New Beginnings

When the Bears travel to face the Rams on Sunday night it will be the beginning of a new era, for the Rams that is. The new era for the Bears will be on hold for now as it relates to Justin Fields however, Matthew Stafford takes over under center for the Rams after an offseason trade shipped off Jared Goff to the Lions. The veteran gunslinger will have the most plentiful group of playmakers he’s ever had in a system that he should flourish in. The Bears will begin with Andy Dalton under center placeholding for first-round pick Justin Fields who’s waiting in the wings. This will be an exciting first Sunday night football game of the year and I can’t wait to dive into some showdown action for it!

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

Chicago Bears: WR Allen Robinson

Los Angeles Rams: QB Matthew Stafford, WR Robert Woods

I understand that typically using both Quarterbacks is critical when building showdown lineups. The problem in the Bears’ case for me is I simply don’t trust Andy Dalton to fully invest in him. One he’s a liability especially in primetime games and two, I wouldn’t be surprised if Matt Nagy has a quick hook and goes to Justin Fields at some point, he’s that unpredictable. Leaning on Allen Robinson as the core piece from the Bears makes too much sense to avoid. He’s not overly expensive, he commands most of the targets on the team, and he’s the best playmaker in this game overall.

The Rams are loaded with playmakers and have been for a couple of years now. The only thing that was holding them back was the inability of Jared Goff to progress through Sean McVay’s gameplan(s) and adapt as games went on. That won’t be an issue for Matthew Stafford who McVay quite literally went out of his way to trade for. Stafford slinging the ball around in this system is about as good of a fit as you could imagine. Coming off back to back 90 catch seasons, Woods had what could be called a down year in 2020 failing to reach 1,000 receiving yards for the first time since 2017, a year in which he played just 12 games. With Stafford under center now, a lot of the unrealized plays for Woods should be rectified and executed now simply with better play under center. Cooper Kupp ($8,800) could have easily been in this spot over Woods, we’re kind of splitting hairs here, but overall in this game I prefer the Woods upside. Both guys should have good matchups throughout this game.

*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.

RB David Montgomery (CHI)

From a volume standpoint, Montgomery sticks out as a captain and someone who at $12,600 could be considered a value at the captain spot. For reference Allen Robinson ($15,300), Robert Woods ($13,500), and Cooper Kupp ($13,200) are the three highest-priced non-quarterbacks as far as captain pricing goes. Montgomery became a workhorse late last season seeing 33, 25, and 31 touches in his final three games which included being more heavily involved in the passing game. Expect that to be the case again Tarik Cohen out. Montgomery could reach the 30-touch mark in this game.

WR Cooper Kupp

Like Woods, Kupp saw his numbers go down last season failing to reach 1,000 receiving yards after 1,162 the year before and hauling in just three touchdowns after 10 the year before. Kupp was still heavily involved in the offense with an 80 percent snap share and 92 percent route participation. Kupp lines up in the slot a ton which is projected to be a weak spot for the Bears this season after losing Buster Skrine who manned that spot last season. Kupp is also a weapon in the red zone where he saw 13 targets last season and 18 the year prior.

Flex Plays

RB Darrel Henderson (LAR)

Henderson seemingly will take over the lead running back duties for now with Cam Akers out for the season, even with the acquisition of Sony Michel ($4,800). Henderson ($7,600) is priced favorably for someone who could see upwards of 15 touches in this game. I do have some hesitation that there could be somewhat of a timeshare here so I will be treading lightly with the Rams’ backfield.

QB Andy Dalton (CHI)

He’s not a core play but he is, after all starting at quarterback. Dalton is under 10K ($9,800) which doesn’t make it all tht difficult to get him into some lineups. Like I said above, this situation is extremely unpredictable so I won’t be sticking my neck out with a “Dalton lineups” everywhere.

WR Darnell Mooney (CHI)

Mooney has an injury he’s nursing but he is expected to play. Priced at just $5,600 as the number two receiver for the Bears, the ultra-talented hauled in 61 balls for 636 yards last season and four touchdowns. There were a ton of plays left on the field due to ineffectiveness at the quarterback position from Mitch Trusbisky. This could be the case again until Justin Fields takes over but Mooney does display tremendous big-play upside regardless.

Value Flex Plays

RB Sony Michel (LAR)

• At $4,800 as a potential co-starter Michel could find some touches and if he does well with them I wouldn’t be surprised to see McVay run with a hot-hand approach in the backfield.

WR Van Jefferson (LAR)

• Jefferson’s chances were limited last season as he was buried on the depth. However this season he’s listed as the number three receiver in an offense that runs three wide receiver sets almost all of the time. For just $800 Jefferson is worth a value flier.

TE Cole Kmet (CHI)

• Even though Jimmy Graham is still there, Kmet is expected to be the top tight end option for the Bears.

WR Desean Jackson (LAR)

• Even at his advance age Jackson can make the big play or two and at $1,400 it wouldn’t be the worst dart throw with a QB like Stafford who can push the ball down field.

K Matt Gay (LAR), K Cairo Santos (CHI)

GOOD LUCK!!