In the nightcap of Thursday's Thanksgiving tripleheader, the NFC West-leading 49ers head to Lumen Field to face their fellow divisional rival, the Seahawks. Following a mini three-game losing skid, San Francisco regrouped after its Week 9 bye, winning its past two games with a plus-44 scoring margin.
The Seahawks are trending in the opposite direction, blowing a fourth-quarter lead to the Rams with Jason Meyers missing a potential game-winning kick in the final seconds. The Rams' second-half rally was sparked by Geno Smith leaving the game after suffering a right elbow injury. While Smith did return for the final drive, Seattle's inability to move the chains with backup Drew Lock running the offense crushed their hopes of securing a much-needed divisional win.
Even with Kenneth Walker III (oblique) likely out, Seattle has a fighting chance to knock off their division leaders, which should make assembling a single-game showdown lineup an enticing prospect from an entertainment and value perspective.
MORE THANKSGIVING DFS:
DK full slate | FD full slate | GB-DET | WAS-DAL
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.
49ers-Seahawks DraftKings Picks: DFS lineup for Thanksgiving Week 12
$50,000 budget, need at least one player from each team.
Captain (1.5x points, 1.5x salary): DK Metcalf, WR, Seahawks ($12,600)
Metcalf makes for a more contrarian Captain pick, providing us with the freedom to draft a well-rounded lineup. Seattle's WR1 enters Thursday night in strong form, totaling 98 and 94 yards, respectively, in his past two contests. With Seattle potentially passing at a high clip in a negative game script, Metcalf could see eight-plus targets for the sixth time this season, giving him an outside chance to end Thursday night as the game's leading fantasy point scorer.
When Metcalf faced San Francisco in last year's wild-card round, he totaled 10 receptions on 13 targets for 136 yards and two scores. Even if Metcalf is able to produce half of that, he would still pay off as our "Captain," and the fact he's dealing with a minor toe ailment might scare off other DFS players, giving us some contrarian value here, too.
MORE DK SHOWDOWN: How to win a Showdown contest
FLEX Christian McCaffrey, RB, 49ers ($12,000)
McCaffrey posted 20-plus DK points for a fourth consecutive game in Week 11, so we'll gladly pay up to roster the 49ers workhorse RB. CMC has 20-carry potential in a positive game script, which could result in a 100-yard rushing performance against a below-average Seattle run defense. Seattle most recently allowed Royce Freeman to rush for 73 yards on 17 carries (4.3 ypc), so imagine what McCaffrey could do with a similar workload.
FLEX Brock Purdy, QB, 49ers ($10,000)
Purdy has gotten right back into the MVP conversation following two straight dominant showings, averaging 314.5 passing yards per game to go along with six passing TDs. Purdy has also played clean football in the past two weeks, a big reason why the 49ers again look like the team to beat. In two career games against Seattle, Purdy sports a strong 124.8 passer rating, completing 62.5 percent of his passes while averaging 275.5 yards per game with a 5:0 TD-to-INT rate. Look for one of the game's most reliable signal-callers to maintain his solid play.
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FLEX Geno Smith, QB, Seahawks ($9,400)
We think Smith (elbow) will ultimately tough things out and play on Thursday night, and while he clearly won't be 100 percent, it's hard to pass up rostering Geno at $9,400. Smith hasn't been nearly as efficient as he was last season, but he still has 20-point upside. Smith could attempt close to 40 passes, giving him an outside chance to reach 300 yards through the air. Add in a passing TD or two, and he'll more than make up his salary.
FLEX Noah Fant, TE, Seahawks ($3,200)
Fant is no doubt a boom-or-bust flier, but at $3,200, we have to take a chance on Seattle's TE1. Fant ran the fourth-most routes among Seattle pass-catchers last week (24), so he has an opportunity to outproduce his $3,200 price tag in a game where we think the Seahawks will throw at a high clip.
FLEX DeeJay Dallas, RB, Seahawks ($2,200)
With Kenneth Walker III (oblique) trending toward missing Thursday night's contest, Dallas will see a usage boost as the team's RB2. While rookie Zach Charbonnet's going to play most of the snaps, Dallas will see some work on third downs, giving him some appeal in PPR scoring formats.
Best 49ers-Seahawks 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): DK Metcalf, WR, Seahawks (2.05x)
- Super FLEX: Zach Charbonnet, RB, Seahawks (1.5x)
- Super FLEX: Geno Smith, QB, Seahawks (1.25x)
- Super FLEX: Brock Purdy, QB, 49ers (1.2x)
- Super FLEX: Christian McCaffrey, RB, 49ers (1x)
We opted to go a similar route for our SuperDraft DFS build, choosing Metcalf and his 2.05x multiplier as our Champion. Charbonnet makes an appearance, as he's in line for a hefty workload filling in for the injured Walker. Smith, Purdy, and McCaffrey are all stable plays who will hopefully give our lineup a chance to end the night in the money.
