The NFL heads into Week 4 and that means this is the start of the International Series. The Minnesota Vikings take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, Ireland Sunday morning. I will post Showdown picks for the International Series as well as the Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football slates. It is hard to believe that the NFL bye weeks begin already in Week 5. The NFL is sure good at making time fly by…LOL
Here are my picks for the NFL Week 4….
DRAFTKINGS INTERNATIONAL SHOWDOWN PICKS
DRAFTKINGS NFL CASH CONTEST
QUARTERBACK: MARCUS MARIOTA will be my QB in Cash Contests. I like playing a QB who can run because it raises their floor. Mariota ran for 40 yards and 1 TD last week (an extra 10 points to his passing yards). Overall, Mariota scored 21.3 DK Points at only $4,000. I expect similar points from Mariota at a discounted price once again.
RUNNINGBACKS: I have played CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY in my Cash Contest lineups every week this season and he scored me 23.2 DK Points in Week 1, 22.7 DK Points in Week 2 and 24 DK Points last week. The Jacksonville Defense is better than people think, but CMC will still get the work to score over 20 DK Points Sunday…. JAMES COOK will be the RB I will pair with CMC in Week 4. Cook has actually been the second-best RB in Fantasy Football this year (behind Jonathan Taylor). He is averaging 24.8 DK Points per Game this year. The Bills are a big favorite over the Saints, so I expect a lot of work for Cook in Week 4.
WIDE RECEIVERS: PUKA NACUA is the No. 1 WR in the NFL and he is the No. 1 WR on this slate. Nacua has averaged 26.5 DK Points per Game this year. That is the best in the NFL. Nacua should go nuclear Sunday with DeVante Adams banged up this week…. JACOBY MEYERS has the second-best match up in Week 4 according to Pro Football Focus. I expect the Chicago vs. Las Vegas game to be a shoot-out and Meyers should score very well in this game… I used ELIC AYOMANOR in my Cash Contest in Week 2 and he scored me 15.2 DK Points at only $3,200. I used him again last week and Ayomanor scored me 13.8 DK Points at only $3,700. I will continue to use Ayomanor until his price increases.
TIGHT END: I typically do not like to stack players in my Cash Contest lineup, but I think it is OK to stack Drake May with HUNTER HENRY. May seems to like throwing to the TE Position. Henry leads the Patriots in Targets, Yards, TDs and Fantasy Points. I expect another big game from the May + Henry stack this week vs. the Panthers.
FLEX POSITION: I really hate to see what happened to Najee Harris and I wish him a speedy recovery. The injury to Harris unlocks OMARIAN HAMPTON. He went off after Harris left the game last week and scored 24.9 DK Points. The Chargers should beat the Giants easily Sunday and I expect another big game from Hampton.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS: I will punt the Defense/ST Position in Week 4 and take a chance with the TITANS DEFENSE/ST. I am not playing the Titans because they are the Monsters of the Midway or The Steele Curtain; I am using them because of how poor the Texans Offensive Line is. The Texans are giving up 9.8 DK Points to the Opposing Defense. I expect the Titans to score nearly 10 DK Points in Week 4. That is not bad for the minimum price.
DRAFTKINGS NFL TOURNAMENT CONTEST
TOURNAMENT STACK: I will stack the Chicago vs. Las Vegas game this week. The Over/Under is 47.5 Points and both offenses are better than both defenses. You can use either side of the ball for your main stack, but I decided to use the Raiders. GENO SMITH + JAKOBY MEYERS should score well this week. We saw Geno Smith + Try Tucker score 70 DK Points last week. The Bears have given up the most points to the slot WR this year. That is where Meyers typically lines up. This should be a good game for the GENO SMITH + JAKOBY MEYERS stack… I will bring back the stack with ROME ODUNZE. He is clearly the best WR for the Bears and the Raiders have given up the third-most DK Points to the opposing team’s No. 1 WR.
RUNNINGBACKS: The Colts vs. the Rams have the highest Over/Under on the slate (49.5 Points). I need a piece of that game in my lineup and I will get it with KYREN WILLIAMS. I am not afraid of the Colts Defense. The Over/Under would not be this high if the Colts Defense was that good. Williams is averaging 20 touches per game. He should turn that into 15+ DK Points Sunday…. OMARIAN HAMPTON is going to be highly owned, but he is the best value pick on the slate. The Giants give up the fourth-most DK Points to the RB Position and that includes the game last week when the Chiefs did not even try to run the ball. The Chargers will run the ball this week and I expect a lot of DK Points from Hampton in this game.
WIDE RECEIVERS: I already have JAKOBY MEYERS and ROME ODUNZE in this lineup. My third WR will be XAVIER WORTHY. He is finally back in the Chiefs’ Offense and he will not be eased into the game. The Chiefs have no running game so they are going to throw it a lot. Worthy is their best option, so I expect a lot of targets and a lot of DK Points from the fastest WR in the NFL.
RB + DEFENSE ST STACK: The JAMES COOK + BILLS DEFENSE/ST stack seems like a “free square” this week. I am sure some people will not be willing to pay up for the Bills Defense, but I will. We saw the Bills use Cook instead of Josh Allen to beat the New York Jets in Week 2. I expect the Bills to give Allen’s arm a break this week and hammer the Saints with Cook. This stack looks like the best RB + DENFESE/ST stack on the slate.
DRAFTKINGS SNF SHOWDOWN PICKS
DRAFTKINGS MNF SHOWDOWN PICKS (NYJ VS. MIA)
DRAFTKINGS MNF SHOWDOWN PICKS (CIN VS. DEN)
Good luck this week!
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