This Sunday afternoon, the NFL presents Draftkings football fans with a matchup featuring the Arizona Cardinals and the Minnesota Vikings. Let’s take a look at this game from a Draftkings perspective.
Before we dive into the Arizona Cardinals vs. Minnesota Vikings game let’s review the rules for the Draftkings single game showdown contest.
Draftkings Single Game Showdown Contest Rules
You have $50,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team captain. The captain accumulates 1.5 times the standard fantasy points. Additionally, the captain is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.
The remaining four players in your lineup will receive the standard fantasy points. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your captain position if you hope to win a large field DFS GPP (guaranteed prize pool) showdown contest.
If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game showdown contest, I recommend that you check out the Draftkings website for more details.
I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your DFS lineup for this one game slate.
Here are my Draftkings picks for this week’s Arizona Cardinals vs. Minnesota Vikings matchup.
Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks
Captain-Aaron Jones, Running Back, Minnesota Vikings $9,400
In my opinion, running back Aaron Jones has been the driving force behind the Minnesota Vikings success on the offensive side of the football this season. Having stated that, how has Jones played from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Jones’s relevant player data from this season to answer that question.
In the 11 games that Aaron Jones has played for the Minnesota Vikings in the 2024 NFL regular season, Jones compiled an impressive 798 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, 32 receptions, 285 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown.
More recently, in the Minnesota Vikings 30-27 victory over the Chicago Bears last week, Minnesota running back Aaron Jones tallied 106 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, three receptions, and 23 receiving yards.
Looking closer at the data just presented, in the Vikings win over the Chicago Bears just mentioned, Aaron Jones accumulated a robust 23.9 Draftkings points.
Additionally, I like Aaron Jones from a general matchup perspective in this game. Why? The Arizona Cardinals defense has had issues containing opposing running backs this season. Let me be more specific. Through 11 games played in the 2024 NFL regular season, the Arizona Cardinals are ranked a rather low 23rd in total Draftkings points allowed a game (24.1) to the running back position.
In summary, I think running back Aaron Jones is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NFL regular season game. For that specific reason, I am backing Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NFL Showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Justin Jefferson, Wide Receiver, Minnesota Vikings $11,000
In addition to Aaron Jones, wide receiver Justin Jefferson has certainly been a key contributor to the Minnesota Vikings offense this season. In the 11 games that wide receiver Justin Jefferson has played for the Vikings in the 2024 NFL regular season, Minnesota starting quarterback Sam Darnold has targeted Justin Jefferson a massive 91 times. In those 91 targets just noted, Jefferson compiled 61 receptions, 939 receiving yards, and five receiving touchdowns.
In conclusion, I fully expect Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson to continue his outstanding play versus a vulnerable Arizona Cardinals secondary on Sunday afternoon.
Additional flex plays I like to perform well (Draftkings price noted): T.J. Hockenson, Tight End (Minnesota Vikings) $6,400: Kyler Murray, Quarterback (Arizona Cardinals) $10,200: James Conner, Running Back (Arizona Cardinals) $9,600.