Houston Roughnecks vs. DC Defenders
May 25, 2025 4:00 pm EDT
The UFL presents Draftkings football fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Houston Roughnecks and the DC Defenders. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Houston Roughnecks vs. DC Defenders 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 Roughnecks vs. Defenders matchup.
Draftkings UFL Picks
Captain-Jordan Ta’amu, Quarterback, DC Defenders $12,000
Veteran quarterback Jordan Ta’amu has been a solid performer for the DC Defenders this season. With that said, how has the talented UFL quarterback performed from a statistical perspective? Let’s examine Ta’amu’s relevant game data from the 2025 UFL regular season to answer that question.
In the eight games that quarterback Jordan Ta’amu has played for the DC Defenders this season, Ta’amu has amassed a UFL leading 1,990 passing yards, 16 passing touchdowns, 171 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Examining the data just presented more closely, in the eight games that Jordan Ta’amu has played for the Defenders this season, Ta’amu is averaging a rather impressive 23.2 Draftkings points a contest.
More recently, in the DC Defenders 33-30 win over the Arlington Renegades last week, DC quarterback Jordan Ta’amu played exceptionally well. Ta’amu compiled 240 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and 21 rushing yards in the DC Defenders victory over the Renegades.
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, Jordan Ta’amu is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this UFL regular season game. For that specific reason, I am backing DC Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta’amu at the captain position for this one game Draftkings UFL Showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Justin Hall, Wide Receiver, Houston Roughnecks $10,800
Wide receiver Justin Hall has certainly been a key contributor for the Houston Roughnecks this season. Let’s examine Hall’s game data from the 2025 UFL season to better shed light on my previous statement.
In the eight games played in the 2025 UFL season, Houston Roughnecks quarterbacks have targeted wide receiver Justin Hall a whopping 70 times. In those 70 targets, Hall tallied 48 receptions, 353 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns.
In conclusion, I fully expect Justin Hall to continue his outstanding play in Sunday’s UFL matchup with the DC Defenders.
Additional flex plays I like to play well in this UFL game (Draftkings price noted): Jalen McClendon, Quarterback (Houston Roughnecks) $10,000: Cornell Powell, Wide Receiver (DC Defenders) $6,800.
