DC Defenders vs. St. Louis Battlehawks
April 13, 2025 3:00 pm EDT
This Sunday afternoon, the UFL presents Draftkings football fans with a regular season matchup featuring the DC Defenders and the St. Louis Battlehawks. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the DC Defenders vs. St. Louis Battlehawks 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 DC Defenders vs. St. Louis Battlehawks matchup.
Draftkings Picks
Captain-Jacob Saylors, RB, St. Louis Battlehawks $12,000
Talented running back Jacob Saylors has been the driving force behind the St. Louis Battlehawks success this season. Having stated that, how has Saylors performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Saylors relevant game data from the 2025 UFL regular season to answer that question.
In the two games that running back Jacob Saylors has played for the St. Louis Battlehawks this season, Saylors has compiled 144 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, seven receptions and 72 receiving yards.
Looking closer at the data just presented, in the two games that Jacob Saylors has played this season, Saylors has averaged a rather impressive 27.3 Draftkings points a game.
More recently, in the St. Louis Battlehawks 26-9 win over the San Antonio Brahmas last week, St. Louis running back Jacob Saylors certainly played at a high level. More specifically, Saylors amassed a massive 46 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, three receptions and 25 receiving yards.
I also like Saylors matchup in this game. Why? The San Antonio Brahamas have struggled to contain opposing running backs this season. In two games played in the UFL regular season, the Brahmas are allowing 173.5 rushing yards to opposing running backs a game. Clearly, that is not good.
As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a Draftkings UFL showdown lineup is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) DFS contest. Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups.
In my view, Jacob Saylors is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this UFL regular season game. For that specific reason, I am backing St. Louis Battlehawks running back Jacob Saylors at the captain position for this one game Draftkings UFL Showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Manny Wilkins, QB, St. Louis Battlehawks $11,000
In addition to running back Jacob Saylors, quarterback Manny Wilkins has been a key contributor for the St. Louis Battlehawks this season.
In the two games that quarterback Manny Wilkins has played for the St. Louis Battlehawks this season, Wilkins has tallied 351 passing yards, 101 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Examining the data just presented more closely, in the two games that Manny Wilkins has played this season, Wilkins is averaging 18.1 Draftkings points a contest.
Additional flex plays I like to play well (Draftkings price noted): Jordan Ta’amu, Quarterback (DC Defenders) $10,600: Chris Rowland, Wide Receiver (DC Defenders) $6,200.
