Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks: Vikings vs. Browns 10/5/25
Minnesota Vikings vs. Cleveland Browns
October 5, 2025 9:30 am EDT
The NFL presents Draftkings football fans with a regular season matchup featuring the Minnesota Vikings and the Cleveland Browns. Let’s take a look at this game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Minnesota Vikings 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 Vikings vs. Browns matchup.
Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks
Captain-Justin Jefferson, Wide Receiver, Minnesota Vikings $11,400
Veteran wide receiver Justin Jefferson has certainly been a solid performer for the Minnesota Vikings this season. With that said, how has Jefferson performed from a data perspective this season? Let’s review the talented wide receiver’s relevant key player game data from the 2025 NFL regular season to better shed light on Jefferson’s overall contributions to his team.
In the four games that wide receiver Justin Jefferson has played for the Minnesota Vikings in the 2025 NFL regular season, Minnesota quarterbacks have targeted Jefferson a massive 31 times. In those 31 targets just mentioned, Jefferson compiled 22 receptions, 326 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.
Examining the data just presented more closely, in the four games that Justin Jefferson has played for the Vikings in 2025, Jefferson is averaging 16.1 Draftkings points a game.
More recently, in the Pittsburgh Steelers thrilling 24-21 victory over the Minnesota Vikings last week, Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson played exceptionally well. In the Steelers defeat of the Vikings, Minnesota quarterback Carson Wentz targeted Jefferson 11 times. In those 11 targets, Jefferson accumulated ten receptions and 126 receiving yards.
What did we learn from the data just presented? The data clearly illustrates that Justin Jefferson has the potential to post a high number of DFS points on any given night. Additionally, the data indicates that Jefferson has a massive usage rate within the Minnesota Vikings offense. Having stated that, I fully expect that trend to continue in this Sunday afternoon’s regular season matchup with the Cleveland Browns.
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. Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups.
In my view, Justin Jefferson 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 wide receiver Justin Jefferson at the captain position for this one game NFL DFS slate.
Flex plays I like to play well in this NFL regular season contest (Draftkings price noted): Joe Flacco, Quarterback (Cleveland Browns) $8,600: Carson Wentz, Quarterback (Minnesota Vikings) $9,000: Harold Fannin, Tight End (Cleveland Browns) $4,400.
