Another DraftKings Showdown slate arrives with the first game of week four in the 2025 NFL season, as the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks face off on Thursday Night Football.
It’s a bleak looking slate, to be sure. Division rivalry games are often a good reason for us to go to bed early, but this one is between two teams with strong defenses AND it’s at night on a short week? God help us.
Arizonza was already at the “pulling teeth” level offensively, but remove their lone stable offensive weapon in James Conner, and this team may be one step away from collectively screaming into the void.
While true, there is still money to be made here. Let’s find out how as I breakdown my favorite TNF DFS picks.
Top TNF Captain Picks
- JSN
- Kyler Murray
- Trey McBride
- Kenneth Walker
- Marvin Harrison Jr.
- Trey Benson
- Sam Darnold
When talking shop at Captain I think the salaries of these guys are largely irrelevant. The only one that really stands out would be MHJ, who is equally compelling for his projected ownership (roughly 8%).
I said in Discord and in my video breakdown that Harrison Jr. would be appealing if he goes overlooked.
As the fifth highest owned CPT, I’d say that’s the case. He has been awful the last two weeks, but with the field going elsewhere, I think he’s a great play.
Harrison Jr. probably won’t be bad forever, either. The matchup stinks, but we know he has a ceiling, so I think he’s worth being over-weight on in a game where the Cardinals may have to throw a good amount.
My favorite play with ownership ignored is McBride.
He comes in with the third most ownership so far, behind Benson and JSN. Those guys look great, relative to this shitty slate. JSN has been getting monster volume, while the Cards have not been great (24th) against WRs.
Benson takes over for James Conner, who is done for the year. Based off his athletic profile and sheer volume, he’s a great play. But when you look at the matchup, Seattle has been pretty stingy up front (199 rush yards allowed to RBs) and they have yet to give up a score to running backs, either.
JSN could be good chalk and Benson is totally fine, but of the top three guys with ownership, McBride (Seattle is 32nd vs TEs) is my preference.
Kyler Murray and Sam Darnold are solid plays, but they may lack a ceiling in what could be closer to a defensive battle. Murray has a nice rushing floor in theory, but we haven’t seen his upside (maxing out at 15 fantasy points) through the first three games.
I feel better about Darnold between the two, but that’s like saying I’d rather eat paint instead of crayons.
Walker is the other CPT pick to consider. The matchup isn’t very appealing on paper, but we know he has TD equity (three in the last 2 games) and he is pretty explosive. The matchup and the return of Zach Charbonett make me less than excited to play him, though.
Thursday Night Football GPP Plays
- Zach Charbonet
- AJ Barner
- Kickers & Defenses
I reckon we can look at other options, but I am already getting different with the likes of MHJ, and this doesn’t feel like a “punt so you can play fucken everyone” type of slate. This feels more like a “go to bed early” type of slate.
Even so, Charbonet is back and the matchup sets up relatively nicely for him, seeing as he was splitting the workload before sitting out last week. Arizona gives up production to pass-catching running backs, and he’s not that expensive.
I don’t hate AJ Barner and to a much lesser extent, Elijah Arroyo. Just keep in mind it’s pretty likely Arroyo got more playing time last week due to a blowout. Barner is the safer play and the one I’d prefer, but if you do feel the need to load up, both would be viable.
Both kickers and both defenses are Captain viable. This game has a weak 43.5 total and both defenses have been good through three weeks. It’s also a short week with one offense missing their starting running back, so this game could follow suit behind the many borefests that came before it on TNF.
That doesn’t mean we have to put defenses or kickers in the Captain, but it is certainly an option on a slate like this.
New to NFL DFS? Check out our NFL DFS guide.
Leave a Reply