DraftKings Showdown MNF DFS Plays: Week 15

The Week 15 DraftKings NFL slate will close out with a Monday night football matchup between the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are currently three-point favorites against the visiting Dolphins. And the projected total is 44.5 points, a moderate total. There should be no weather concerns for this one. It will be a tad cold, with the real feel around ten degrees at kickoff. We all know how the temperature affects the Miami Dolphins. However, it did not affect them too much last week against the New York Jets, even though it was a bit warmer that day. It will be about 20 degrees colder tonight. So, that is something to keep an eye on as we craft our lineups for this slate. Despite that, our captain pick will still be from the Miami Dolphins.

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Week 15 DraftKings Monday Night Football Showdown Plays

Captain Play: De’Von Achane, Miami Dolphins (19.2K)

It is hard to pick another player for the captain spot on DraftKings this week. Achane offers unparalleled value at the captain spot. He hasn’t finished lower than RB17 during any week of this season in PPR formats. Even with just two targets combined in his last two games, he still had two top ten finishes. Now the Steelers have been quite good against running backs this season, allowing the seventh fewest fantasy points to the position. However, they will be without T.J. Watt and potentially Derrick Harmon. Achane enters the week with the sixth-most touches at the position, and the Dolphins will have to lean on him if they want to win tonight.

Flex Play: Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins (9.6K)

I want the stack with my captain pick in this game scenario. Achane is currently fifth in receptions at the position and tied for third in receiving touchdowns with four on the year. And the Steelers are allowing the tenth most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. Tagovailoa has been struggling recently, with a combined 21.6 DraftKings points in his last three games. In comparison, that total score would have been good for tenth on the DraftKings main slate yesterday. While it hasn’t been great for Tagovailoa, this is a matchup where he can get back on track against a team that is allowing the fifth-most passing yards and the 14th-most passing touchdowns.

Flex Play: D.K. Metcalf, Pittsburgh Steelers (9.4K)

The Miami Dolphins were a defense to be picked on early in the season. As of late, they have flipped that narrative almost entirely on its head. The Dolphins allow the third-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. That was surprising to me, given that they give up the eighth-most estimated points against the pass. Most of them come against the tight end position, and we will cover that later, as it is impossible not to when talking about the Steelers.

Even with the Dolphins’ strength being against receivers, it is also impossible to ignore Metcalf’s last game against the Baltimore Ravens. It was his first double-digit target game as a member of the Steelers. While that feels shocking, it is true. And if Miami’s defense continues to allow the ninth-highest yards per attempt, Metcalf could be in for a big night, with his average depth of target being the second-highest on his team at 11.3 yards.

Flex Play: Pat Friermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers (3K)

Speaking of the tight end position for the Steelers. Freirmuth is my preferred play at the position. He has the highest salary on DraftKings, but Freiermuth leads the team in yards and touchdowns at the position despite running fewer routes than Jonnu Smith. Smith is averaging under a yard per route run, which speaks to the amount of low ADOT routes he runs, which is not great for scoring DraftKings points. Freiermuth leads the team in route participation and slot percentage. So I like his odds to be the highest scoring option of the three on DraftKings against a defense that gives up a ton of fantasy points to the position.

Defense & Kickers

Like last week, I like both kickers and defenses. Chris Boswell stands out to me because of how often the Steelers decide not to go for it on fourth down this season. His fantasy numbers are down because in two of his last three games, he did not kick a field goal. Before Week 12, Boswell was the third-highest scoring kicker on the season. So even at $5,400 on DraftKings, he still could hit the optimal lineup if the game script allows it.

Riley Patterson will go overlooked in favor of Boswell, but he has ten-plus points in his last three games and has not scored less than six DraftKings points since Week 3. Look for this game to potentially turn into a field goal fest on a cold night in Pittsburgh.

For the defenses, I am interested in the Miami Dolphins at a cheaper DraftKings salary. They have at least nine points in their last four games, including an impressive 13 DraftKings points against the Buffalo Bills. The Steelers defense will cost an extra $400 in salary, and will either put your lineup in the money or sink it all together. They have been boom or bust since the start of the season. There is risk there, but the Dolphins have been known to underperform in the cold weather, so they are on the table. Overall, I like Miami’s defense the most at their salary.

Final Thoughts

This game could be a low-scoring one tonight. And on a DraftKings Showdown slate, where one team’s usage is centralized in Miami between Achane and Waddle for the most part. Then the Steelers’ usage is all over the place, aside from Metcalf. It will be crucial to pick the right Steelers tight end and running back. I would not be opposed to playing multiple tight ends if you want to save salary. This slate will likely be the trickiest one we have left for the regular season. Next week brings us the San Francisco 49ers and the Indianapolis Colts. Week 17 brings us the Los Angeles Rams and the Atlanta Falcons. Those are four teams with centralized usage. So, this will be the most challenging puzzle to solve for the rest of the season, but it is still solvable. I wish everyone the best of luck for what could be a very confusing game tonight.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 15 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!