The Sunday Night Football matchup in Week 5 features a big AFC East matchup between the undefeated Buffalo Bills and the 2-2 New England Patriots. The matchup on Sunday night is also the focus of some big DFS showdown contests, including the NFL $1.11M Sunday Night Showdown [$250K to 1st] (NE @ BUF). As you build your lineups for Sunday Night Football, my favorite Captain’s Pick plays are Josh Allen ($18,000 as Captain’s Pick) and TreVeyon Henderson ($10,200 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:
Josh Allen as a Captain’s Pick
It’s an obvious play, to be sure, but Allen as a Captain’s Pick makes too much sense to discard just because it’s chalky.
Through four weeks, Allen was the second-highest scoring fantasy player in the NFL behind only Rams receiver Puka Nacua. He led his team to at least 30 points in four straight games and posted over 22 fantasy points in three of those four games. He started the season on the first Sunday Night Football of the season with a massive game of 41.8 fantasy points against the Ravens.
Allen has been extremely productive both through the air and on the ground this season, which gives him both a high ceiling and a high floor in this matchup. He has totaled three touchdowns in each of the last two weeks while leading the Bills past the Dolphins and Saints.
You’ll have to be creative if you use the MVP favorite in your Captain’s Pick spot this week, but his upside makes him worth it against the Patriots, who have allowed over 250 passing yards per game and a total of seven passing scores in four games this season.
TreVeyon Henderson as a Captain’s Pick in GPP
If you want to go with a contrarian pivot play as your Captain’s Pick and possibly slide Allen to a FLEX spot, Henderson brings a high ceiling with his big-play ability.
The Patriots’ rookie running back has played at least 30% of snaps in each of his games this year. He found the end zone for the first time last week and posted a personal-best 12.6 fantasy points. In Week 3, he had a season-high 11 carries as well, while playing almost half the team’s snaps against the Steelers.
The rookie has at least 6.0 fantasy points in each week since he has multiple catches each week. He had six catches on six targets in his NFL debut in Week 1, and if the Patriots have to go pass-heavy, Henderson could be very busy and end up as a great bargain as a result.
Henderson is high-risk since he’s in a timeshare, but he has the upside to be a strong GPP pivot.
Lineup Advice
If you go with Allen, you’ll have to get creative on the rest of your roster since the FLEX spots only have an average of $6,400 available. Henderson can be in the mix at $6,800 in a flex spot. Even Hunter Henry ($7,600) or Dalton Kincaid ($7,400) are over that average, and you’ll have to compensate with some of the bargain plays below. It’s very hard to pair Allen up with James Cook III ($11,400) or Drake Maye ($10,000), unless you just go all value plays the rest of the way.
With Henderson, you have plenty of room to use Allen in a FLEX spot along with Cook and Khalil Shakir ($8,200) or Keon Coleman ($8,000). You can also stack Henderson with his Patriots teammates Drake Maye ($10,000) and Stefon Diggs ($7,800), or mix in Hunter as well.
Value plays
Even after his fumbling issues, Rhamondre Stevenson ($4,800) still gets enough work to be a solid play under $5K, especially if he finds the end zone.
Matt Prater ($5,000) has averaged 10.2 fantasy points per game as the Bills’ kicker this season, so he makes sense as a FLEX value, even though the game will be played outside in the elements.
Also for the Bills, Dawson Knox ($1,600) is a good punt play, since the Patriots have been beatable by tight ends. Even cheaper, Jackson Hawes ($600) has one catch every game this season as the team’s third tight end and found the end zone in Week 3 against Miami.
If you are looking for cheap players on the other side, Mack Hollins ($2,800) is a good option in a possible revenge spot, while Demario Douglas ($2,000) gets plenty of targets when the Patriots go pass-heavy. Last week, he wasn’t targeted, but he had five targets in Week 3 against the Steelers.
Austin Hooper ($2,400) also makes sense since the Patriots’ second tight end has been involved, hauling in all seven of his targets for seven catches and 100 yards in his four games this season.
