Alex Hunter preps you for Sunday’s matchup between the Eagles and 49ers and gives NFL DFS picks for this DraftKings Showdown slate.
The Eagles are hosting the 49ers in a do-or-die Wild Card matchup Sunday. On DraftKings Sportsbook, Philadelphia is favored by six points and this game carries a total of 44.5 points.
As always, DraftKings is offering some huge contests for this Showdown slate between the Eagles and 49ers. Below, I dive into some of my favorite targets for this slate.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL Showdown $400K Slip Screen [$100K to 1st] (SF @ PHI)
Captain’s Picks
Saquon Barkley ($15,000 CPT, $10,000 FLEX)
Barkley closed the regular season in strong form, with at least 17 FPTS in three of his final four starts and the Eagles should rely on him as six-point home favorites vs. the 49ers. This season, Barkley is averaging 17.5 carries per game and a 78.1% snap rate. The back has seen 43 red-zone carries in 16 games and Barkley is handling a 11% target share in the passing game, including eight red-zone targets.
Barkley has scored at least 17 FPTS in four of the seven games he has competed as a home favorite this season and his -130 odds to score a touchdown on DraftKings Sportsbook are the best for this Wild Card matchup. San Francisco has given up five touchdowns to running backs in its last four games and Barkley has multiple touchdown upside Sunday.
UTIL Plays
Christian McCaffrey ($17,400 CPT, $11,600 FLEX)
While rostering McCaffrey at captain limits what you can do with the rest of your lineup, he is a tough fade overall and rostering him in a FLEX spot feels like a necessity for this Showdown slate. McCaffrey was the No. 1 scorer for fantasy football in the regular season at 25.2 FPTS per game and he scored over 20 FPTS in 12 of his 17 games. The back is averaging 18.3 carries per game on an 83% snap share while leading the league in red-zone carries (75).
Plus, McCaffrey ranks first among all backs in target share (23.5%) and red-zone targets (29). The Eagles struggle to contain backs in the passing game, with their defense allowing the eighth-most receiving yards to the position (618) and McCaffrey should be very active as a receiver in this spot, especially with the 49ers likely to be in a negative game script as six-point underdogs.
Dallas Goedert ($8,400 CPT, $5,600 FLEX)
The 49ers have had issues stopping tight ends this season, ranking top-10 in catches, yards and touchdowns allowed to the position and Goedert is the best value on the slate at these reasonable salaries. The tight end is handling a 20% target share and he has seen 20 red-zone targets in 15 games.
Goedert has scored at least 12 FPTS in three of his last four, and he should crack double-digit FPTS in this spot.
Kyle Juszczyk ($2,100 CPT, $1,400 FLEX)
Punting one of your FLEX spots with Juszczyk makes sense for this Showdown slate so you can roster multiple studs like Barkley and McCaffrey. Juszczyk has scored FPTS in 15 of his 17 games this season and he is averaging 3.4 FPTS per game, which would be a strong return relative to his $1,400 salary for Sunday. The fullback rarely sees work as a rusher, but Juszczyk is running a route on 33% of his team’s dropbacks and he is garnering a target on 13% of those routes, including eight red-zone targets.
Juszczyk just caught his second touchdown of the season two weeks ago vs. the Bears and if he was ever to find the paydirt again Sunday, it would do wonders for your Showdown lineup. For that Showdown slate vs. Chicago two weeks ago, Juszczyk was only rostered by 3.6% of the field in DraftKings’ main GPP of the night.
Fades
George Kittle ($12,900 CPT, $8,600 FLEX)
Kittle was just held to 7.9 FPTS by a Seahawks defense whose main weakness this season has been slowing down tight ends. Now, he meets an Eagles defense that has been arguably the best unit in the NFL at covering tight ends this season. To the position, Philadelphia is giving up the second-fewest yards (504) and the second-fewest touchdowns (four) on the second-lowest completion percentage (63.8%).
While Kittle has had some big games with Brock Purdy under center, this is a terrible road matchup for Kittle and he should have a subpar showing.
THE OUTCOME
Before losing the regular-season finale to the Commanders, which is irrelevant, as the Eagles rested almost all of their starters, Philadelphia had won three in a row. Meanwhile, the 49ers are coming off an ugly 13-3 loss to the Seahawks, which was a pivotal game that decided who would be the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the postseason.
Facing the defending champion Eagles on their home turf is going to be a major challenge for San Francisco and Philadelphia should win this game by a decent margin.
Final Score: Eagles 24, 49ers 17
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