We should be in for a strong Sunday Night Football contest this weekend, with MVP candidate Lamar Jackson and the red-hot Ravens taking on the NFC South-leading Jaguars in Jacksonville (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC). If you're planning to assemble a DraftKings Showdown lineup for this AFC clash, we have compiled a list of studs and sleepers to help you make some daily fantasy cash!
The Ravens only seem to be getting stronger as the season progresses, quite remarkable considering they're going into battle each week without top skill-position players J.K. Dobbins and Mark Andrews. Lamar Jackson has arguably been as good as ever, and so has John Harbaugh's stifling, Super Bowl-contending defense.
The Jaguars, on the other hand, have been a rollercoaster of sorts. Trevor Lawrence endured a lackluster start to the campaign, then the Jags got hot, and now they've hit the skids again — no thanks to TLaw getting banged up, top receiver Christian Kirk hitting the IR, and the Jacksonville defense turning into an 11-man turnstile (the Jags have given up 65 points over the past two weeks).
Our eyes will be glued to the screen for this one, so naturally we're making a DK Showdown lineup to root for along the way. Just like our approach with finding the best bets each NFL week, we scour DK for the best DFS values ahead of every Sunday night game and assemble what we deem to be an optimal lineup. Our approach each week is simple: research, compare values, and make roster-building moves that will separate us from the rest of the DFS pack.
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: Betting preview | Top props | DraftKings lineup
Ravens-Chargers FanDuel Picks Week 15: NFL DFS lineup for GPP tournaments
$60,000 budget, must include at least one player from each team
MVP (1.5x points) Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens ($17,000)
We're nothing if not predictable. Every week, we explain that the best option at MVP on FanDuel is the player we project to score the most fantasy points. It's simple, really — you're getting 1.5 times the player's fantasy production without having to pay 1.5 times his salary. So, why not pick the former MVP and current MVP candidate in a plus matchup in what should be a pass-heavy game!?
We can't even fathom making a lineup for this game and not including LJax, who has arguably been the most consistently dominant QB in the NFL this season. It's quite possible we take this man's physical and athletic gifts for granted at this point, similar to how NBA fans overlook the year-to-year dominance of LeBron James.
LJax averages 21.1 DK points per game this season and he's coming off a 35.6-point showing against a strong Rams team. Fire this dude up in all formats, as we think he should be priced closer to $18,500. The Jags have surrendered the third-most points to QBs in fantasy this season, and Jackson can put up 10 points in two running plays!
FLEX Travis Etienne Jr., Jaguars ($15,500)
With Christian Kirk on IR, the only Jaguar we regard as a must-roster DFS commodity is Etienne. The strong and speedy back has averaged 15.8 FD points per game this season, a mark that he has reached or exceeded in each of the past two weeks.
Etienne also has a massive ceiling, with five games of 18-plus points and a four-week stretch earlier this season in which he averaged 25.5 points. As the kids say, it's ETN SZN.
FLEX Keaton Mitchell, RB, Ravens ($11,500)
The time will come for Mitchell, a rookie speedster who can change the entire complexion of a game in just a matter of moments. He already broke out in early November against the Seahawks, needing just nine carries to produce 138 yards and a TD. Since then, he has come back to Earth a bit, but he still gets 8-11 touches per game and we just can't resist his high-ceiling appeal.
FLEX Zay Jones, WR, Jaguars ($8,000)
Jones may not be the most talented skill-position player in this game, but he may very well have the most opportunity. With Christian Kirk hurt over the past two weeks, the veteran speedster has seen an incredible 22 targets.
Of course, Jones only has 10 catches for 107 yards in that span, but Rome wasn't built in a day. TLaw and Jones have plenty of history together, and we like their chances of hooking up for at least seven catches and 75 yards this weekend in what should be a pass-heavy game.
FLEX Nelson Agholor, WR, Ravens ($7,500)
Agholor seems like a fine end-of-the-roster flex option at this price, especially considering he just caught 5-of-5 targets last weekend (albeit for only 32 yards). That kind of sure-handed performance no doubt earned him more trust from Jackson and John Harbaugh, so we can at least expect his offensive snaps and target share to remain around the same. The last flex spot is as much about avoiding a low floor as it is about targeting a higher ceiling.
Best Ravens-Jaguars 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): Lamar Jackson, QB (1.5x)
- Super FLEX: Travis Etienne Jr., RB, Jaguars (1.9x)
- Super FLEX: Zay Flowers, WR, Ravens (2.05x)
- Super FLEX: Evan Engram, TE, Jaguars (2.25x)
- Super FLEX: Isaiah Likely, TE, Ravens (2.4x)
We employed a fairly similar approach with our SuperDraft DFS lineup, keeping three of the skill players we drafted to our DK squad. We couldn't resist drafting Flowers, who has emerged as LJax's favorite young target, especially at a 2.05-times boost. We also like the upside we're getting with Engram, who just had a monster week against another good defense in Cleveland.
