{ "vars" : { "gtag_id": "UA-1995064-10", "config" : { "UA-1995064-10": { "groups": "default" } } } }

DraftKings NFL Picks & Optimal Lineups for Titans vs. Texans Showdown

150-Max Entry Lineup

– CAPTAIN: Corey Davis ($12,600)
– DeAndre Hopkins ($12,600)
– Deshaun Watson ($11,800)
– Keke Coutee ($8,600)
– Jonnu Smith ($4,000)
– Cameron Batson ($200)

I didn't lie about the Jonnu Smith interest, and he's certainly going in the 150-max as a way to free up cash at other spots. He's going to have fairly high ownership, so finding a way to differentiate otherwise could be pretty vital in this spot. This is why we turned to another Titans pass-catcher, who has the chance to get overlooked.

Cameron Batson certainly comes with risk, but that's fairly obvious considering his $200 price tag. He's essentially a free square here, but there's some reason to consider using him. For what it's worth, though, I wouldn't go into building a lineup with Batson in which you have an expectation that he just has a monster breakout game. Temper expectations, but in a potentially low-scoring game, someone who can catch 3-4 passes at this price is ideal.

Over the past three games, Batson has seen 30, 34 and 39 snaps, in that order, per Football Outsiders. His time on the field has increased consistently and the last two games came without Taywan Taylor. After Taylor was originally listed as a game-time decision for Monday, ESPN's Turron Davenport revealed he was downgraded to out.

With Taylor out, Batson should be locked in into 60-plus percent of the team's snaps. He'll still be the team's third option at wideout, but he's going to get the reps and I'll have him spread around some 150-max games.

Speaking of Titans receivers, Corey Davis is in a great spot here. While the Texans are good against opposing receivers, Davis is set to avoid a tough matchup in Aaron Colvin and provides big upside. Marcus Mariota left last game due to injury and in turn, he saw just four targets, but in the three weeks prior had combined for 27 looks and 15 catches.

I think we'll see Davis post a big stat line here and he caught 5-of-7 targets for 55 yards when these two teams met earlier in the year. That came before his breakout performance two weeks later against the Philadelphia Eagles as well. Expecting 100-yards and one score from the second-year wideout doesn't seem unrealistic.

Finally, I'm rounding out the 150-max line by stacking up the Texans passing game. I do believe each of these players will have a fair amount of ownership, but putting them all in one stack should help differentiate at least slightly. There's some risk with Keke Coutee depending on how the Texans opt to roll out Demaryius Thomas.

With that said, Thomas didn't receive a single target last game and had just three first-quarter catches against his former team the week prior. This means he hasn't caught a pass or even seen a target in seven quarters with his new team. And last game was Coutee's return from injury, leading to him seeing nine targets from Deshaun Watson and catching five for 77 yards.

Although Coutee was out-snapped by Thomas last game 46-42 (per Football Outsiders), it's obvious his playmaking ability is going to be big for this team moving forward. As long as the Texans don't force the action to Thomas, then the rookie out of Texas Tech will get plenty of work against the Titans.

The single entry/cash lineup next features a fair amount of safer options in comparison to the 150-max and is better suited for single entry and cash games.

Now Take the Quiz

Read more

More Heavy Sports News

The Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans meet on Monday Night Football in Week 12 and we broke down the DraftKings showdown picks and optimal lineups.