The Titans travel to Pittsburgh for a date with the Steelers on Thursday night to kick off Week 9. It comes just days after Will Levis was anointed as the NFL's next big thing, throwing four touchdowns in his debut. His task -- much like ours when putting together a DraftKings single-game DFS lineup -- will be a little tougher than it was last week, as the Steelers' fierce pass rush will be eyeing Levis all night long.
Both teams bring their banged-up and struggling offenses to the prime-time slate for everyone to see. While it won't be easy on the eyes of the viewing audience with no skin in the game, it will be even worse for those with money on the line. Fortunately, we've crafted a DraftKings Showdown lineup that will hopefully boost your bankroll at the end of the night.
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 THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
FD lineup | ATS pick | Best props | Start-sit | Hopkins update
Titans-Steelers DraftKings Picks: DFS lineup for Week 9 Thursday Night Football
$50,000 budget, need at least one player from each team.
Captain (1.5x points, 1.5x salary): RB Derrick Henry, Titans ($17,400)
Henry saw 22 carries in Week 8, and during a short week with Will Levis starting, might see even more on Thursday night. Efficiency could be a problem, but the volume outweighs that like the surround sound you have drowning out a family argument. Henry has been king of the NFL running backs for a long time, and plenty of highlights have come on Thursday night. We trust him to be efficient enough to reward us in Pittsburgh.
FLEX WR DeAndre Hopkins, Titans ($11,200)
Hopkins is Levis' go-to receiver and rightfully so. Have you seen the rest of Tennesee's receivers? Exactly. While we don't expect three touchdowns again, Hopkins' ability to make big plays and Levis' ability to find him is a huge bonus. The Titans opted to keep the receiver in the Volunteer State at the trade deadline, hoping that Hopkins can help Levis develop as a passer. With a banged-up secondary in Pittsburgh, those opportunities to cash in should be there, and the savvy Hopkins will be on the receiving end of it.
FLEX WR Diontae Johnson, Steelers ($8,400)
Speaking of savvy receivers, Johnson has been really good since returning from a hamstring injury that cost him most of the early season. He saw six targets in Week 7 and 14 in Week 8, respectively. In that span, Johnson caught 13 passes for 164 yards, but he hasn't found the end zone yet. A reliable weapon for Pittsburgh, there aren't many other places to turn when looking for production on a struggling offense. It's really take your pick between Johnson and George Pickens. We opted for Pickens in our FanDuel lineup, but we'll take Johnson this time around because of DraftKings' full-point PPR scoring.
FLEX K Chris Boswell, Steelers ($5,000)
Field goals, field goals, and more field goals are on tap for Thursday night's action in what should be a continued theme for TNF. We wouldn't have much confidence in these offenses on a Sunday with a full week of rest, let alone the short week turnaround. The Steelers' 24th-ranked red-zone offense is in for a long night against Tennessee's second-ranked red-zone defense. The viewing audience at home will be seeing plenty of Boswell on the screens Thursday night.
FLEX K Nick Folk, Titans ($4,600)
These two teams are led by their defenses, so it should come as no surprise that we're all in on the kickers in this game. With Boswell in the lineup, we're also taking Folk to be a hero and save this lineup, too. He is 16-for-16 on field goal attempts this season and has been a model of consistency throughout his NFL career. Levis put on a show Sunday in his first career start, but with the quick turnaround on a short week, we don't know what to expect from the rookie who was just thrown into the fire. While Henry and Hopkins should be enough to get the Titans in scoring position, our faith in the unproven Levis leads us to believe that more than a few drives will stall and see Folk trotting onto the field.
FLEX WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Titans ($3,400)
There's always a random receiver, running back, or tight end that finds a way to make Thursday night interesting. Westbrook-Ikhine feels like one of those players in Week 9. He isn't targeted a lot -- just 25 times in seven games -- but the receiver has three touchdowns to his name this season and has a habit of making a big play or two every once in a while. He's not a fantasy option in traditional leagues, but he's the perfect DFS player who can completely flip a game upside down. With the Steelers' habit of giving up big plays, expect that aggressive defense to be burned at some point. Westbrook-Ikhine is a perfect candidate to be on the receiving end of that.
MORE DK SHOWDOWN: How to win a Showdown contest
Best SuperDraft Titans-Steelers DFS Picks
This year, 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.
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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): RB Derrick Henry, Titans (Multiplier 1.5x)
- Super FLEX: QB Will Levis, Titans (Multiplier 1.2x)
- Super FLEX: WR DeAndre Hopkins, Titans (Multiplier 1.05x)
- Super FLEX: WR Diontae Johnson, Steelers (Multiplier 1.3x)
- Super FLEX: WR George Pickens, Steelers (Multiplier 1.3x)
There are about five players in this game that we trust from a fantasy standpoint, and it just so happens that SuperDraft's single-game DFS lineups require five players. In a battle between two teams without much depth on offense, trust the chalkier options to come through.
