Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks: Vikings vs. Rams 1/13/25
Breaking down the best Draftkings picks for this week's Vikings vs. Rams matchup.
Minnesota Vikings vs. Los Angeles Rams
January 13, 2025 8:00 pm EDT
This Monday night, the NFL presents Draftkings football fans with a playoff matchup featuring the Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings. Let’s take a look at this NFL game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Los Angeles Rams vs. Minnesota Vikings 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 Minnesota Vikings vs. Los Angeles Rams matchup.
Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks
Captain-Sam Darnold, Quarterback, Minnesota Vikings $10,000
Quarterback Sam Darnold enters this week’s playoff matchup with the Los Angeles Rams playing quality football. With that said, how has Darnold performed from a statistical perspective in 2024? Let’s review Sam Darnold’s game data from the 2024 NFL regular season to answer that question.
In the 17 games that Sam Darnold has played for the Minnesota Vikings in the 2024 NFL regular season, Darnold has compiled a massive 4,319 passing yards, 35 passing touchdowns, 212 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
Looking closer at the data just presented, in the 17 games that Sam Darnold has played for the Minnesota Vikings in the 2024 NFL regular season, Darnold has averaged 19.6 Draftkings points a game.
I certainly like Sam Darnold’s matchup in this game. Why? The Los Angeles Rams have had issues defending the quarterback position recently. Let me be more specific. In the last two games played in the NFL regular season, in relation to the other 31 teams in the NFL over that time period, the Rams are ranked a dreadful 23rd in total Draftkings points (21.8) allowed to the quarterback position a game.
In my opinion, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NFL playoff game. With that said, I am backing quarterback Sam Darnold at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NFL Showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Puka Nacua, Wide Receiver, Los Angeles Rams $10,600
Talented wide receiver Puka Nacua has certainly been an essential part of the Los Angeles Rams offense this season.
In the 11 games that Puka Nacua has played for the Los Angeles Rams in the 2024 NFL regular season, Los Angeles Rams starting quarterback Matthew Stafford has targeted Nacua a robust 106 times. In those 106 targets just noted, Nacua amassed 79 receptions, 960 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns.
In conclusion, I fully expect Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua to continue his quality play in Monday night’s playoff game.
Additional flex plays I like to perform well (Draftkings price noted): Matthew Stafford, Quarterback (Los Angeles Rams) $10,600: Justin Jefferson, Wide Receiver (Minnesota Vikings) $11,000: Tutu Atwell, Wide Receiver (Los Angeles Rams) $3,400.
