Week 7 of the NFL season is nearly in the books. After a record-breaking performance from Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes Sunday night, it's time to see if the New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons can give us a better (or possibly closer) primetime game.
While these are two teams who entered the year with high expectations, both have fallen flat to start the year. Although a 2-4 team hosting a 1-5 team doesn't seem appealing on paper, there's plenty of talent and intrigue in this matchup. And even if you aren't a fan of either team, DraftKings is offering a wide range of showdown games to add to the entertainment.
These games are a unique way to play daily fantasy football by focusing on just one single game. You'll fill out a smaller lineup (six players) which features each player with a much higher price tag than on a normal slate. When building lineups, you also have to choose one captain on your roster who costs 1.5-times more than the rest of the team but receives 1.5x the points as well.
Although in Week 7 of the 2018 NFL season, DraftKings is still offering monster showdown games on Monday night. This includes the always-popular $10 game with $1 million guaranteed. First place in this 150-max game will take home $250,000.
Along with the huge headliner game, DraftKings is offering a lower buy-in option with their 20-max game that has $250,000 guaranteed and a $3 entry fee. Other games worth noting include a $12 single entry with $40,000 guaranteed and a $1 option with $80,000 in total prizes.
Showdown Breakdown and Tips
Before we dive into the action for Week 7 and Giants vs. Falcons matchup, let's offer a quick breakdown of how showdown games work.
– Six total players (one captain, five flex players)
– Captain selection costs 1.5 times standard salary but scores 1.5 times the standard points
– Can choose from any position (QB, RB, WR, TE, K, DST)
– $50,000 salary cap
– You can use more than one quarterback
Building lineups in showdown games can be a tough task, as you want to differentiate as much as possible. Tying with 500 other people for one prize isn't ideal, but it's better than losing, of course. Therefore, using a nice mixture of chalk plays who most will target, along with one or two sleepers is a smart approach.
I'll break down a few different lineups which will include a variety of players in the captain spot. There will be one optimal lineup, a top option for 150-max games (more risk), and one for single entries/cash games (higher-floor players).
Before diving into the specific lineups, I'll evaluate my favorite captain plays.
DraftKings Showdown Strategy for Giants vs. Falcons
The captain spot in Monday night's game between the Giants and Falcons is tough, as it features multiple options worth considering. There's a strong argument to be made that going with cheaper options is the right play here, but with names like Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr., Saquon Barkley, and Matt Ryan, it's not quite that simple.
If one of those big names has a monster game and he's not a captain, there's a good chance you aren't in the mix for a first-place payday. But on the flipside, if it's a balanced approach with a few solid games and one value play has a huge night, you could hit it big. It's smart to utilize an approach of changing captains among a few various lineups, that way you cover all of your bases.
Personally, I select 5-6 players to consider for the captain spot, which feature both expensive and cheaper options. From there, you can spread those players across multiple lineups and mix in the other top plays with them. It's worth noting that I will use players outside of this group for my captain, as it all comes down to how builds play out once you start.
The names below are going to be the best options based on matchups, and less about their actual price. There are a lot of ways to get creative while using different captains, so loading in the six best players and just shoving the cheapest player in the captain spot won't always be the best approach.
Here's a look at the options I'll be targeting for the captain spot in Week 7 (with captain pricing of 1.5x more):
– Matt Ryan ($16,800)
– Saquon Barkley ($18,000)
– Odell Beckham Jr. ($15,000)
– Mohamed Sanu ($9,300)
– Evan Engram ($7,500)
– Ito Smith ($6,600)
Favorite expensive captains: Saquon Barkley, Odell Beckham Jr.
Top value-saving captains: Evan Engram, Ito Smith
Now, I'm going to break down the lines I'll be using, starting with an optimal lineup, then the 150-max lineup, and lastly the single-entry breakdown.
Optimal Lineup
– CAPTAIN: Sterling Shepard ($9,900)
– Saquon Barkley ($12,000)
– Matt Ryan ($11,200)
– Tevin Coleman ($7,400)
– Evan Engram ($5,000)
– Ito Smith ($4,400)
As mentioned above, the choice at captain will often just depend on how builds go. But I took a unique approach to building this lineup in an attempt to differentiate it. In most cases, using two running backs from the same team isn't ideal, but for Tevin Coleman and Ito Smith, I think the upside for both is fairly high. Plus, I can't envision many players putting these two in lineups together.
On the season, the Giants have allowed 518 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 130 carries while also giving up 34 catches for 282 yards and four scores. With Atlanta at home on primetime and Coleman/Smith essentially splitting snaps, it will likely lower the ownership of both. Last week, Coleman out-snapped Smith 38-31 (per Football Outsiders), but Smith received more touches (13-11).
I'm also hopeful that Sterling Shepard's ownership is down a bit after catching just three passes for 37 yards last game. The Giants offense was abysmal in that loss and while I don't believe in Eli Manning at all, I love Shepard's game. He's also leading the team in red-zone targets with nine this season, and an injury-plagued Falcons defense should allow him to post a big stat line.
Saquon Barkley is simply the chalk play who should absolutely destroy the Falcons defense. This group has given up 528 rushing yards, 425 receiving yards (on 53 catches) and eight total touchdowns to running backs. The sky is the limit here for him, but after he smashed a Philadelphia Eagles defense who was good against running backs, who knows how this will actually play out.
