DraftKings showdown Sunday Night Football: Chiefs vs Colts
Each week I will be breaking down the DraftKings Showdown Slates on Monday, Thursday and Sunday night football. The DraftKings showdown slate is one of the more unique game styles that you can pick from on DraftKings.
When playing a showdown lineup you will notice that it is far different from a standard DraftKings contest. Instead of selecting a full roster of position players you have a Captain slot paired with five flex positions. The player you select as your Captain will score 1.5x the standard fantasy point value for each statistic but drafting a player as the Captain will cost you more salary than using them in your flex position. The DraftKings Showdown slate will consist of the same scoring as all other contests not counting the Captain bonus.
Some numbers to keep in mind when building lineups for your showdown slates. Last season the winning lineup had a running back or wide receiver in the Captain slot 71% of the time on the largest prize pool showdown contests.
All Captain selections are major flex considerations & All go in order of preference
DraftKings Showdown Slate GPP Builds: Chiefs vs Colts
Captain-
Travis Kelce – $15,000
My flow-chart for tight ends tells me that this Colts defense allows the fourth-most fantasy points to tight ends at 11.1 points-per-game. While Kelce has quietly lead this team in receiving, I am expecting him to explode Sunday night. With both Safety’s and Darrius Leonard out, I expect Andy Reid to work the middle of the field in what should be a smash spot for Kelce and Kansas City’s slot receivers. Be sure to pair all Chiefs Captained pass-catchers with Mahomes in your builds.
Patrick Mahomes – $19,200
Do I really need to write anything about Patrick Mahomes? The Colts defense will be missing both starting safeties and All-Pro Darrius Leonard. A massive blow to an already susceptible defense. The most explosive offense in the league will be at home with a terrific matchup. I prefer to roster Mahomes in the flex but will have him in Captain as well. I will be rostering Mahomes in 100% of my lineups with him mostly in the flex.
T.Y. Hilton – $12,000
It is by no means a sure thing that Hilton plays after sitting out last week’s game with a quad injury. If he does go, he is one of two Colts that I like in Captain. The Colts are double-digit road dogs which should lead to a pass-heavy game script for this Colts offense. This Chiefs defense is susceptible to the big play having just given up two touchdowns to Kenny Golladay. While he is not 100%, I will want to have 10-20% of my shares with him as my Captain.
Other Captain options to differentiate your lineups and give you a chance at the 250k top prize.
Darrell Williams – $9,600
With Damien Williams out last week, McCoy and Darrell Williams handled the majority of the carries. When the game was on the line, Darrell Williams leads the way and played 100% of the snaps including all goal-line work in the game. While I still believe McCoy is involved in this rushing attack Sunday night, Williams should see 60% of the carries if Damien Williams is out again. As we saw last week, sometimes the running back can vulture all of Mahomes touchdowns making him a Captain play Sunday night.
Nyheim Hines – $9,900
One of the more contrarian plays this week will be not rostering a Chief in the Captain slot. My second favorite option outside of Hilton will be Nyheim Hines. The Chiefs should have a double-digit lead for the majority of this ball game taking Marlon Mack out of the equation come the second half. The Colts pass-catching specialist should be heavily featured in a game script that is perfect for him and dreadful for Marlon Mack. A perfect example of this was just last week, as the Colts were getting pounded by Raiders early. While Marlon Mack saw 28 snaps, Nyheim Hines saw 35 in which he was targeted six times. HIGH-RISK PLAY