The Cowboys and Lions face off for what should be an awesome Thursday Night Football showdown in week 14. There is a lot at stake here, while we get two elite offenses and a vibrant 54.5 game total.
It will be very annoying if this ends up being a low-scoring defensive battle where the defenses, kickers, and running backs do everything. I, for one, will be targeting the passing games and assuming we get a shootout.
Showdown slates aren’t easy and when you miss the one guy who pops off an 80-yard touchdown, they often send you to the freeze for a second round of ice cream. But when you win, that second round of ice cream is met with a smile on your face and dollar signs in your eyes.
I’ll try to help you have that experience by highlighting my favorite Captain plays. Ice cream not included.
Best TNF Captain Plays
- Jahmyr Gibbs
- Jameson Williams
- Dak Prescott
- CeeDee Lamb
- George Pickens
These are the most obvious plays and probably the safest options in the Captain slot. Gibbs can nuke on anyone. He has three games of 39+ points on the year. I will say that Dallas has morphed into an elite run defense since trading for Quinnen Williams. This is the worst spot to test that theory, but I am personally just going to believe them and hope it works out.
That has me coming in under the field on Gibbs in CPT. If doing many TNF DFS lineups I’d definitely still get to him, and I certainly wouldn’t fully fade him in the Flex. He still has many paths to “get there” and the guy doesn’t need 30+ to hit on a showdown slate.
Jameson is the chalkiest Captain by quite a bit. I get it, as The Sun God is questionable to suit up for this one.
If The Sun God plays, J-Will isn’t as appealing. If The Sun God sits, then Williams will have a huge role. But he’s also the type of guy who can offer a low floor, and if Dallas can key in on him to force someone else to beat them, they’ll surely try.
I like him a lot, but at the ownership, I may shy away from him in CPT. Instead, I’d rather play Dak, CeeDee, or Pickens. They all also look good, project about as well, and are going to be half as owned.
My top spend is going to come down to Lamb or Pickens. Right now ownership shows Pickens at 14% and Lamb at 8%. If that holds, I’ll fire up Lamb all over the place. But both are half the ownership of Jammo looks pretty damn good.
I go over all of these guys in greater detail in my TNF DFS breakdown:
GPP Captain Plays
- Isaac TeSlaa
- Tom Kennedy
- Ross Dwelley
- Kevontae Turpin
CeeDee is technically a GPP play at his current ownership, but here are four cheaper options that allow us to stack studs in a high total affair.
TeSlaa and Kennedy are OK if Sun God is in, but they are smash plays if he sits. I prefer TeSlaa in terms of talent and snap share, but Kennedy is much cheaper and played plenty last game. He looks like a linebacker playing wide receiver, but he doesn’t suck and he’s $3k.
Both of those guys will be popular Flex plays, so in the Flex I don’t mind getting different by fading the one who is chalkier. But it’s more fun to get different by simply Captain-ing them.
Dwelley and Trupin are riskier, but the Lions are down their top two tight ends. Dwelley is going to play a lot and he’s really cheap. Dallas also is bottom-5 against fantasy TEs.
Turpin is a total shot in the dark, but it the Lions are keying in on CeeDee and Pickens, someone could benefit. He’s cheap enough to get me to try this build more than once.
I will also mention Javonte Williams and Jake Ferguson. The matchup grades out poorly for both of them, but they will understandably be completely unowned. Anytime a good real life player is going to go overlooked, we should have some interest.
My TNF Core
- Jameson Williams
- Dak Prescott
- CeeDee Lamb
- TeSlaa/Kennedy
I don’t have much interest in the kickers or defenses. I also am going to take a chance on this not being a big Gibbs game. There isn’t a true “core” for showdown slates usually. You can make a case for fading just about anyone when there are so many great options.
My favorite strategy, assuming Sun God sits, is to target one of TeSlaa, Kennedy, Dwelley and stack up the Flex spot. Loading both QBs works for me and if I land on Javonte, Ferguson, and Gibbs, so be it.
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