This Sunday, the NFL presents Draftkings football fans with a matchup featuring the Los Angeles Chargers and the Cleveland Browns. Let’s take a look at this NFL game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Los Angeles Chargers vs. Cleveland Browns 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 Los Angeles Chargers vs. Cleveland Browns matchup.
Captain-Justin Herbert, Quarterback, Los Angeles Chargers $9,200
How important has quarterback Justin Herbert been to the Los Angeles Chargers offense this season? Let’s review Herbert’s relevant player data from the 2024 NFL regular season to answer that question.
In the seven games that Herbert has played for the Los Angeles Chargers in the 2024 NFL regular season, quarterback Justin Herbert compiled 1443 passing yards, eight passing touchdowns, and 83 rushing yards.
More recently, in the Los Angeles Chargers dominating 26-8 win over the New Orleans Saints last week, Justin Herbert certainly played at a high level. More specifically, Herbert accumulated 279 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and added 49 rushing yards.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the Los Angeles Chargers victory over the New Orleans Saints just mentioned, Herbert tallied a robust 24.1 Draftkings points.
As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a Draftkings NFL showdown lineup is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) DFS contest.
I definitely like Justin Herbert from a general matchup perspective in this NFL regular season matchup. Why? The Cleveland Browns have had issues containing opposing quarterbacks this season. Let me be more specific. Through eight games played in the 2024 NFL regular season, the Cleveland Browns are ranked a rather low 20th in total Draftkings points allowed a game (16.9) to the quarterback position.
In summary, I think quarterback Justin Herbert is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in Sunday afternoon’s NFL regular season game. For that specific reason, I am backing Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NFL Showdown slate.
Flex Plays
David Njoku, Tight End, Cleveland Browns $8,400
In the five games that tight end David Njoku has played for the Cleveland Browns in the 2024 NFL regular season, Cleveland quarterbacks have targeted David Njoku a robust 36 times. In those 36 targets just noted, Njoku compiled 25 receptions, 226 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns.
I fully expect David Njoku to continue his outstanding play in Sunday afternoon’s matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Additional flex plays I like to perform well (Draftkings price noted): J.K. Dobbins, Running Back, (Los Angeles Chargers) $10,000: Jameis Winston, Quarterback (Cleveland Browns) $9,400: Dustin Hopkins, Kicker (Cleveland Browns) $5,000.