The 2020 NFL season kicks off with Chiefs vs. Texans on Thursday Night Football. The Super Bowl champs and Patrick Mahomes will take on Deshaun Watson in a game that will feature plenty of downfield passing and highlight-reel plays. To accompany your opening night viewing, we have advice for DraftKings Showdown DFS contests. Even if your season-long fantasy team doesn't feature any players from Kansas City or Houston, you can make picks and root on a lineup regardless.
With so many high-priced, talented options in this game, we needed to pay down in our captain spot. That allows us to roster both QBs and a solid weapon from each team's passing game. We even get a starting RB in, too, hopefully securing most of the scoring.
MORE DK SHOWDOWN: How to win a Showdown contest
DraftKings Showdown Picks: Chiefs vs Texans
Captain (1.5x price, 1.5x points): WR Randall Cobb, Texans ($6,300)
Cobb already looked set to be the starting slot receiver for Houston, and then Keke Coutee got hurt, cementing his place. DraftKings' PPR scoring helps Cobb here, as does the fact that Will Fuller V might not be a true No. 1. There are also reports that Brandin Cooks hasn't had a ton of time working with Watson so far. Cobb should provide a nice security blanket out of the slot who gets six-plus targets, and he still has that game-breaking speed that could lead to one huge play after the catch.
MORE TEXANS-CHIEFS: FD single-game picks | Start-sit | Betting guide | MKF top props
FLEX: QB Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs ($12,600)
In Showdown contests that feature superstar quarterbacks, you always have to make the decision whether to play them or not. They will be highly owned, which means if they go off and you don't have them, you're in trouble. Of course, if they stink and you didn't play them, then you're in great shape. In the case of this game, we have two defenses that aren't good enough to stop the quarterbacks, so the 2018 MVP should get off to a good start at attempting to regain that title.
WEEK 1 DFS TOURNAMENT LINEUPS:
Yahoo | DraftKings | FanDuel
FLEX: QB Deshaun Watson, Texans ($11,800)
My favorite lineup construction in potential high-scoring contests includes both teams' quarterbacks. Touchdowns are such a huge part of fantasy football scoring, so we want to get a grasp on as many touchdowns as possible. Playing both quarterbacks gets us heavily involved in the TD shares.
WEEK 1 DFS CASH LINEUPS:
Yahoo | DraftKings | FanDuel
FLEX: TE Travis Kelce, Chiefs ($9,200)
It felt like Kelce let me down whenever I used him in Showdown lineups last year, but that's more anecdotal than anything else. He's a top-two TE in football for good reason, and Houston was a bottom-10 defense against tight ends a year ago. Expect Mahomes to count on Kelce early and often Thursday night, especially in the red zone.
WEEK 1 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
FLEX: RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Chiefs ($8,800)
I'm not as high on CEH as basically everyone else in the fantasy football world is, but the opportunity to jam him in our opening-night lineup seems too good to be true. Barring a surprise TD or a big Tyreek Hill game, we've secured most of the high-probability TD possibilities for the Chiefs' high-powered offense. Considering Edwards-Helaire could be a popular short pass target for Mahomes, too, he even works as a secondary Mahomes stack.
WEEK 1 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
FLEX: TE Kahale Warring, Texans ($600)
Sometimes, to play five players as good as those above in a Showdown contest, your sixth spot is a total punt. Warring was a third-round pick in 2019 who spent all of last season on Injured Reserve. He has 4.61 speed in the 40-yard dash, so he's the type of athletic tight end that could be given a few looks down the seam in limited snaps. Playing him is worth it even if he does nothing and our other five guys perform well, but Warring has just enough talent to pop up once or twice and make the final difference to a winning lineup.