Draftkings Best NFL Showdown Picks: Browns vs. Ravens 1/4/25
Breaking down the best Draftkings picks for this week's Browns vs. Ravens matchup.
Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens
January 4, 2025 4:30 pm EDT
This Saturday afternoon, the NFL presents Draftkings football fans with a matchup featuring the Baltimore Ravens and the Cleveland Browns. Let’s take a look at this NFL game from a DFS perspective.
Before we dive into the Baltimore Ravens 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 Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens matchup.
Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks
Captain-Lamar Jackson, Quarterback, Baltimore Ravens $12,000
Baltimore Ravens signal caller Lamar Jackson has played at a high level this season. With that in mind, how has Jackson performed from a statistical standpoint? Let’s examine Jackson’s relevant game data from the 2024 NFL regular season to answer that question.
In the 16 games that Lamar Jackson has played for the Baltimore Ravens in the 2024 NFL regular season, Baltimore Ravens starting quarterback Lamar Jackson has compiled an impressive 3,995 passing yards, 39 passing touchdowns, 852 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.
Last week, in the Baltimore Ravens convincing 31-2 win over the Houston Texans, Lamar Jackson played exceptionally well. Jackson accumulated 168 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 87 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
Looking at the data just presented more closely, in the Baltimore Ravens victory over the Houston Texans just mentioned, Lamar Jackson tallied a massive 29.4 Draftkings points.
Lamar Jackson certainly stands out from a general matchup standpoint. Why? The Cleveland Browns have struggled to contain opposing quarterbacks this season. To elaborate, after 17 games played in the 2024 NFL regular season, the Cleveland Browns rank a rather low 24th in total DraftKings points allowed per game (17.2) 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. Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups for this one game DFS slate.
In my view, Lamar Jackson is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NFL regular season game. Having stated that, I am rolling with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NFL Showdown contest.
Flex Plays
Rashod Bateman, Wide Receiver, Baltimore Ravens $6,600
In addition to Lamar Jackson, wide receiver Rashod Bateman has been a key contributor to the Baltimore Ravens offense this season.
In the 16 games that wide receiver Rashod Bateman has played for the Baltimore Ravens in the 2024 NFL regular season, Ravens starting quarterback Lamar Jackson has targeted Bateman 64 times. In those 64 targets, Bateman compiled 40 receptions, 680 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns.
In conclusion, I fully expect Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman to continue his outstanding play versus a vulnerable Cleveland Browns secondary on Saturday afternoon.
Additional flex plays I like to perform well in this game (Draftkings price noted): Jerry Jeudy, Wide Receiver, (Cleveland Browns) $9,800: David Njoku, Tight End (Cleveland Browns) $6,200.
