Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks: Panthers vs. Falcons 1/5/25

This Sunday afternoon, the NFL presents Draftkings football fans with a matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers. Let’s take a look at this NFL game from a DFS perspective.

Before we dive into the Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina Panthers 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 Carolina Panthers vs. Atlanta Falcons matchup.

Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks

Captain-Bijan Robinson, Running Back, Atlanta Falcons $12,000

Atlanta running back Bijan Robinson has played exceptional football this season. Having stated that, how has Robinson played from a statistical perspective in 2024? Let’s review Robinson’s game data from the 2024 NFL regular season to answer that question.

In the 16 games that Bijan Robinson has played for the Atlanta Falcons in the 2024 NFL regular season, Robinson has compiled a massive 1,286 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, 59 receptions, 428 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.

Last month, in the Los Angeles Chargers 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, Falcons running back Bijan Robinson tallied 102 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, six receptions and 33 receiving yards.

Looking closer at the data just presented, in the Los Angeles Chargers win over the Atlanta Falcons just mentioned, Bijan Robinson compiled a whopping 28.5 Draftkings points.

Bijan Robinson certainly stands out from a general matchup standpoint. The reason? The Carolina Panthers have struggled to contain opposing running backs this season. To elaborate, after 17 games played in the 2024 NFL regular season, the Carolina Panthers rank an abysmal 32nd in total DraftKings points allowed per game (29.7) to the running back 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 summary, I think running back Bijan Robinson is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NFL regular season game. For that specific reason, I am backing Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NFL Showdown contest.

Flex Plays

Drake London, Wide Receiver, Atlanta Falcons $10,000

In addition to Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London has been a key contributor to the Atlanta Falcons starting lineup this season.

In the 16 games that Drake London has played for the Atlanta Falcons in the 2024 NFL regular season, Atlanta quarterbacks have targeted London a robust 140 times. In those 140 targets just noted, London amassed 90 receptions, 1,084 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns.

Additional flex plays I like to perform well (Draftkings price noted): Darnell Mooney, Wide Receiver, (Atlanta Falcons) $8,000: Bryce Young, Quarterback (Carolina Panthers) $9,800: Adam Thielen, Wide Receiver (Carolina Panthers) $9,600.