The second Thursday Night Football game of the season is here, and it’s a doozy. Usually these short-week NFL games tend to be garbage, but a showdown between the Washington Commanders and the Green Bay Packers potentially has all the theatrics we could hope for.
This game has a lot of buzz for a variety of reasons, as both offenses are incredibly dynamic, but both teams also looked fantastic on defense in week 1. Something has to break, but how do you take all the betting lines and pundit opinions and form winning NFL DFS Showdown lineups at DraftKings?
I’ll do my best to point you to the top plays, and hightlight some contrarian options everyone may not be one.
Top TNF DFS Captain Picks
- Jayden Daniels
- Josh Jacobs
- Jordan Love
Daniels leads the way in terms of raw projection, ownership, and ceiling out or the Captain slot as we head into Thursday Night Football. He had a solid 20 fantasy points in week one against an underrated Giants defense, and even in the face of what I think is a tough matchup on the road, he projects well.
Naturally, he is a popular play at every site you visit, so if you join Sleeper now, you can get a 100% match on your first deposit AND an easy pick to hit.
While Daniels is probably a great play, I am not a fan of the ownership or the matchup. Daniels is still a guy I will Captain a good amount and would have him in the Flex in virtually all of my TNF DFS lineups, but Green Bay’s defense appears to be legit.
It’s also a primetime game on the road and on a short-week. None of that feels amazing, plus Daniels did have his issues (2 picks and 8 sacks taken) in two games against Micah Parsons defenses in 2024.
Josh Jacobs feels like the natural pivot here. The ownership figures to be split, but I’d bet Daniels will be a tad more owned. Jacobs was just OK in week one, as the Lions sold out to stop the run. He did pick it up a bit in the second half, though, and managed to find the end-zone for a 9th straight game.
Washington stopped New York on the ground last week, but they were not a unit to be feared against the run (9th worst against fantasy RBs) last year. Jacobs is my favorite chalky CPT play on this slate.
Jordan Love is also looking good, and he comes in with the third most ownership. He’s quite a bit behind Daniels and Jacobs in that regard, making him an interesting play by default. Washington shut down Russell Wilson last week, but the Commanders gave up plenty of production to opposing QBs in 2024.
With all the focus on Daniels and Jacobs, Love stands out as a really good CPT pick that will garner ownership, but still offers solid leverage.
Week 2 TNF GPP Picks
- Terry McLaurin
- Zach Ertz
- Jacory Croskett-Merritt
- Matthew Golden
This batch of TNF DFS picks is your 2nd tier. You can promote anyone else you want beyond these guys, but you start getting into some risky plays that aren’t really bound to actual evidence.
I am leaving out Deebo Samuel intentionally, as he is projecting for more ownership than Scary Terry. That doesn’t mean you can’t play Deebo, but if the Packers are going to be this stingy against the run, Samuel will need to do most of his damage down the field, and I’ll take my chances by betting on Terry having more success in that regard.
I also like Zach Ertz a bit, as he’s not very expensive, and also looks great in the Flex. He doesn’t even need to score a TD to hit, as we know he’s a PPR demon. Green Bay got eaten up by Sam LaPorta in week one and in 2024 they were a bottom 10 unit against fantasy TEs (allowed over 12 fps per game).
Keep an eye on the status of Austin Ekeler.
I think he’s more than viable if he’s in, but he’s banged up and him missing would open the door for Bill Crockett-Merritt to be the clear chalk of the slate.
I will say that JCM was fairly pedestrian until breaking off a game-sealing run late, and a healthy Ekeler could obviously keep him in a timeshare. Oh, and this Packers defense stifled a much better RB in Jahmyr Gibbs, so if the ownership does get out of control, I don’t mind being under-weight.
The real interest for me is if Ekeler is in and the ownership stays where it’s at. If nobody wants to captain Bill, that’s when I am all for doing exactly that.
Lastly, I want everything to do with this Green Bay passing attack. It starts with Matthew Golden for me, partially because other Packers WRs are a bit banged up, but also because he didn’t explode yet and everything about him says that is just around the corner.
Jayden Reed was hyper efficient in limited duty last week, while guys like Romeo Doubs, Dontavion Wicks, and even to a very small extent Savion Williams are all viable. But it feels like Golden could be gearing up for a coming out party of sorts under the bright lights of Thursday Night Football at Lambeu Field.
Malik Nabers did find some success in this same matchup last week, and Green Bay is a much better team than New York. I really like the idea of sliding Daniels/Love/Jacobs to the bench and targeting Golden and other Packers receivers in the CPT slot.
Need more advice on the Week 2 TNF NFL DFS slate? Catch my full breakdown here:
Leave a Reply