49ers vs. Lions NFL DFS picks: Best lineups, props for DraftKings, FanDuel for 2024 AFC Championship game

The top-seeded 49ers will host the surging Lions in Santa Clara this Sunday night (6:30 p.m. ET, FOX), in what should be a conference championship to remember. If you're entering a DFS lineup for this pivotal NFC clash, we have optimal lineups, advice, strategy, and sleepers for DraftKings, FanDuel, and SuperDraft to help make you some daily fantasy cash. 

This matchup is rich with storylines. We've got Brock Purdy, the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, going against former No. 1 pick Jared Goff. We have Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, and a bevy of 49ers veterans against electric young playmakers Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Sam LaPorta. We have two renowned coaches in Kyle Shanahan and Dan Campbell, and two stud pass-rushes led by Nick Bosa and Aidan Hutchinson. 

We can find about 200 reasons why this game will be fascinating, and at least two dozen reasons why it will be worth our while to enter at least one DFS lineup on DraftKings, FanDuel, and SuperDraft. If we approach daily fantasy the right way — pinpointing value, establishing lineup variance, and capitalizing on sleepers — daily fantasy can turn into a real cash cow.

Let's get right into our optimal DFS lineups, strategy, and sleepers for the 49ers-Lions NFC Championship Game. Before unveiling each lineup, we will provide a brief overview of each DFS site's scoring settings. Good luck, have fun, and enjoy the penultimate round of the 2024 NFL Playoffs!

49ers vs. Lions NFL DFS picks: Optimal DraftKings lineup

Before we get into our lineup and strategy, here are the key scoring settings for DraftKings Showdown contests: They're full-point PPR and there are three-point bonuses for 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, and 100 receiving yards. The Captain pick costs 1.5 times a player's original price, but he also gets his point total multiplied by 1.5.

Captain: Brandon Aiyuk, WR, 49ers vs. Lions ($12,900)

The DraftKings M.O. — nine times out of 10 is to fade QBs and instead pick a more affordable, high-upside receiver or running back in our Captain spot. That way, you can afford much more value across the majority of our FLEX spots. With Aiyuk, we get a wideout who averages just a few points fewer than his QB, and who carries a massive ceiling with fellow receiver Deebo Samuel either OUT or banged up this weekend against a weak Lions secondary. 

Aiyuk's ceiling is undeniable — he has hit 20-plus DK points three times in the 49ers' past six games, and he had a 35-point game earlier in the season. But he also has a solid floor in plus matchups — he averages 16.3 DK PPG and hasn't dipped below the range of 5-7 points all year. 

FLEX: Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Lions at 49ers ($11,000)

I'm going receiver-heavy with this build, as both teams have stud pass-catchers and pretty solid run defenses. There's no way I'm entering any lineups with St. Brown left in the player pool. He simply enjoys far too much volume to pass up, racking up 16 games this season with seven-plus targets and eight games with double-digit looks.

The Sun God also turns that volume into production, averaging 22.3 DK PPG since Week 1 and 25.7 PPG over the past six weeks. He's also still likely fuming (at least internally) about being snubbed from the NFC Pro Bowl, so his motivations to ball out will be plentiful. The easy recommendation is grabbing at least a few pass-catchers from this game, and Aiyuk and ARSB are easily No. 1 and 2 on our list of value picks. 

FLEX 2: Brock Purdy, QB, 49ers vs. Lions ($10,000)

Taking a QB is a must and rolling with Purdy is as much of a bet on San Francisco as it is on its QB.

Just look at the core skill-position players around Purdy: Offensive Player of the Year frontrunner Christian McCaffrey, stud wideouts Aiyuk and Samuel, elite tight end George Kittle. These studs are the real reason why Purdy was widely discussed as an MVP candidate earlier in the season, and why he makes for a very strong DFS play this weekend. He's rarely bad — he has averaged 19.9 DK PPG since the season began — and he's often great (he has reached 23 DK points in eight of his past 15 games).

His ceiling this weekend against a weak Lions passing defense feels massive. I'm prioritizing Purdy over Goff as a FLEX option this Sunday. 

FLEX 3: Sam LaPorta, TE, Lions at 49ers ($7,000)

Many analysts, fans, and bettors on the Twittersphere (or X-world, if you will) have been contemplating if LaPorta has vaulted up to the top of the tight end world. The rookie has been vastly more productive than veterans Kittle and Travis Kelce, and he means much more to the Lions' offense than any other tight end still standing in the NFL Playoffs. He has averaged over 14 DK PPG on the season but demonstrated his enormous ceiling in the range of 28-32 points on multiple occasions. Go out and get him. 

FLEX 4: George Kittle, TE, 49ers vs. Lions ($6,800)

Kittle had a down year by his standards, averaging just 13.5 DK PPG. However, he always seems to step up in big stand-alone games and in primetime, as evidenced by his 18.1-point performance last week against the Packers. Like the 49ers, the Lions have been below-average against tight ends in fantasy this season, so we love the value we're getting from our two-TE set.

FLEX 5: Elijah Mitchell, RB, 49ers vs. Lions ($2,200)

Mitchell is a good little foot soldier as Christian McCaffrey's backup, taking what's given to him and making the most of every opportunity. He has reached 14-plus DK points in two of the 49ers' past three games, and it's quite possible he either vultures a TD or gobbles up some garbage-time touches this weekend. I can't imagine finding a higher-upside bargain-bin player to close out our lineup. 

49ers-Lions NFL DFS picks: Optimal FanDuel lineup

Here are the key scoring settings for FanDuel single-game tournaments: They're half-point PPR and there are no three-point bonuses for 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, or 100 receiving yards. The MVP pick multiplies that player's total by 1.5 but does not cost 1.5 times their listed salary.

You'll notice a couple similarities between our DK and FD lineups, as we once again prioritized pass-catchers. However, we made it a point to draft CMC at MVP so we can get the 1.5-times boost on the best fantasy player of the game. I also couldn't stay away from Gibbs, who like CMC has massive big play-ability and TD upside. And Jameson Williams, while more of a boom-or-bust play, has enough speed to break the game — and our DFS tournaments — wide open with one play. 

SuperDraft

RUN CMC! McCAFFREY 1+ RUSHING YARDS WINS!

PICK CMC

49ers-Lions NFL DFS picks: Optimal SuperDraft lineup

As we have all season, we're also featuring SuperDraft lineups in our single-game DFS contest columns. 

For those unfamiliar, SuperDraft's DFS scoring involves point multipliers as opposed to traditional salary-capped or tiered contests. A winning lineup will likely feature a strong mix of stud fantasy contributors with 1x-1.6x boosts, as well as matchup-based sleepers with larger multipliers. Each player is assigned a scoring multiplier based on their value as determined by SuperDraft. Users can roster any player in their lineup with no restrictions.

Here are the most notable scoring rules for SuperDraft NFL contests: Half-point PPR, four-point passing TDs, and two-point bonuses for 100 rushing yards, 100 receiving yards, and 300 passing yards. SuperDraft lineups feature no D/ST position. The "Champ" position adds an additional 50-percent boost to the selected player, while the SuperFlex positions are limited to the boost listed for each player. 

MORE SUPERDRAFT DFS: How to play SuperDraft

The play this week is piling up the stud skill-position players this time around and worrying less about variance. All these players are guys we featured in either or our DK or FD lineups (or both) and none of them have low-floor volatility. If this game is high-scoring — and that's certainly my lean — this lineup could go the distance for us.