Week 3 of the NFL regular season wraps up with a great Monday Night Football matchup between a pair of 1-1 teams looking to establish themselves as true Super Bowl contenders. The Baltimore Ravens host the Detroit Lions after each team took a tough loss in Week 1 but had big bounce-back wins in Week 2. The matchup is the focus of some big DFS showdown contests, including the NFL Showdown $1.5M Monday Night Showdown [$500K to 1st] (DET at BAL). As you build your lineups for Monday Night Football, my favorite Captain’s Pick plays are Jahmyr Gibbs ($15,900 as Captain’s Pick) and Zay Flowers ($12,600 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:
Jahmyr Gibbs as a Captain’s Pick
The Lions rotate their running backs, but Gibbs has still been very productive in each of the two games this year. While he hasn’t had a monster game yet, he has been solid.
While playing from behind against the Packers, he had 15 fantasy points in Week 1 on nine carries for 19 rushing yards, but saved his fantasy day with 10 catches on 10 targets for 31 yards. He was much more effective last week against the Bears since the Lions were able to play from ahead. He racked up 19.4 fantasy points against Chicago, finishing with 12 carries for 94 rushing yards and a touchdown, while tacking on three catches for 10 yards.
Gibbs played 66% of snaps in Week 1 and 56% of snaps in Week 2, and he still continues to get most of the work. He did lose a goal-line score to David Montgomery ($6,200), but he later found the end zone with a six-yard score of his own.
He has an immensely high ceiling against the Ravens, who have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to running backs this season. They gave up 127 rushing and receiving yards to the Bills’ running backs in Week 1 and 144 rushing and receiving yards to the Browns’ running backs in Week 2. They’ve also allowed a touchdown to the position each week.
Gibbs should find space to operate against the Bills, and the offense will be focused on him again in Week 3 on Monday Night Football.
Zay Flowers as Captain’s Pick in a balanced build
The Ravens’ passing offense has been focused on Flowers this season, and the top receiver has posted two big games to start the season. He only has the sixth-highest salary on the board for this showdown matchup.
Flowers had seven catches in each of the first two games. He hauled in seven of nine targets for 143 yards, a touchdown and 31.1 fantasy points in the season opener against the Bills. In Week 2, he had seven more catches for 75 yards and a four-yard rush, finsihing with 14.9 fantasy points.
While his fantasy points dropped significantly, he still had plenty of targets and catches to be a top option.
In each of the two weeks, opposing wide receivers have had at least 10 catches and totaled over 150 yards with a touchdown. Rome Odunze had 128 receiving yards and two touchdowns against the Lions, and Flowers will try to attack the same matchups in Week 2.
Lineup Advice
Gibbs as a Captain’s Pick is a pay-up play, but Lamar Jackson ($11,800) is still possible to slide into a FLEX spot. You’ll have to go cheap in the other spots, though, so check out the value plays at the bottom of the page. If you want to go all-in on the Lions, you can stack Gibbs with Jared Goff ($9,400) and Amon-Ra St. Brown ($10,400) with bargains, or you can opt for more balance if you stick to non-star flex options.
If you go with Flowers, Jackson is an almost must-stack in a FLEX spot. It’s almost impossible to fit Gibbs in a a FLEX without punting a spot, but if you go with David Montgomery ($6,200) or Sam LaPorta ($5,400), there is plenty of options to fill a balanced roster.
Value plays
Under $6,000, both kickers make sense, with Tyler Loop ($5,000) as a standout after producing 13 and 12 fantasy points in the first two games of the year.
DeAndre Hopkins ($4,800) also posted double-digit fantasy points in each of his first two games this season, dropping 11.5 fantasy points in Week 1 and 14.4 fantasy points in Week 2 by finding the end zone each week. Tylan Wallace ($3,000) also caught a touchdown for the Ravens last week.
Isaac TeSlaa ($1,200) has only had two catches but both were highlight-reel grabs. He had a touchdown and 8.3 fantasy points in Week 1, and followed that with 3.9 fantasy points in Week 2. TeSlaa only had one catch in each game, but his snap share increased from 4% in Week 1 to 29% in Week 2, which could indicate more work will be coming his way in the future.
In injury news that could impact value plays, Isaiah Likely (foot) has been ruled out, which would move Charlie Kolar ($600) into the second tight end role. He hasn’t been targeted this season but has played 61% and 59% of snaps in the Ravens’ two games.
