At Least it’s Football, Right?
In what could be the most unattractive Thursday Night Football game of the season the Panthers take on the Texans and Houston is starting Davis Mills in his first career start to boot! The Panthers have won each of their first two games while the Texans are coming off a 10-point loss to Cleveland and are sitting at 1-1 after demolishing Jacksonville in Week 1. Regardless of the matchup we still have football and that means there are showdown contests to dive into so let’s just do that.
NOTE: All pricing references pertain to 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
Carolina Panthers: RB Christian McCaffrey, QB Sam Darnold
Houston Texans: RB Mark Ingram
This shouldn’t come as a shock that CMC is included in Thursday’s core considering the production and volume he’s seeing. In both games CMC has at least 21 carries (24 Week 1, 21 Week 2) and had five receptions in Week 1 and nine in Week 2. Former Jet great (I’m obviously being sarcastic) Sam Darnold has come out and looked very solid in his first two weeks against the Jets and Saints. In Week 2 Darnold three for 305 yards and two touchdowns against New Orleans as he continues to gain Matt Rhule’s trust in a potentially sneaky offense. It hurts my brain to consider Mark Ingram as a core play in 2021 but here we are. Ingram has 14 and 26 carries in his first two games as he seems to be the trustworthy back in Houston. At $6,600 Ingram is a value that we have to believe will be leaned on with a rookie quarterback making his debut.
*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.
WR D.J. Moore (CAR)
Darnold has found a connection with D.J. Moore through two weeks targeting him eight times in Week 1 and 11 times in Week 2 and overall Moore has 14 catches for 159 yards and a touchdown to this point. Moore should be in favorable matchups all game long despite the Texans’ secondary being decent thus far.
WR Brandin Cooks (HOU)
Speaking of wide quarterback-wide receiver connection, Tyrod Taylor has connected with Cooks regularly this season as Cooks has 14 receptions for 210 yards and a touchdown. For reference, Taylor has 416 yards passing and 31 completions. With that being said Taylor is out but we have to believe that Mills will look Cooks’ way regularly if they should get behind, which I believe they will.
Flex Plays
WR Robby Anderson (CAR)
The former Jet is off to a slow start considering that’s he’s basically achieved all of his production for the season on one 57 yard touchdown play against his former mates. I believe that Anderson is due for a big effort considering how much work he had last season (95) and his ability to stretch the field. There’s always going to be a little boom-bust with Anderson however.
TE Pharaoh Brown (HOU)
After a silent Week 1, Brown posted a nice line of four catches for 67 yards. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Mills look Brown’s way and for $2,600 he’s a nice value.
Also consider:
WR Terrace Marshall (CAR)
RB Phillip Lindsay (TEX)
K’s Joey Slye (HOU), Zane Gonzalez (CAR)
Panthers Defense
Value Flex Plays
WR Chris Conley (HOU)
GOOD LUCK!!