Here. We. Go…

It’s finally here! Week 1 of the NFL season kicks off tonight with Thursday Night Football featuring the Dallas Cowboys traveling to Tampa Bay to take on the World Champion Buccaneers. Showdown slates are a fun and exciting way to enjoy single games and there are a number of ways to attack them! Below I’ll break down my preferred method of building lineups for these Showdown slates on DraftKings.

Showdown Strategy

When Showdown slates first became available I was not a big fan simply because I don’t often like change. When these slates were designed we hadn’t ever seen anything like them in the DFS world. Come to realize a few years later I really enjoy them. On a normal slate with multiple games, I would typically describe myself as a cash game player primarily. That’s where my focus typically lies; cash games/single entry tournaments and from there I’ll build lineups for multi-entry GPP contests. For me, the cash game/single entry strategy kind of goes out the window as I’ll hardly if ever play double-ups and single-entry contests in showdown. Instead, I’ll take a core of players, more than often three to four players in the game that I want in virtually every lineup, typically 20 or so, that I build. The core will usually include both quarterbacks and one to two skill players that I have to have. Like much of fantasy football volume is king but it comes with a price. The wrinkle is the captain’s spot in showdown lineups. The captain’s spot generates 1.5 times the amount of fantasy points scored however a player’s salary goes up in the captain’s spot obviously. Locking in a core and deciding on a captain is how I’ll start building lineups. From there I’ll fill in the rest of the spots with correlation and value plays. Don’t be afraid to get a little weird with these lineups because virtually anything goes!

Core Plays

Dallas Cowboys: Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Tom Brady

If what’s assumed is true and CeeDee Lamb is running out of the slot chances are that he’ll see a good deal of Sean Murphy-Bunting in coverage. While Murphy-Bunting played well in the playoffs last season, he struggled with a passer rating over 120 against when covering the slot. Before Dak Prescott got hurt last season he and Lamb had developed a nice connection as Lamb had at least five receptions in all five games with Prescott resulting in 433 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Speaking of Dak, he was on an incredible pace before blowing up his ankle in Week 5 last season against the Giants. In his four and a half games played he threw for 1,856 yards, nine touchdowns, and 93 yards rushing with three rushing scores (all in Week 2). The Cowboys’ defense doesn’t figure to be much better this season thus we can expect Dak to have to throw often once again. Also, consider that the Buccaneers’ defense is stout against the run, we could see Dak throw nearly 50 passes in this contest.

Tom Brady coming to Tampa last season changed the landscape of the NFC, really the NFL. Brady was rejuvenated throwing for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns in Bruce Arians’ air-attacking offense. In typical Tom Brady fashion, he spread the ball around to the numerous weapons he had at his disposal except it can be argued that the group of weapons Brady had in Tampa were better than any group he had in any of his years in New England.  Considering that Tampa is returning all of their skill position players this season, It’s an easy decision for me to lock Brady into a core on his own while mixing in some of the receivers and backs he has at his disposal.

*NOTE: All plays above are obviously “Captain” viable

Captain Plays

*Captain plays will always be options other than those mentioned in the “core plays” section.

Antonio Brown (TB)

Tom Brady was instrumental in bringing Brown to Tampa and as their “third receiver” he still has a pivotal role in this offense. Brown saw 62 targets in eight games with double-digit chances twice. As a captain A.B. is a more than solid value at $8,400 when you consider his teammates Mike Evans ($13,800) and Chris Godwin ($12,900) are significantly more expensive. That’s not to say that Brown is either of those guys at this point but the drop off relative to the salary difference isn’t that severe, especially considering how well Brady spreads the ball around.

Amari Cooper (DAL)

Before Prescott was hurt last season he and Coopers had built solid chemistry. In the first four games of the season, Cooper saw 14, nine, 12, and 16 targets before Prescott was hurt in the fifth game of the season. Cooper’s overall volume (130 targets) was the second-most in his career and in a fast-paced offense in a game that Dallas will need to put up points he should be leaned on.

Flex Plays

Ezekiel Elliott (DAL)

It may come as a surprise that Elliott wasn’t one of my captain plays. He’s obviously worth of the distinction however in this spot I don’t particularly love him against this stout run defense. Couple that with the potential script of this game suggesting that Dallas will have to throw and I don’t see Elliott having that trademark monster game. Is he worthy of rostering? Of course but personally, I’ll be treading lightly.

Blake Jarwin (DAL)

There had been a lot of hope with Jarwin heading into last season as the top tight end but that quickly evaporated at he was injured for the season in the first game. Dalton Schultz stepped in admirably and filled a role suggesting that the tight end spot in this offense is still a productive one. At $5,200 Jarwin is a nice value play thought could make a play or two and easily pay off.

Mike Evans (TB) and Chris Godwin (TB)

Between the two I prefer Evans for the upside and Godwin for the floor. Godwin finds a way to navigate between the 20’s and should find himself in the softer matchup in the slot against Jourdan Davis. Evans’ matchup should be a little more difficult but in the red zone last season Brady looked his way more often than not. Evans saw 19 red-zone targets resulting in 12 receptions. Overall the formal first-round pick had 13 receiving touchdowns, the fourth-most in the NFL. The one thing to be conscious of is that Evans had eight games last season with less than five receptions. As I said, Evans is the upside play and Godwin is the safer/floor play.

Value Flex Plays

Giovanni Bernard (TB)

• We saw a few instances last year where Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones had issues in the pass game resulting in “The Stare” from Tom Brady. Bernard ($2,000) won’t have such issues as he’s as sure-handed as they come in the passing game. His salary is very friendly in a backfield that could turn out to be a three-headed monster.

O.J. Howard (TB)

• The talent has always been there but Howard has yet to put it all together. At his price ($2,200) there could be a path to success in this game for the former Alabama standout.

Greg Zuerlein (DAL) and Ryan Succop (TB)

GOOD LUCK!!