A Thursday Night Football matchup between the Bengals and Jaguars doesn’t scream "must-see TV," but there’s enough to look forward to from a (daily) fantasy football standpoint. The Bengals are on a little bit of a roll to start the season and have a great shot at coming out of Thursday’s tilt with a 3-1 record. Vegas sportsbooks opened them as 7.5-point home favorites with a total of 45. One of the biggest storylines heading in will be the matchup between the last two No. 1 overall picks, however we’re going to focus on the supporting casts with our DraftKings Showdown DFS lineup picks.
A reminder of the most notable scoring settings for DraftKings Showdowns: It's 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 DK SHOWDOWN: How to win a Showdown contest
DraftKings Showdown Picks: Jaguars vs. Bengals
$50,000 budget, need at least one player from each team.
Captain (1.5x value, 1.5x points): RB Joe Mixon, Bengals ($16,500)
Mixon already has a whopping 73 touches -- 54.8 percent of the team’s overall workload. Going up against an opponent that is projected to be overmatched should allow him to complement the high volume he figures to receive with more efficiency.
MORE TNF: FD single-game lineup | Start 'em, sit 'em
FLEX: WR Ja'Marr Chase, Bengals ($10,200)
Chase has been the best receiver on the Bengals and may soon command the lion's share of target volume. "Soon" could be as soon as this week. Co-WR1 Tee Higgins (shoulder" missed practice Tuesday and is trending toward limited involvement if he even suits up.
WEEK 4 DFS LINEUPS: DraftKings | FanDuel | Yahoo
FLEX: WR DJ Chark, Jaguars ($7,200)
It’s been all-or-nothing for Chark through three games. He’s seeing plenty of targets (22), but he has just seven receptions. We like the volume and big-play ability -- he has two touchdowns and is averaging 22 yards per catch -- but will need to keep our fingers crossed throughout Thursday night’s action.
MORE WEEK 4 DFS: Best stacks | Best values | Lineup Builder
FLEX: WR Laviska Shenault Jr., Jaguars ($7,200)
Shenault has been quiet the past two weeks and a disappointment overall in 2021. However, he had his most efficient performance last week, catching all four targets for 48 yards, and we saw him receive 10 opportunities (nine targets, one carry) in Week 1. If he can combine improved efficiency with another game of healthy volume, he could make a positive impact in this lineup.
WEEK 4 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
FLEX: Cincinnati Bengals D/ST ($5,600)
Are the Bengals legitimately good defensively? The Vikings, Bears, and Steelers aren’t exactly a murderer’s row of matchups, but the Bengals still played well against all of them. For their own part, the Bengals have generated the fifth-most quarterback pressures through three games, and the Jaguars have given the ball away a league-worst nine times.
WEEK 4 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
FLEX: K Evan McPherson, Bengals ($3,800)
Not only have the Jags served up 30.3 points per game so far this season, but they’re also allowing 2.7 FG attempts per contest. Nobody is ready to anoint the Bengals as an offensive juggernaut, so while they’re projected to win handily, we like the odds of McPherson seeing multiple chances to take aim at the uprights on Thursday.