Have you been waiting all day to make your DraftKings lineup? Once you do, we know you'll be waiting all day until Sunday night to see it in action. The Cowboys and Giants play the final game on the first Sunday of the 2023 NFL season. MetLife Stadium is the site for this common Week 1 matchup between NFC East rivals and both teams come into the year with big expectations.
Dallas has a new-look offense thanks to the departure of Kellen Moore as offensive coordinator and the hire of Brian Schottenheimer. But Dak Prescott remains alongside other Cowboys' mainstays like CeeDee Lamb and Tony Pollard, who assumed the starting role after Ezekiel Elliott's departure. On the Giants side, they'll hope to unleash Darren Waller on offense and get a big year from Daniel Jones, who just received a big contract extension in the offseason. The stars will be out in full-force for what should be a good game under the lights. So it's no surprise our lineup will have its fair share of stars as well.
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:
FD lineup | Best props | Betting preview
Cowboys-Giants DraftKings Picks: DFS lineup for Week 1 Sunday Night Football
$50,000 budget, need at least one player from each team.
Captain (1.5x points, 1.5x salary): WR CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys ($15,600)
For our captain, we turn to one of the best players on the field on Sunday night. Lamb has at least 80 receiving yards in 4-of-6 career games against the Giants and passed the century mark in two of them. The receiver has consistently seen his target share increase over the years, finishing with 156 targets in 2022. He posted career-highs across the board thanks to the lack of a true WR2. And with the arrival of Brandin Cooks, Lamb shouldn't have to deal with as much attention from opposing defenses. We like Lamb to have a big night against a Giants' defense that likes to bring the heat, leaving the receiver with plenty of opportunities to torch New York's secondary and get us that coveted 100 receiving yard bonus.
FLEX RB Tony Pollard, Cowboys ($11,000)
Ezekiel Elliott is gone, officially leaving Tony Pollard as the last running back standing in Dallas. The team did add Deuce Vaughn in the draft, a nice story, but no one is challenging Pollard for the RB1 duties at this time. And where there is volume, there is opportunity. Pollard's dual threat ability can allow the Cowboys to keep Wink Martindale's defense honest. His defenses are known to bring a lot of pressure, but Dallas can dink-and-dunk their way down the field with Pollard, or air it out to Lamb. With that combination of options, Pollard also has the chance to be successful in the running game, making him a perfect pick for our lineup.
FLEX QB Dak Prescott, Cowboys ($10,000)
Since we've already doubled down on Cowboys, we can't avoid the man running the show. Prescott is 10-2 in his career against the G-Men and owns a 23-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Whether Pollard or Lamb have a big day through the air, Prescott is the one throwing them the ball. And he'll play a big part in what we believe will be a Cowboys' victory on Sunday night. Therefore, he cracks the "Sunday Night Football" lineup.
FLEX TE Darren Waller, Giants ($8,400)
UPDATE: In the event that Waller doesn't play, we'll target Isaiah Hodgins to assume the workload left voided by Waller's absence.
The Giants biggest addition on offense this offseason was Waller and he's expected to have a role that reinforces that reality. He's been a focal point throughout training camp and a fixture in the team's preseason action. Jones needed a No. 1 target, something Waller has proven capable of being when healthy. Expect Brian Daboll to dial up some plays for his newest weapon on offense, especially with a weaker receiving core.
FLEX K Graham Gano, Giants ($4,000)
The Giants scheme on offense is fun to watch, but can it find the end zone? They were right around the middle of the pack last season, but Gano has proven to be as close to automatic as it gets. He's made 91.8 percent of field goals since joining the team in 2020 and routinely knocks them through from 50 yards and out. With that in mind, he should outperform his $4,000 salary here.
FLEX TE Peyton Hendershot, Cowboys ($800)
With Dalton Schultz no longer in town, some new tight ends will have to make an impact for the Cowboys. Hendershot is among those in position to do so. He's TE2 on the depth chart behind Jake Ferguson and didn't log a lot of game time in 2022, but his best game came against the Giants. One of Hendershot's three touchdowns in 2022 was a rushing score against New York, and his 43 receiving yard performance came in the other matchup. At $800, we'll take a flier on Hendershot to impact the game in a positive way.
MORE DK SHOWDOWN: How to win a Showdown contest
Best SuperDraft Cowboys-Giants 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.
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): RB Tony Pollard, Cowboys (Multiplier 1.5x)
- Super FLEX: RB Saquon Barkley, Giants (Multiplier 1.1x)
- Super FLEX: RB Parris Campbell, Giants (Multiplier 2x)
- Super FLEX: WR Brandin Cooks, Cowboys (Multiplier 1.75x)
- Super FLEX: TE Jake Ferguson, Cowboys (Multiplier 1.95x)
For the capper to Sunday's NFL action, we are going with the chalky options for our SuperDraft lineup. Since there is no salary cap, we like both running backs, Pollard and Barkley, to have big games. Then we'll target some of the supporting casts with Campbell, Cooks, and Ferguson to round out the lineup.
