The Jacksonville Jaguars take on the Cincinnati Bengals tonight on MNF. With a chance at fantasy glory and a hefty $300,000 on the line, it’s now more crucial than ever to assemble a winning DraftKings lineup that can dominate the competition. This article offers DFS picks and insights on who should take the coveted captain slot, which core player should anchor your player pool, a value gem that can boost your salary cap flexibility, a sleeper pick with breakout potential, and one player to steer clear of – the dreaded bust. Get ready for a wild DFS MNF showdown.
MNF DraftKings Showdown Picks
*Disclaimer: These picks have been constructed with the mindset of building a single lineup. When building large field/multi-entry tournaments, if the player sees the field you’ll want to have a piece of him somewhere, my “busts” included.
Captain
Joe Mixon
DraftKings Captain Salary- $10,500
Joe Mixon’s price unlocks everything. As just the eighth-highest salaried player on this MNF slate, Mixon is far too cheap for his role on this offense. He’s the cheapest player who is also virtually guaranteed to be a part of the game plan. This makes him the perfect captain selection in a game where we want to jam in as many studs as possible. In the first game with Jake Browning at quarterback, the Bengals did what many expected and leaned on the running game. That led to 16 carries for 69 rushing yards, as well as 31 receiving yards and a touchdown on five receptions. For reasons unknown, in a one-score game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bengals completely abandoned the run. That left Mixon with just eight rushing attempts. The hope is that the Bengals learned their lesson and continue to feed their star running back moving forward without Joe Burrow.
Core Play
Trevor Lawrence
DraftKings Salary- $10,800
Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars have put their red zone woes behind them these last few weeks. Lawrence himself has been especially dangerous inside the 20. He’s rushed for three touchdowns in the last two games. T-Law has been a refuge for anyone who has played him in fantasy over that same span, totaling 28.6 and 32.2 DK points. His MNF matchup against the Bengals secondary is looking as juicy as ever. Last week, that same defense allowed Kenny Pickett to throw for 278 yards, his highest total of the season. Trevor Lawrence has been showing great chemistry with Calvin Ridley, a big play waiting to happen. He even has a premier TE in Evan Engram to exploit a Bengals defense that has had trouble covering the position this season. Apparently, Lawrence is well aware that Engram does not have a TD yet this season. Perhaps that changes tonight?
Value
Christian Kirk
DraftKings Salary- $8,200
We already have T-Law, so why not stack him with perhaps his most reliable pass catcher? Christian Kirk has been the safety blanket for Lawrence whenever the going has gotten tough. To this point in the season, Kirk has recorded 13 first-down receptions on third down. While it has been Calvin Ridley who has shined brightest in the last couple of games, Kirk has stayed involved, receiving at least 6 targets in the last three games. As the WR2, Kirk has an interesting MNF matchup if trends continue. The Bengals have been brutalized as of late by WR2s. Most recently letting Odell Beckham Jr. go for 116 yards and allowing Noah Brown to have 172.
Sleeper
D’Ernest Johnson
DraftKings Salary- $4,200
Travis Etienne has been managing a rib injury throughout this week of practice. While he’s officially questionable, after practicing on Friday, it appears that Etienne will give it a go on MNF. While each game moving forward is a must-win, this particular matchup might be winnable without him. That’s why I love D’Ernest Johnson tonight. If Travis Etienne does wind up being active tonight, I can’t see the Jaguars running him into the ground. There’s not much of a point in risking re-injury this close to a playoff push. Not when you have a capable RB2 in Johnson. D’Ernest flashed some of his play-making abilities when he took a single reception for 42 yards last week. Interestingly enough, he also caught one pass for 34 yards the week before. If Johnson stays involved in the passing game and gets a boost in the run game, he’ll be hard to pass up at just $4,200 DK dollars.
MNF Bust
Jake Browning
DraftKings Salary- $8,800
If you haven’t heard, Joe Burrow is done for the regular season with a wrist injury. Therefore it’s been Jake Browning under center for the Cardiac Cats these last couple of weeks. To say that the playcalling has been predictable in Joe’s absence would be an understatement. Without Burrow, this offense has been vanilla at best. The team wants the ball out of Browning’s hands as fast as possible, often settling for passes well in front of the sticks. Even still Browning has held onto the ball too long, taking 7 sacks in the last two weeks. He’s had some success throwing the ball down the field, but if you actually watched those plays they were circus catches made by Ja’Marr Chase off of deflections. Luck. With two weeks worth of tape out on him now, Browning is going to need a lot more luck if he plans on producing on MNF against the Jaguars DST. His $8,800 salary can be better spent elsewhere.
Blew that Browning pick, eh?
sure did. Thanks for reading.