DFS Thursday Night Showdown
It’s finally here…the official start of the 2025 NFL season! And it begins with the Thursday Night Showdown between the reigning Super Bowl Champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the team that traded away their best player, the Dallas Cowboys.
The game is in Philadelphia. The home team is a seven-point favorite, and the over/under currently sits at 46.5. Remember, this is week one, and anything goes; you are playing with the sharks and the everyday fan who just wants to get involved. The best part is it’s the first game of the season for all of us.
The Eagles’ offense looks pretty similar to last year’s offense that ranked fifth in points per game (29.0), but blasted the average in their last three games, averaging 41 points per game. But gone is the architect of that offense, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, but his replacement, Kevin Patullo, is familiar with the team.
The Cowboys have a new head coach, Brian Schottenheimer, who will be calling the offensive plays, and a new defensive coordinator, Matt Eberflus, who is coming off a bad go as head coach in Chicago and now looks to reestablish his defensive-minded legacy in Dallas.
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Before we start, let’s set the boundaries. This is DraftKings Showdown Captain mode. Single entry (because if you aren’t going to max out, then opt out) with a $5 entry fee and 29,726 other participants. It all matters.
As we know, the showdown allows you to play six positions, with one of the positions being “the captain”. The number of fantasy points “the captain” scores is multiplied by 1.5, but he also costs 1.5X more.
When playing showdown, you can play 3-3, 4-2, or 5-1, mixing and matching players from either team as long as you have at least one player from the opposing team. So, let’s play.
The Contrarian
The Contrarian stack will highlight players from the Cowboys’ side of the ball. This narrative speaks to the Cowboys being behind but a close game. And spoiler alert, it is my personal favorite for week one.
Ownership projection courtesy of oneweekseason.com
- Captain: George Pickens, WR, $12,000; 6.9% ownership as Captain
- Flex: Dax Prescott, QB, $9000; 43.6% ownership
- Flex: Jake Ferguson, TE, $5200; 23.6% ownership
- Flex: Jalen Tolbert, WR, $3400; 7.7% ownership
- Flex: Jalen Hurts, QB, $11000; $53.8% ownership
- Flex: A.J. Brown, WR, $9400; 33.7% ownership
Other viable options are wide receiver Jahan Dotson with a 6.8% ownership and on the Eagles’ side of the ball, DeVonta Smith coming in at 27.9% ownership. Just have your lineup have a narrative that makes sense to you.
Chalk Play
This plays into the narrative that the Eagles will beat the Cowboys by what is now an 8.5-point margin (or more). You will notice the fade of Saquon Barkley (a personal choice), who is coming in at 43.5% ownership as a flex and 16.29% ownership in the captain mode.
- Captain: Jalen Hurts, QB, $16500; 53.8% ownership as Captain
- Flex: DeVonta Smith, WR, $8400; 27.9% ownership
- Flex: Dallas Goedert, TE, $6400; 21.2% ownership
- Flex: Jahan Dotson, WR, $3200: 6.8% ownership
- Flex: Dak Prescott, QB, $9000; 43.6% ownership
- Flex: Jake Ferguson, TE, $5200; 23.6% ownership
Other options to consider are Eagles defense 24.1% ownership, A.J. Brown 33.7% ownership, and kicker Brandon Aubrey (19.6% ownership.
And Then There Is This…
- The Eagles lost both Darius Slay and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (who led the team in interceptions last season) during the offseason. That leaves the middle to rookie Andrew Mukuba, who is recovering from a hamstring injury. Prescott’s favorite tight end, Ferguson, could be in a sweet spot.
- Eagles’ wide receiver Brown versus the Cowboys’ Trevon Diggs. It just might cause Hurts to look away from Brown and towards Smith and or Goedert.
Smith, who, by the way, led the Eagles last season in touchdown receptions. He isn’t even in the top five for ownership percentage. - It’s Week 1, we are going by last year’s stats, preseason shenanigans, rumors, and hope. Remember, one team is playing with a new offensive coordinator while the other is playing with a new head coach, new play caller, new defensive coordinator, and no Parsons.
Good luck and play nice.
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