Sunday Night Football has a juicy matchup in Week 2, featuring two quarterbacks in year two of their NFL careers but in their first year as a starter. J.J. McCarthy won his NFL debut last Sunday against the Bears on Monday Night Football, and he’ll make his home debut against Michael Penix Jr. and the Falcons, who lost a close game at home to the Bucs last week. The matchup is the focus of some big DFS showdown contests, including the NFL $1.11M Sunday Night Showdown [$250K to 1st] (ATL @ MIN). As you build your lineups for Sunday Night Football, my favorite Captain’s Pick plays are Michael Penix Jr. ($14,400 as Captain’s Pick) and Jordan Mason ($9,900 as Captain’s Pick).
Here’s a deeper look at why I like these Captain’s Picks and how I’m going about building a lineup from top to bottom:
Michael Penix Jr. as a Captain’s Pick
The Falcons gave the keys to the offense to Penix at the end of last year, sending big free agent addition Kirk Cousins to the bench. Penix showed nice potential in his first few starts, but the team fell short of the playoffs.
Last week, in his first game of his first full season at the helm, Penix looked very strong, throwing for 298 passing yards and a touchdown while also adding 21 rushing yards and another touchdown on the ground.
Penix racked up 24 fantasy points and finished as the No. 10 QB in Week 1, while McCarthy finished just behind him with 23.2 fantasy points. His total was even more impressive since Darnell Mooney ($7,000) was out with a shoulder injury, and Drake London ($10,400) was also absent for the final couple of drives of the game. Mooney and London are both ready to go at full speed, giving Penix plenty of threats to rely on.
I actually think the Vikings will likely play from ahead in this game at home, so Penix will be forced to be aggressive both with his legs and in throwing the ball deep down the field.
The Vikings gave up 24.2 fantasy points to Caleb Williams in Week 1 and will be playing on a short week, so Penix should be able to find some spots to attack as he tries to go on the road and get his Falcons a big conference win.
Penix’s rushing potential gives him a high ceiling, and he seems very comfortable in the offense under offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
Jordan Mason as Captain’s Pick in a balanced build
If you want to stack more superstars in your flex spots on Sunday night, one value captain to consider is Jordan Mason, who comes at a bargain under $10,000 in the Captain’s Pick, leaving an average of over $8,000 for your flex spots.
After joining the Vikings as a free agent addition this offseason, Mason played 54% of the team’s snaps in Week 1, getting significantly more work than the incumbent running back Aaron Jones Sr. ($7,600).
Mason had 15 carries for 68 yards and caught his only target for seven receiving yards, while Jones had just seven carries for 45 yards. Jones saved his fantasy day and finished with 15.7 fantasy points by hauling in all three of his targets for 44 yards and a nice touchdown.
Since he had the score, Jones out-produced Mason 15.7 fantasy points to 8.5 fantasy points, but Mason could be the better of the two options going forward if he keeps so much of the workload, especially if the Vikings are playing from ahead instead of rallying from behind, like they were in Week 1.
The fact that Mason saves $2,500 over Jones in the Captain’s Pick spot makes him the much easier option to build around from a roster construction perspective as well.
Lineup Advice
If you’re building around Penix, pairing him with London or Mooney makes sense, and he also relied on Bijan Robinson ($12,000) out of the backfield. You can also include Mason or Jones for Minnesota, or even McCarthy if you’re very careful with the rest of your spending.
Mason is easy to build around as Captain’s Pick since he leaves so much salary for FLEX spots. You can include Robinson and both quarterbacks, or toss the McCarthy and Justin Jefferson ($11,800) tandem in FLEX spots if you think the Vikings are poised to go off with Mason getting rushing yards and touchdowns.
Value plays
As value plays, kickers and defense are usually low-risk plays with decent upside. In this game, the Vikings DST ($4,400) and Will Reichard ($5,000) are both strong options to consider. Reichard had nine points in Week 1 after producing solid numbers all of last season.
Both the kicker and defense for the Falcons are much less proven. Younghoe Koo (undisclosed) is out for Sunday and Parker Romo ($4,600) was elevated from the practice squad to kick in his place. Romo kicked for the Vikings in 2024, making 11-of-12 field-goal tries and seven-of-eight extra-point attempts in four games.
Kyle Pitts Sr. ($5,800) had a huge Week 1, and he’s an expensive value play close to $6,000 with a high ceiling. Ray-Ray McCloud III ($5,400) also had a very involved Week 1 for the Falcons, but Mooney’s return could eat into both Pitts’ and McCloud’s targets in Week 2.
For the Vikings, Jalen Nailor ($4,000) could step into a larger role with Jordan Addison still serving his suspension, but Nailor only managed to catch one of his three targets for 28 yards in Week 1.
If you are looking even cheaper, Tyler Allgeier ($3,000) had 10 carries in Week 1 but only managed 2.4 fantasy points. The opportunities could be there for him in Week 2, though, since the Falcons definitely plan to rotate him into the backfield mix with Robinson.
