NFL DFS Thursday Night Football: FanDuel Single Game Contest Preview

Thursday Night Football presents football fans with a divisional matchup between AFC South teams. Let’s take a look at this FanDuel single game slate from a fantasy perspective!

Before I discuss my player selections for the FanDuel single game contest let’s take a quick look at the key DFS injuries for Thursday night’s game, briefly review the rules for the FanDuel single game contest, and discuss my fantasy strategy for this football game.

Key DFS Injuries: Indianapolis Colts: OUT: Marlon Mack-RB, Parris Campbell-WR: Questionable: T. Y. Hilton-WR, Eric Ebron-TE. Houston Texans: Questionable: Will Fuller-WR.

Now let’s briefly discuss the rules for the FanDuel single game contest. You have $60,000 to utilize on five players from Thursday Night’s game. However, one of those players will be designated as your MVP.

The FanDuel MVP accumulates 1.5 times the standard FanDuel points value. The remaining four  players in your lineup will receive the standard FanDuel Points. Having stated that, it is highly important that you identify the correct player for your MVP position if you hope to win a FanDuel single game contest.

If you have additional questions regarding the rules for this contest, I recommend that you check out the FanDuel website for more details.

As I began to evaluate this game from a DFS strategy perspective, it became evident to me rather quickly how I see this game playing out in Houston, Texas on Thursday night. After all, before I could compose a FanDuel single game contest lineup for this AFC battle it was imperative for me to determine what I think the game script will be in this football game.

Let me detail how I see the game script transpiring. I think the Houston Texans bounce back on a short week and win this game by 10 to 14 points. In my opinion, the Colts will be playing from behind throughout this game. My belief that the the Colts will be playing from behind on Thursday will be reflected in my FanDuel player selections.

I should also state that the fact that the Indianapolis Colts have designated T. Y. Hilton and Eric Ebron as questionable for Thursday’s game will have an impact on my player picks.

Now that I have clearly indicated how I see the game script of Thursday night’s game, let shift our attention to my FanDuel player picks. I will begin my player selections with the MVP position.

MVP-DeAndre Hopkins $14,500

For me, the clear and obvious choice for the MVP slot this week is Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Why do I feel so strongly about Hopkins as the FanDuel single game MVP? Well, let me elaborate on that in detail.

Let me provide some definitive data to support my previous statement regarding Hopkins. In the Texans last five games, DeAndre has been targeted by Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson an unbelievable 60 times! That is an impressive average of 12 targets a game. In that five game span just mentioned, Hopkins has accumulated 44 receptions, 398 receiving yards, and added two receiving touchdowns. Wow! That is clearly some outstanding fantasy production.

Additionally, I should also note that Hopkins has faced the Indianapolis Colts previously in 2019. In the Texans week seven meeting with the Colts, Hopkins dominated the Indianapolis secondary. How much did he dominate the Colts? Well, he finished the week seven game with nine receptions on 12 targets, compiled 106 receiving yards, and added a receiving touchdown. His week seven game statistics translated to 21.1 FanDuel points.

Look, I recognize that Hopkins may be the chalk on this slate. I get it. However, sometimes you have to eat the chalk. That’s the case for me this week. In my opinion, the probability of Hopkins going off from a fantasy perspective is too high for me to fade him in this FanDuel single game contest.

Flex Plays

Deshaun Watson $16,000

I am stacking my FanDuel MVP with his quarterback, Deshaun Watson. Yes, I know that Watson struggled in his last game versus the Ravens. This is football. That is going to happen. I certainly don’t think Watson has lost his fantasy relevance because of one football game. I fully expect Watson to perform at a high level on Thursday night.

Duke Johnson $10,500

Johnson serves as the Texans primary receiving running back. It’s clear that Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson has confidence in Johnson as a receiver.

In the Texans last five games, Watson targeted Duke Johnson 21 times. Those 21 targets resulted in 14 receptions, 147 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. I should note that Duke also had 23 rushing attempts in that five game span that resulted in 122 rushing yards.

Zach Pascal $9,000

I mentioned earlier in this article that injuries to two key Colts receivers would have an impact on my FanDuel lineup construction. My selection of Pascal illustrates that impact.

Although T. Y. Hilton returned to practice today, I am just not buying that he will be active Thursday. If I am correct, his absence will help Pascal and my last player selection who I will get to shortly.

Pascal has been targeted 19 times in his last three games. Unfortunately, those 19 targets only resulted in nine catches. However, I am going to take a chance on Zach at a FanDuel price of only $9,000.

I should also note that Zach performed very well in the Colts last meeting with the Texans earlier this year. In the week seven game versus Houston, Pascal had six catches,106 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Marcus Johnson $8,500

Sticking with my strategy that the Colts will be without one or two key receivers on Thursday, I am rolling with wide receiver Michael Johnson.

In Sunday’s win over the Jacksonville Jaguars Johnson hauled in four receptions for 38 yards. I think that Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett will continue looking in Johnson’s direction this week.

Another reason I am going with Johnson is I think the Colts will be playing from behind the majority of this game and will be forced to throw the football.

If you have any specific player questions feel free to contact me on Twitter at @geeversgolf.

Good luck!