Week 17 in the NFL ends with a thud, as the Rams face the Falcons in Atlanta. This game pales in comparison to what we got last night, but hey, it’s on the turf in a dome, so we can hope for something competitive.
L.A. will be a touchdown favorite, but they have just seeding to play for. That has me curious if they take it easy on any key players, but I also tend to think they’d very much prefer to remain in the 5-seed, rather than slip to the 6-seed.
Davante Adams is doubtful to play, so Puka Nacua gets a huge lift overall, Rams RBs get a boost in the RZ, Colby Parkinson gets a RZ boost, and some of the cheap Rams wide receivers will also be appealing as salary savers.
But who do we Captain, and which plays are the best? I’ll highlight the top Captain plays, some GPP pivots, and offer a tentative core for MNF:
Best MNF DFS Picks for the Captain Spot
- Puka Nacua
- Bijan Robinson
- Drake London
- Matthew Stafford
- Kyle Pitts
In terms of projection, floor, ceiling, and ownership, these are the best plays for the Captain slot going into Monday Night Football. Puka is my favorite stud in this group and I don’t care about ownership.
Nacua gets a big bump with Adams doubtful to play and he’s fresh off a 2-score game. The Falcons are giving up production everywhere these days, so as long as the Rams roll Nacua out there with no limitations, he should feast.
Bijan ranks second by default, as he carries 30+ point upside no matter who he’s facing. Tyler Allgeier will vulture touchdowns and Bijan doesn’t have a soft matchup in front of him, but he’s clearly one of the best plays of the slate.
London was going off routinely before getting hurt in November. Atlanta will probably be forced to air it out in this game, so my guess is he is ready to rock and could crush here. His return curbs the upside of Kyle Pitts in theory, but Pitts still out-produced him by quite a bit in London’s return last week. Due to game flow and target share, both look great and offer high ceilings.
I won’t ignore Stafford here, as he is the lifeblood of this Rams offense. The dude has 40 passing touchdowns with two games to go and the matchup isn’t scary. He could go off again, so while he offers no rushing ability and is down a key WR, he is Captain viable.
GPP Captain Plays
- Kyren Williams
- Blake Corum
- Colby Parkinson
- Konata Mumpfield
Ownership isn’t out yet, but Kyren has the 5th best projection and guys like Puka, London, and Bijan exist. My guess is he will be less owned than all of them, so by default he’ll be contrarian enough. He had over 20 touches last game, so the Rams clearly still want to keep him heavily involved. I wouldn’t be that shocked to see Corum cut into his workload more this week with less to play for.
That said, Williams has good TD equity in this offense and the Falcons have been a middle of the pack team against the run. I have a little more interest in Corum, however, as he is cheaper, will naturally be less owned, and is the more explosive player. With 11+ touches in each of his last three games, he’s not going anywhere.
Parkinson is interesting due to RZ work and price. With Adams still sidelined, he is a decent bet to get 5-7 targets and a good amount of those should come inside the 20. He needs to score a touchdown to hit – and ATL has been elite against TEs – but he’s a perfectly viable Captain pick in tournaments.
Lastly, I really like the idea of punting the Captain slot so we can get exposure to all of these studs. Playing someone like Konata Mumpfield is very appealing, as he drew eight targets last week and the absence of Adams once again puts him in play.
We can try other punts here, too, of course. Tutu Atwell and Jordan Whittington are also viable tries, but given Mumpfield’s role last game, he’s my preferred value punt.
Monday Night Football DFS Core
- Puka
- Bijan
- Stafford
Who you put in the Captain slot is up to you, but I will definitely be playing Puka and Bijan together in almost every lineup. If Puka gets there – or if you find yourself captaining any Rams guys – a red hot Stafford makes a lot of sense to include as well.
Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and Kyren Williams are not core plays for me, but you could make a case to play any of them over Puka or Bijan to gain leverage. If I am playing one lineup I am probably rostering Puka or Bijan (in that order) in the Captain and working to get different in the Flex.
If rolling out several lineups, I am trying out the Rams RBs, Pitts, Mumpfield, and Parkinson to help open up salary a bit more and stack this game up. My favorite tourney construction is Mumpfield in the Captain and stacking up this game, but it’s not for the faint of heart.
Want more winning DFS plays like this? Get our daily core plays, leverage spots, and strategy sent straight to your inbox.
Leave a Reply