scoring. This all occurred while the Cowboys’ offense fully sputtered and ranked 21st in the league in points per game. With Prescott back on the field, there should be more optimism for this Dallas offense, and expect Aubrey to continue to be ready to capitalize when his name is called. He averaged 11.3 fantasy points per game last year and tallied 21 points in a game twice. For a $4,800 price point, he is worth a flyer at the bottom of your roster to help prioritize some bigger-name targets.
Miles Sanders ($4,000)
A bit more of a riskier pick is Miles Sanders, who broke onto the NFL scene with the Eagles. After earning a Pro-Bowl appearance in 2023, in which he rushed for 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns, Sanders signed with the Carolina Panthers. But the Penn State product tallied just 637 rushing yards and three touchdowns across the two seasons while battling some injury issues last year. The running back competition is still for the taking for Dallas, with neither Javonte Williams ($5,400) nor Jaydon Blue ($5,000) striking fear into opponents’ hearts.
Williams technically sits at the top spot in the depth chart, but was unable to hold down the starting role in Denver over the past four years. Sanders had some pointed critiques of his former team this summer and will have a chance to back it up with his play in the opening matchup. Expect the Cowboys to ride the hot hand at the running back position and for Sanders to be in the mix for carries throughout. The former Eagles standout is still just 28 years old and has more left in the tank than he was able to show in a pretty frustrating situation in Carolina. An opportunity against his former team is a great chance to get back on track, and the $4,000 price point is worth a swing.
John Metchie III ($3,800)
The Philadelphia Eagles made a bit of a surprise move by trading for John Metchie III late in training camp. While A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith will headline the pass-catching effort, Philadelphia clearly was not satisfied with the production beyond them. It has been a tough start to Metchie III’s NFL career with injuries and a blood cancer issue derailing his early outlook. He thankfully is okay and has returned to the field with 412 receiving yards and one touchdown to his name across his two seasons in the league.
The former 44th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft checks a lot of the boxes for a player that could thrive with a change of scenery, and Philadelphia is one of the better options he could have landed. Metchie III has some familiarity with Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith from Alabama. He has not spent much time with the Eagles yet, so it is difficult to have full expectations. But if the 25-year-old proves to be a legitimate third wide receiver option, it would provide another dimension to this already dangerous offense. Metchie III has the talent level for this to be the case, and expect Philadelphia to give him a few chances to shine in his debut.
Player to Avoid:
A.J. Brown ($9,400)
A.J. Brown is the clear number one wide receiver on this Eagles roster and one of the best in the NFL. He is coming off his third straight 1,000+ receiving yard season in Philadelphia with 25 touchdowns across this stretch. But Barkley’s addition last year shifted the identity of the offense to more of a run-first approach, and the team earned a Super Bowl in the process. Expect this to remain the identity of the Eagles’ offense, especially with Dallas’ poor rush defense in mind.
In addition, DeVonta Smith has had a knack for delivering in NFC East battles, with 12 of his 27 touchdowns coming in these matchups. Six of these were against the Cowboys. Brown also battled a hamstring issue during training camp that kept him limited and out for several days. Both Brown and Nick Sirianni have expressed confidence that he will be ready, but they will also keep the big picture in mind if the issue is at all bothersome. Brown will have his breakout games this season, but plenty of factors are working against him for this opener. For the $9,400 price point, I am avoiding A.J. Brown in Week 1.
