We should be in for a strong Sunday Night Football contest this weekend, with MVP candidate Lamar Jackson and the red-hot Ravens taking on the NFC South-leading Jaguars in Jacksonville (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC). If you're planning to assemble a DraftKings Showdown lineup for this AFC clash, we have compiled a list of studs and sleepers to help you make some daily fantasy cash!
The Ravens only seem to be getting stronger as the season progresses, quite remarkable considering they're going into battle each week without top skill-position players J.K. Dobbins and Mark Andrews. Lamar Jackson has arguably been as good as ever, and so has John Harbaugh's stifling, Super Bowl-contending defense.
The Jaguars, on the other hand, have been a rollercoaster of sorts. Trevor Lawrence endured a lackluster start to the campaign, then the Jags got hot, and now they've hit the skids again — no thanks to TLaw getting banged up, top receiver Christian Kirk hitting the IR, and the Jacksonville defense turning into an 11-man turnstile (the Jags have given up 65 points over the past two weeks).
Our eyes will be glued to the screen for this one, so naturally we're making a DK Showdown lineup to root for along the way. Just like our approach with finding the best bets each NFL week, we scour DK for the best DFS values ahead of every Sunday night game and assemble what we deem to be an optimal lineup. Our approach each week is simple: research, compare values, and make roster-building moves that will separate us from the rest of the DFS pack.
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.
MORE SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: Betting preview | Top props
Ravens-Jaguars DraftKings Picks: DFS lineup for Week 15 Sunday Night Football
$50,000 budget, need at least one player from each team.
Captain (1.5x points, 1.5x salary): Isaiah Likely, TE, Ravens ($10,200)
Many were uncertain about Likely's likelihood (sorry) of filling in for the massive shoes of injured tight end Mark Andrews. However, the second-year man out of Coastal Carolina silenced all his doubters last week when he hauled in 5-of-7 targets for 83 yards and a TD. Have yourself a day, good sir!
We expect another strong showing from the 6-4, 241-pound 23-year-old this weekend, as the Jaguars have ranked as one of the 10 most generous defenses to opposing tight ends in fantasy this season. Just last week, the Browns' David Njoku had a career game against the Jacksonville, hauling in six catches for 91 yards and two TDs.
Not many will have Likely in the Captain's chair this weekend, which we like even more. Not only can we afford more studs in other spots — we also have enough variance to set us apart from the masses who will be captaining LJax, TLaw, and Travis Etienne Jr.
MORE DK SHOWDOWN: How to win a Showdown contest
FLEX Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens ($12,400)
We can't even fathom making a lineup for this game and not including LJax, who has arguably been the most consistently dominant QB in the NFL this season. It's quite possible we take this man's physical and athletic gifts for granted at this point, similar to how NBA fans overlook the year-to-year dominance of LeBron James.
LJax averages 21.1 DK points per game this season and he's coming off a 35.6-point showing against a strong Rams team. Fire this dude up in all formats, especially DK where he should be priced at closer to $13,500. The Jags have surrendered the third-most points to QBs in fantasy this season!
FLEX Travis Etienne Jr., RB, Jaguars ($10,200)
With Christian Kirk on IR, the only Jaguar we regard as a must-roster DFS commodity is Etienne. The strong and speedy back has averaged over 17 DK points per game this season, a mark that he has reached or exceeded in each of the past two weeks.
Etienne also has a massive ceiling, with five games of 21-plus points and a four-week stretch earlier this season in which he averaged 27.8 points. As the kids say, it's ETN SZN.
FLEX Odell Beckham Jr., WR, Ravens ($7,200)
We can't quite afford our top receiving target, rookie Zay Flowers, but we're content with settling on the veteran OBJ in a big game. Beckham sputtered along through Week 8, but he has truly caught fire since then.
Across Baltimore's five-game stretch between Weeks 9 and 14, the talented wideout has averaged 14.3 DK points per game. The good times should continue to roll against the Jags, who have allowed the eighth-most DK points to receivers this season.
FLEX Zay Jones, WR, Jaguars ($5,600)
Jones may not be the most talented skill-position player in this game, but he may very well have the most opportunity. With Christian Kirk hurt over the past two weeks, the veteran speedster has seen an incredible 22 targets.
Of course, Jones only has 10 catches for 107 yards in that span, but Rome wasn't built in a day. TLaw and Jones have plenty of history together, and we like their chances of hooking up for at least seven catches and 75 yards this weekend in what should be a pass-heavy game.
FLEX Baltimore Ravens DST ($4,400)
This pick is all about upside, something we tend to look for with our final flex spot. Baltimore's defense has been amazing all season, with seven double-digit DK performances and at least 14 DK points in three of its past five games.
The floor is there against a banged-up TLaw and a depleted pass-catching corps, but the ceiling is also very high. A bunch of sacks or one big takeaway and we'll be happy we invested in a defense over a receiver or back with little to no upside.
Best Ravens-Jaguars SuperDraft DFS Picks
As we have every week, we're also listing our favorite single-game DFS plays on SuperDraft.
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.
MORE: Win BIG with SuperDraft! Join now and get a free deposit match of $20!
Here are the most notable scoring rules for SuperDraft NFL contests: Half-point PPR, four-point passing TDs, two-point bonuses for 100 rushing yards, 100 receiving yards, and 300 passing yards.
MORE SUPERDRAFT DFS: How to play SuperDraft
- Champion (+50% points): Lamar Jackson, QB (1.5x)
- Super FLEX: Travis Etienne Jr., RB, Jaguars (1.9x)
- Super FLEX: Zay Flowers, WR, Ravens (2.05x)
- Super FLEX: Evan Engram, TE, Jaguars (2.25x)
- Super FLEX: Isaiah Likely, TE, Ravens (2.4x)
We employed a fairly similar approach with our SuperDraft DFS lineup, keeping three of the skill players we drafted to our DK squad. We couldn't resist drafting Flowers, who has emerged as LJax's favorite young target, especially at a 2.05-times boost. We also like the upside we're getting with Engram, who just had a monster week against another good defense in Cleveland.
