NFL DraftKings Monday Night Football Showdown Lineup Strategy

Week 15 ends with a Monday Night Football matchup between the Saints and Panthers. There are a few stars to use as your captain in your DraftKings lineup.

The New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers end Week 15 and the fantasy football semifinals on Monday Night Football. For those who do not play season-long fantasy football, there is a lot of star power to use in your DraftKings lineup. With a 1.5 multiplier for the captain, you can cash out nicely depending on who you pick.

Starting with the Saints, the easy play would be quarterback Drew Brees. The Panthers defense is ranked 25th against quarterbacks, 30th against wide receivers and 31st against tight ends. With the weapons Brees has at his disposal, he should be able to rebound and put up a 30-point game.

However, Brees hasn’t reached 300 yards in his last three games. He has thrown an interception in each of those games. Brees does have two four-touchdown games in his last four. The Panthers secondary is questionable and will have their hands full with Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, Tre’Quan Smith, Ben Watson and Mark Ingram.

If you use Brees as your captain, he will cost you $16,200. If not, his price drops to $10,800. A big difference but the scoring potential could make up for it.

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Speaking of Thomas, he could also be used as your captain. Brees targets Thomas more than any other pass catcher. He caught 11 of his 13 targets last week and has caught 86 percent of his targets this season.

Thomas hasn’t scored a touchdown in three straight weeks. Though, with his high reception rate, even with the lack of a touchdown, he can score 20 points. He’ll cost you $16,500/$11,000.

The third Saints player you could consider using his Kamara. Yes, he has just three touchdowns in his last five games. However, the versatility he has in the Saints lineup makes him a better play than Ingram. Based on DraftKings scoring, Kamara has scored less than 11 points in just two weeks this season. The consistency of Kamara makes him a good play.

Kamara is priced at $14,100/$9,400 respectively.

Over to the Panthers, their list of weapons is a bit shorter but the ones that they have can go off. Quarterback Cam Newton will have to carry this team with his arm and legs. Not including last week against the Cleveland Browns, Newton has seven touchdowns and six interceptions, he had a four-interception game in Week 13.

He’s scored at least 20 fantasy points in seven of his last nine games. Newton has multiple touchdowns in all but two games. He had multiple touchdowns in just two games. Newton will throw the ball a lot in order to stay in the game. Even those last-minute points still count.

Newton will cost either $15,000 or $10,000. He’ll be worth it regardless.

The other Panthers option is running back Christian McCaffrey. He is the most expensive player on the list. As your captain, he’ll cost $17,400. If not, it drops to $11,600. McCaffrey has exploded in his second year in the league.

While he doesn’t carry the ball a lot, only once has he reached 20 carries, he is effective in the passing game as well. He has at least five receptions in six straight games. DraftKings uses PPR scoring, giving McCaffrey a value boost. He’s scored at least 28 points in five of his last six games.

Even with the Saints ranked fifth against running backs, McCaffrey will get enough snaps and targets to still score points.

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Because of the prices, it’ll be hard to use all of the top players. To save some money, you can use a cheaper option as your captain, giving them the 1.5 points multiplier. I stacked up on Panthers players for two reasons. One, their price is cheaper than the Saints and two, the Saints spread the ball a lot. This limits the potential for their stars.