The NFL is in the final stretch of the Regular Season as teams battle for playoff position and division supremacy. As the season winds down, the NFL expands to fill more of the weekend, with a nice divisional double-header on tap for Saturday. DraftKings has great Showdown contests for each matchup, and there is also a Saturday special slate available, so let’s dive into this four-team player pool and find some targets and values to consider building around this Saturday
With just two games, it will be important to differentiate your lineup where possible, finding leverage plays, especially for GPP contests. The first game is an NFC East matchup between the Eagles and the Commanders, followed at night by the Packers visiting the Bears at Soldier Field. Per DraftKings Sportsbook, the Eagles are heavy seven-point road favorites, while the Bears are slight 1.5-point home favorites over the Packers. The second game has a slightly higher over/under at 46.5, although both games are expected to be relatively low-scoring.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $1.2M Saturday Special [$300K to 1st] (Sat)
Quarterback
Stud
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Commanders ($6,900) – Of the four defenses available to attack on Saturday, the Commanders are definitely the most vulnerable. They have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing QBs this season, allowing multiple passing scores in six of their last eight games, including last week to Jaxson Dart of the Giants.
Hurts hasn’t been the most consistent fantasy option this season, but he always has a high ceiling since he can score touchdowns via both passing and rushing. He has 22 passing scores and eight rushing touchdowns. Last week, he threw three touchdowns on his way to 22.9 fantasy points against the Raiders, and he had 30.9 fantasy points just a few weeks ago against the Cowboys. He’s had some clunkers as well, but his ceiling is unmatched on this small slate, especially in the most favorable matchup on the board.
Value
Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers ($5,500) – Williams struggled against the Packers two weeks ago with only 15.9 fantasy points and a rally-ending interception. He’ll be back for revenge in this rematch, and he has typically been much better at home than on the road. In his six home games, he has produced 21 fantasy points per game, throwing 11 touchdowns with just one interception. Since the Packers won’t have Micah Parsons (knee), Williams should have more time in the pocket than he did two weeks ago. When given that time, he has been able to put together good numbers. He will be missing some key pass catchers and possibly his starting running back, but he seems to fit very well into Ben Johnson’s system and has been making the offense thrive, especially at Soldier Field this season.
Running Back
Stud
Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Commanders ($7,200) – The Commanders are also the best matchup on the board for running backs, which makes Barkley a solid stud option in the backfield. He got on track a little bit in the last two weeks, producing 21.2 fantasy points with a season-high 122 rushing yards against the Chargers and 17.2 fantasy points against the Raiders, with a touchdown in each game.
Barkley has demolished the Commanders throughout his career, producing 414 yards and seven touchdowns in three games against them last year, going over 100 yards and for multiple touchdowns in each of those three matchups. While he hasn’t been as lights out overall this season, he should still be able to build on his recent momentum and post a big game on Saturday night.
Value
Kyle Monangai, Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers ($5,100) – Monangai is sharing work with D’Andre Swift ($5,900; groin) who is questionable for this matchup. The rookie from Rutgers has already shown he can take advantage when given an opening. In Week 9 without Swift, Monangai posted 25.8 fantasy points by taking 26 carries for 176 yards and a touchdown, while also adding three catches for 22 more yards against the Bengals. He didn’t get into the end zone in that matchup, but he did score one rushing touchdown in each of the next four weeks. He also starred in the Black Friday win over Barkley and the Eagles, racking up 130 rushing yards on 22 carries.
In the first matchup between these teams, Monangai had 14 carries for 57 yards, but he could do much better if he gets more work. In his two games this season with more than 15 carries, he has over 20 fantasy points. While he’s a solid play if platooning with Swift, he’ll move into the “must-play” realm if Swift is out.
Wide Receiver
Stud
DJ Moore, Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers ($5,300) – The Bears already ruled out Rome Odunze (foot) and Luther Burden III (ankle), so D.J. Moore will have to step up as the team’s top receiver. Last week, Moore caught his fifth and sixth touchdowns of the season against the Browns:
Moore has stepped up in past games without those receivers, like in Week 9 against the Bengals when he delivered 23 fantasy points with a rushing touchdown and 89 total yards. He’s had two big games since then, with two touchdowns and over 22 fantasy points against the Steelers in Week 12 and the Browns in Week 15. If he gets more looks this week, which seems very likely, he could be ready to go off against the Packers. He only had one catch for -4 yards in their first meeting, so he’ll have to do much better for the Bears to have a chance in the rematch.
Value
Olamide Zaccheaus, Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers ($3,500) – Zaccheaus had six catches for 58 yards and a touchdown in that game against the Bengals as well, and he has proven that he can deliver when he gets a chance. He has fallen behind Burden lately and been slotted in as the WR4, but since he’ll be back at WR2 this week, he’ll be a much better option, than the other value options at receiver. On a big slate, I wouldn’t have both receivers from the same team, but the Bears’ options offer so much value that they both stand out as strong plays against Green Bay.
Tight End
Stud
Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers ($3,900) – Loveland could also get a boost from a few extra targets, but he’s been strong enough to be a solid play at this price even without extra work. Loveland has at least three catches in nine straight contests and has scored four touchdowns during that span. He had one of those scores against the Packers, while hauling in 4-of-5 targets for 29 yards and 12.9 fantasy points two weeks ago.
He didn’t get into the end zone last week against the Browns but did get 10.1 fantasy points by catching four passes for 63 yards.
Value
Luke Musgrave, Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears ($2,700) – Two of the four teams on the slate have lost their starting tight ends to IR. The Commanders are without Zach Ertz, and the Packers don’t have Tucker Kraft. Neither team has the luxury of a one-for-one replacement on their roster and have gone to committee approaches. Musgrave has started to emerge, though, drawing 10 targets in the last two weeks.
He had a season-high four catches for a season-high 52 yards last week against the Broncos, and with Christian Watson (chest/shoulder) and Dontayvion Wicks (ankle) questionable, there could be more targets available for Musgrave in Green Bay’s passing game.
Defense/Special Teams
Stud
Eagles DST at Washington Commanders ($3,600) – Marcus Mariota isn’t a scary matchup for the Eagles, and they’re coming off a shutout last week that earned them 16 fantasy points. They had 13 fantasy points the week before against the Chargers too, and have averaged 8.1 fantasy points per game on the season, the highest of the four defenses on the slate by a significant margin. They’re in the best matchup as well, so the only reason to avoid them is that they’ll likely be very chalky.
Value
Bears DST vs. Green Bay Packers ($2,500) –The Bears’ DST has an impressive 30 takeaways on the season along with 29 sacks and a defensive touchdown. At home, they’re averaging 11 fantasy points per game with 20 of their 29 sacks on their own field. Last week against the Browns, they racked up 18 fantasy points on five sacks and just three points against, so they’re an interesting alternative pivot play from the Eagles, and also cost more than $1,000 less.
