At long last, the final NFL Sunday of the season is upon us… meaning it’s time for one last edition of our weekly must-starts column.
The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks battled throughout the NFL Playoffs to reach this point, but only one can etch their names in the league’s history books. With just two teams to pick from in DFS contests, pickings are slim in the player pool but the mission remains the same as ever — we just want to help you win. After crunching the numbers, we’ve got another three must-start players for your fantasy football contests. Whether a standout talent to build lineups around or an intriguing value with matchup and salary, these are guys who can smash and win the week. Let’s jump right in.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL Showdown $4.5M Super Bowl LX Millionaire [$1M to 1st] (Super Bowl LX)
An important note: This week’s contests largely come in the single-game Showdown format. This article is a general look at must-starts, but for a look at Captain’s Picks, see the rest of the content available on DraftKings Network!
RB Kenneth Walker III, Seattle Seahawks ($9,800)
Kenneth Walker III is the man. Seattle’s halfback split carries with Zach Charbonnet all season long and ceded most of the high-value work in the red zone to his teammate, creating some pain points for fantasy players week in and week out. Unfortunately, Charbonnet suffered an ACL tear back in the Divisional round, sidelining him for the foreseeable future. However, that’s created opportunity for Walker to thrive as a workhorse back. If you’re deciding what RB to look towards in this contest, don’t hesitate. Just click on Walker.
The fourth-year runner now has an iron grip on this backfield, tallying 19 rushing attempts in each of his last two games. He produced 116 yards and three scores on the ground in the Divisional, catching three passes to bring his fantasy output to a staggering 38.5 DKFP on the day. Last week in the NFC Championship Game, he produced just 62 rushing yards against a strong L.A. Rams front seven but scored another touchdown while catching four passes for 49 yards — earning 21.1 DKFP in the process. With 110+ scrimmage yards in each contest and four scores across his two postseason appearances, Walker III is hot and shows few signs of slowing down. He’ll see around 20 rush attempts in an offense that emphasizes controlling the pace via the ground attack, and it seems his receiving role is growing more steady as well.
Even against a Patriots defense that allowed the sixth-fewest rushing yards during the regular season and fourth-fewest rushing touchdowns, there’s no reason to worry about Walker’s production. His volume makes him worthy of lineups, and I’d even consider him as a Captain’s Pick as well.
WR Mack Hollins, New England Patriots ($3.600)
Given the format of the featured contest this week, we’re looking to do even more to separate our lineups from others. Sure, go pay up for your stars, but Mack Hollins fits the bill as a value who could potentially help swing the results. The veteran wide receiver isn’t a name you’ll love to draft, but there’s a method to the madness here. Just hear me out for a moment.
The role Hollins plays on this team is difficult to understate. He finished fourth on the roster in total routes run and third in targets (55) and receptions (40) in the regular season despite finishing the year with just 15 games played. He missed the tail end of the regular season in addition to the first two playoff games, but returned with a 61% snap share in the AFCCG, playing just one fewer snap than Kayshon Boutte, who paced the receiver room with a 63% share. And again, despite missing four straight games, Hollins sits second among all wideouts on the roster with 698 snaps played on the full season’s sample (including playoffs). This guy is on the field a lot.
He’s not a sexy name and garnered just two targets against the Broncos, but he caught both for 51 yards and the volume may have been a result of the blizzard-like conditions in Denver as well. Hollins saw at least four targets in six straight games to end his regular-season sample with totals of 10, five, six, four, eight and nine. Those are some higher-volume lines in that group, and it’s not unreasonable to expect he sees some work in the Super Bowl. With a stable projectable role and potential for the Patriots to need to throw a lot if they fall behind in particular, Hollins is probably the best dart throw you can take as a value here.
Seahawks DST ($4,400)
The roster percentage on the Seahawks DST won’t be as high as Kenneth Walker, but it should still be elevated compared to a lot of other assets in the pool. However, I’m not dissuaded by that since this is a defense/return unit we’re talking about after all, so some people may eschew it for other position players.
Seattle’s defense is one of the NFL’s elite and a major reason why the team has made it this far in the first place. A strong front seven limits the run and has a handful of standout pass rushers who wreak havoc. Three players racked up seven sacks in the regular season and the team ended up with 47 overall. While they’ve only logged three sacks in the postseason, this is a prime chance to run that number up against Drake Maye and an offensive line that may not hold up, especially after he was sacked 47 times himself in the regular season (fourth-most). The Seahawks have also forced five fumbles and recovered three in the playoffs while recording one interception. A talent-laden secondary can pick off Maye at least once after notching 18 INTs in the regular season, and the outlook for that only improves with pressure.
Beyond the defense, the return unit can make a difference as well. Rashid Shaheed just returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the Divisional and had two scores from kickoffs and punts in nine games with the team during the regular season. There’s a strong case to include Seattle’s DST thanks to that aspect and the ability to create disruptive plays against the Pats.
