Monday Night Football has a doubleheader to wrap up Week 7, and in the second game of the night, the Houston Texans roll into Seattle to take on the Seahawks. The nice inter-conference matchup is also the focus of the biggest DFS showdown contest of the night, the NFL $700K Monday Night Showdown [$200K to 1st] (HOU @ SEA). As you build your lineups for Monday Night Football, my favorite Captain’s Pick options are Nico Collins ($16,800 as Captain’s Pick) and Woody Marks ($10,500 as Captain’s Pick).
Here’s a deeper look at why I like these Captain’s Picks:
Nico Collins as a Captain’s Pick
Each team has an outstanding No. 1 receiver with Collins for the Texans and Jaxon Smith-Njigba ($11,800) for the Seahawks. JSN has been awesome for Seattle this year after the departure of DK Metcalf to the Steelers, but he’ll have to deal with Derek Stingley Jr., who has become one of the top shutdown corners in the NFL. The Texans have allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers, while the Seahawks have been a much better matchup for receivers, allowing the 12th-most fantasy points to the position.
Collins will come into that matchup after the bye week ready to post a huge game. The fifth-year receiver from Michigan has found the end zone in three of his last four games. He had his best game of the season in the Texans’ last competitive contest, hauling in eight catches for 104 yards, a touchdown and 26.4 fantasy points. He had four catches in each of the last two games before the bye in the Texans’ blowout wins against the Titans and Ravens. He had a touchdown and 16 fantasy points in Week 5, before taking it easy down the stretch of Houston’s 44-10 win in Baltimore.
The Texans will look to carry over their momentum this week on the road in Seattle. Collins could get even more targets in Week 7 since Christian Kirk (hamstring) won’t be available.
Kirk’s absence also opens up some interesting value plays in the Texans’ passing game, as my colleague Charlie Cummings analyzed in this piece. Rookies Jayden Higgins ($3,000) and Jaylin Noel ($2,800) are good value plays and Xavier Hutchinson ($3,600) will look to build on his two-touchdown game from Week 5. Even Dalton Schultz ($4,600) and Harrison Bryant ($600) could get more targets without Kirk.
When building around Collins, C.J. Stroud ($10,200) is an important option to include since he’ll be throwing the ball to him as well.
Woody Marks as a Captain’s Pick in GPP Lineups
If you are looking for a high-risk, high-upside Captain’s Pick option to build around for GPP contests, check out Texans’ rookie Woody Marks, who has been sharing time in the backfield with Nick Chubb ($6,400).
Chubb has carried the load on early downs, but Marks showed a high ceiling with 27.9 fantasy points against the Titans two weeks ago. He had 69 rushing yards on 17 carries and caught four passes for 50 more receiving yards. He had a touchdown on the ground and through the air for his only two scores of the season.
In that huge game, he played 56% of snaps, and the next week against the Ravens, he played 39% of snaps, which would have been right around the same level before garbage time. He only had seven carries for 24 yards and no catches, though, for a disappointing 2.4 fantasy points. The game script got away from Marks, since the Texans played from ahead and relied on Chubb rather than using the dynamic rookie.
While he is extremely high-risk, his RB1 potential could make him an amazing Captain’s Pick option since he leaves so much room for stars in your FLEX spots.
Normally, I try to take my two Captain’s Picks from different teams, but the matchup against the Texans DST ($3,800) is a tough one for Seattle. Houston’s defense has allowed 20 points or fewer in every game this season and has given up just 12.2 points per game all year. It has 12 sacks and six takeaways in its five games as well.
You have to include someone from the Seattle side, though, at least as a FLEX option. If you don’t pay up for JSN, Cooper Kupp ($6,800) and AJ Barner ($4,400) could be solid plays, especially if Stingley’s defense forces Sam Darnold ($10,400) to look to other pass catchers.
