
Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks: Commanders vs. Lions 1/18/25
Draftkings picks and predictions for this week's Commanders vs. Lions matchup.
Washington Commanders vs. Detroit Lions
January 18, 2025 8:00 pm EDT
This Saturday, the NFL presents Draftkings football fans with a playoff matchup featuring the Detroit Lions and the Washington Commanders. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Detroit Lions vs. Washington Commanders 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 Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Commanders matchup.
Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks
Captain-Jayden Daniels, Quarterback, Washington Commanders $11,000
Washington rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has wasted little time showing the world that he belongs in the NFL. With that said, how has Daniels performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Jayden Daniels game data from the 2024 NFL regular season to answer that question.
In the 17 games that Jayden Daniels has played for the Washington Commanders in the 2024 NFL regular season, Daniels has compiled massive 3,836 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns, 927 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.
More recently, in the Washington Commanders thrilling 30-24 win over the Atlanta Falcons three weeks ago, Jayden Daniels played exceptionally well. More specifically, Daniels tallied 227 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and 127 rushing yards in the Commanders victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the Washington Commanders win over the Atlanta Falcons, Jayden Daniels accumulated 35.8 Draftkings points.
Jayden Daniels certainly stands out from a general matchup standpoint. The reason? The Detroit Lions have struggled to contain opposing quarterbacks this season. Upon the completion of 17 weeks of the 2024 NFL regular season, the Detroit Lions ranked a rather low 22nd in total DraftKings points allowed per game (17.5) to the quarterback position.
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.
In my opinion, Jayden Daniels is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NFL playoff game. Having stated that, I am backing talented Washington Commanders starting quarterback Jayden Daniels at the captain position for this Draftkings NFL DFS Showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Terry McLaurin, Wide Receiver, Washington Commanders $9,400
In addition to quarterback Jayden Daniels, wide receiver Terry McLaurin has been a key contributor to the Washington Commanders offense this season.
In the 17 games that wide receiver Terry McLaurin played for the Washington Commanders in the 2024 NFL regular season, Washington starting quarterback Jayden Daniels targeted McLaurin a robust 127 times. In those 127 targets just noted, McLaurin compiled 89 receptions, 1,185 receiving yards and 14 receiving touchdowns.
Additional flex plays I like to perform well (Draftkings price noted): Jared Goff, Quarterback (Detroit Lions) $9,800: Jahmyr Gibbs, Running Back (Detroit Lions) $10,600: Austin Ekeler, Running Back (Washington Commanders) $6,200: Sam LaPorta, Tight End (Detroit Lions) $5,600.