On paper, Matt Ryan's matchup with the Giants doesn't seem great, as they've given up just 1,463 yards through the air and nine touchdowns. But this is a defense who's allowed 33, 33 and 34 points over the past three games and have a league-worst seven sacks on the year. Ryan is on fire right now and should easily top 30-plus DraftKings points.
And then there's Evan Engram, who's underpriced both due to the fact that he's returning from the injury and that he hasn't done much this season. But over the past three games, the Falcons have given up 249 yards and three touchdowns to tight ends, meaning Engram could be a top-tier play at a value price.
Plus, with how much the Giants offense has struggled, it wouldn't surprise me to see Manning use Engram as somewhat of a safety blanket Monday.
150-Max Entry Lineup
– CAPTAIN: Odell Beckham Jr. ($15,000)
– Matt Ryan ($11,200)
– Julio Jones ($10,600)
– Evan Engram ($5,000)
– Ito Smith ($4,400)
– Giorgio Tavecchio ($3,400)
So here's the deal. Between Odell Beckham Jr.'s sideline explosions and the Giants horrific showing last week, I actually think the star wideout will be low-owned. And as far as placing him in the captain spot? I don't envision that happening often, but I'm all for it in a 150-max game. The Falcons have given up 1,094 yards and 11 touchdowns to opposing wideouts, so as long as Manning can just put the ball near him, Beckham should have a big night.
One key way I decided to differentiate this lineup was to leave Barkley out. He's arguably my favorite play on the slate, but he should have ownership close to 50 percent. It's a unique approach that I'm hoping pays off, and even if he scores 20 DraftKings points, that can be overcome by a few players in this lineup.
As far as the Matt Ryan and Julio Jones pairing goes, I think we're going to see a lot of players focus on it, but not as many as you'd think on the surface. With Beckham, Barkley and Ryan all around Jones in price it could drive his price down a bit, or at least that's the hope. This does seem likely to be the week Julio finds the end zone, though, so I'm excited about that. This matchup bodes well for Ryan and his favorite receiver and the Falcons should easily top 30 points.
I spoke about the spot Evan Engram finds himself in above, and while he's coming back from an injury, it's unlikely to deter me from using him. The spot is too good for him and the issues the Giants have had offensively should bode well for the young tight end. I'm a big fan of his game and think his potential to find the end zone this week is high.
While so much attention is on how bad the Giants have been defensively, it's worth noting that the Falcons have allowed 29, 41, 37, and 43 points in their past four games. As great of a spot as this is for the Atlanta offense, the G-Men have a legitimate chance to right the ship this week as well.
Ito Smith is my inexpensive target along with Engram and I think (fingers crossed) fantasy players will look at his game log and move along. The only thing that hurts our chances of getting a low-owned Smith here is the fact that he's scored a touchdown in each of the past three games. The Falcons back has eaten into Tevin Coleman's workload in a big way, specifically when Devonta Freeman is out.
Smith has had at least 10 touches in three games this season and if we're projecting a game flow that features major points, he could see 12-14 touches. His big-play potential and knack for finding the end zone is a nice added bonus.
And then there's Giorgio Tavecchio, who I'll provide some additional insight on, but should be drastically low-owned.
Single Entry/Cash Lineup
– CAPTAIN: Evan Engram ($7,500)
– Saquon Barkley ($12,000)
– Matt Ryan ($11,200)
– Odell Beckham Jr. ($10,000)
– Austin Hooper ($5,800)
– Giorgio Tavecchio ($3,200)
Kicker alert! To be honest, I think Giorgio Tavecchio is going to have brutally low ownership since I don't believe many know who he is. But Tavecchio has a pretty big leg and will be the kicker for the Falcons in a game that should feature plenty of points. I think Tavecchio's floor is high and he's a safe single entry or cash game play.
I loaded up on a few of the go-to targets on the Giants for the single entry lineup. Truthfully, I wanted to get either Sterling Shepard or Mohamed Sanu (great play, didn't get him in lines here) into this spot, but it didn't work out. So, we'll settle for Evan Engram and Odell Beckham Jr. as the pass-catchers for the Giants.
Both Engram and Beckham bring different things to the table. Barring something wild happening on Monday night, Engram should provide a nice floor while Beckham has a ridiculous ceiling and should have a safe floor. I don't trust Manning at all, but he's going to push it to Beckham, likely leading to double-digit targets in a fast-paced, high-scoring game.
There's simply no way to leave Saquon Barkley out of a cash or single-entry lineup. If he somehow duds, then we just have to deal with it. Using him is the right play in this format and he's had at least 22 DraftKings points every week of this season. The Falcons get destroyed by backs both on the ground and through the air, and Barkley is capable of excelling in both areas.
Matt Ryan is another player I view as a must-play in cash games. His floor is high and the ceiling is ridiculous. Pairing him with Austin Hooper is pretty safe, assuming the coaching staff (or Ryan) don't decide to just act like Hooper doesn't exist again.
After seeing 15 targets over the first four weeks of the season, Hooper has seen 22 in the past two games, catching 18 passes over that span. He's totaled 148 yards and one touchdown in that span, and all we really need from him in this game is 5-6 catches for 50-60 yards for him to be worth it. Adding in a touchdown seems realistic, as Ryan is looking his way in the red zone.
Additional targets not in previous lineups: Eli Manning ($9,400), Mohamed Sanu ($6,200), Calvin Ridley ($7,000), Falcons DST ($2,800)
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DraftKings Week 7 Showdown: Giants vs. Falcons Top Optimal Lineups