Monday Night Football DraftKings Picks: NFL DFS lineup advice for Week 5 Packers-Raiders Showdown tournaments
Picking a single-game DFS lineup can sometimes be a difficult task, especially with limited options. Week 5's Monday Night Football battle between the Packers and Raiders is a perfect example of that. They're two teams on paper that have plenty of potential contributors...until we start looking at reality. There's no one really being slept on as we head to Vegas, fitting for a city that never shuts down. That creates plenty of problems when crafting a DraftKings Showdown lineup, something that we'll hope can be carried by the big stars on the famous strip.
The Raiders are living the life of many who come to visit the Sin City. Expectations weren't high, but the hope of a new season always changes things. That hope has been quickly sucked out of the air as reality sets in. Vegas is 1-3 and plays in the Chiefs' division in a conference that will have plenty of teams battling for the final playoff spot. On the bright side, the Golden Knights will drop the puck on a new NHL season in a matter of days. As for the Packers, erasing an embarrassing loss to the Lions is the first matter of business as they try to march toward a playoff spot. Can Jordan Love rebound and get his offense back on track?
Before we get into our lineup and strategy, here are the key scoring settings for DraftKings Showdown contests: They're full-point PPR and there are three-point bonuses for 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, and 100 receiving yards. The Captain pick costs 1.5 times a player's original price, but he also gets his point total multiplied by 1.5.
Packers-Raiders DraftKings Picks: DFS lineup for Week 5 Monday Night Football
$50,000 budget, need at least one player from each team.
Captain (1.5x points, 1.5x salary): RB Josh Jacobs, Raiders ($15,900)
Jacobs should be able to run wild over this Green Bay defense, and it won't matter who is under center. We know that the running back is out to prove he's deserving of a long-term extension after falling victim to the position's franchise tag fate last offseason. We also know that the Packers' rush defense creates running lanes that would make most commuters jealous (155.3 rushing yards allowed per game, third worst). Considering that Jacobs is averaging 15.5 carries per game, we think he'll turn in his best performance of the year as Vegas tries to control the clock. In a matchup that features plenty of high-priced stars, especially in DFS, we think it's worth splurging for someone who projects to be the game's top producer.
FLEX WR Davante Adams, Raiders ($11,200)
Adams has been dealing with a shoulder injury after suffering it in Week 4 against the Chargers. We don't think he'll be impacted too much by the ailment, especially in a "revenge game" against his former team. The target-monster is still one of the best in the business and offers one of the highest floors for fantasy purposes. Combine that with an even higher ceiling, and you have a player that we can't avoid. As is usual with DFS, we are on the hunt to be different, but in order to stick out from the crowd, we have to follow it a little before making our mark.
FLEX WR Romeo Doubs, Packers ($8,200)
If there's one Packers' player that has become a fixture in our articles this season, it's Doubs. Christian Watson has been sidelined for three games, returning in Week 4 on a limited basis, and Doubs has seen a substantial increase in targets over the past few weeks. Jordan Love has thrown the ball No. 87's way 12 and 13 times over the past two games, resulting in five and nine receptions, respectively, in each. That level of usage puts him as the team lead in targets with 33, a number that we really like pairing with an $8,200 salary for Monday night. Doubs has emerged as a go-to guy, meaning that he holds value even if Watson ramps us.
FLEX WR Jayden Reed, Packers ($6,200)
Doubs' running mate for the first three weeks, Reed, also cracks the lineup as we try to navigate a peskier-than-usual salary cap. Splurging on some big names means we're shopping on a budget for the remaining spots and Reed fits the profile of someone who should excel in that role. As detailed in our betting preview, we believe the Raiders are in position to win this game. If we use that theory in crafting a lineup, suddenly the value of Green Bay's pass-catchers exceeds their designated salaries.
FLEX K Daniel Carlson, Raiders ($4,200)
Times are tough and you might not like it, but we're going with two kickers to put a cap on our DFS contest for Monday night. Out of the remaining money we had, this was the best we could do. The price of doing business, as they say. Now, kickers might not be the most glamorous position, especially in fantasy, but they're still essential and a key to success. What better week to opt for both kickers than the one that features a battle of the brothers? For Daniel on the Raiders, he's a perfect 100 percent on the year and has become one of the league's best after a rough beginning in Minnesota. Through four weeks, Carlson has only attempted four field goals, as the team ranks second-worst in attempts per game. However, we know that he's put up great performances over the years, and these Monday night games haven't been high-scoring affairs with efficient offenses.
FLEX K Anders Carlson, Packers ($4,000)
Brother Anders has attempted five field goals through the first four weeks and has also posted a perfect percentage in 2023. These defenses should allow the offense to move the ball, but we don't have a lot of faith in the inefficiency we've seen from the quarterbacks at times. It's a quirky strategy, but with a top-heavy lineup, we'll have to hope that the Carlson brothers can kick us to the cash.
Best SuperDraft Packers-Raiders DFS Picks
This year, we're also listing our favorite single-game DFS plays on SuperDraft.
For those unfamiliar, SuperDraft's DFS scoring involves point multipliers as opposed to traditional salary-capped or tiered contests. A winning lineup will likely feature a strong mix of stud fantasy contributors with 1x-1.6x boosts, as well as matchup-based sleepers with larger multipliers. Each player is assigned a scoring multiplier based on their value as determined by SuperDraft. Users can roster any player in their lineup with no restrictions.
Here are the most notable scoring rules for SuperDraft NFL contests: Half-point PPR, four-point passing TDs, two-point bonuses for 100 rushing yards, 100 receiving yards, and 300 passing yards.
- Champion (+50% points): RB Josh Jacobs, Raiders (Multiplier 1.6x)
- Super FLEX: RB Aaron Jones, Packers (Multiplier 1.1x)
- Super FLEX: WR Davante Adams, Raiders (Multiplier 1x)
- Super FLEX: WR Romeo Doubs, Packers (Multiplier 1.3x)
- Super FLEX: WR Jakobi Meyers, Raiders (Multiplier 1.4x)
The issue with playing a DFS lineup on Monday night in Week 5 is that there aren't many sleepers in this contest, if any at all. Both offenses like to put the ball predictably into the hands of the same playmakers, hardly drifting outside that circle of trust. Perhaps the best evidence of that is the sudden disappearance of the once fantasy-relevant Hunter Renfrow. Now if you're not named Davante Adams or Jakobi Meyers, good luck getting the ball thrown your way. The same is true for the Packers, making our lineup on SuperDraft a lot more boring and predictable than we'd like.
