Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks: Vikings vs. Lions 1/5/25

On Sunday night, the NFL presents Draftkings football fans with a matchup between the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings. Let’s take a look at this NFL game from a DFS perspective.

Before we dive into the Detroit Lions 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. Detroit Lions matchup.

Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks

Captain-Sam Darnold, Quarterback, Minnesota Vikings $10,000

Quarterback Sam Darnold enters this week’s matchup with the Detroit Lions playing simply outstanding football. Having stated that, 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 16 games that Sam Darnold has played for the Minnesota Vikings in the 2024 NFL regular season, Darnold has compiled a whopping 4,153 passing yards, 35 passing touchdowns, 202 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.

Looking closer at the data just presented, in the 16 games that Sam Darnold has played for the Minnesota Vikings in 2024, Darnold has averaged 20.3 Draftkings points a game.

I certainly like Sam Darnold’s matchup in this game. Why? The Detroit Lions have had issues defending the quarterback position recently. Let me be more specific. In the last four games played in the NFL regular season, in relation to the other 31 teams in the NFL over that time period, the Detroit Lions are ranked a dreadful 32rd in total Draftkings points (29.2) allowed to the quarterback position a game. Considering the fact that the NFL has 32 teams in the entire league, being ranked 32nd in any defensive category is clearly not good.

In my view, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold is the most likely player to post the most Draftkings points in this NFL regular season game. For that specific reason, I am backing quarterback Sam Darnold at the captain position for this one game Draftkings NFL Showdown contest.

Flex Plays

Jameson Williams, Wide Receiver, Detroit Lions $7,600

Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams has certainly been a key contributor to the Detroit Lions offense in 2024. In the 14 games that Williams has played for the Detroit Lions in the 2024 NFL regular season, Detroit quarterback Jared Goff has targeted Jameson Williams a robust 83 times. In those 83 targets just mentioned, Williams compiled 52 receptions, 967 receiving yards seven receiving touchdowns.

More recently, in the Detroit Lions thrilling 40-34 victory over the San Francisco 49ers last week, Detroit wide receiver Jameson Williams tallied 24.5 Draftkings points.

Additional flex plays I like to perform well (Draftkings price noted): Sam Darnold, Quarterback (Minnesota Vikings) $9,200: Justin Jefferson, Wide Receiver (Minnesota Vikings) $11,400: Jahmyr Gibbs, Running Back (Detroit Lions) $11,600.