Draftkings Best NFL Showdown Picks: Ravens vs. Chiefs 9/2/24

The NFL presents Draftkings football fans with a matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs. Let’s take a look at the opening game of the NFL season from a Draftkings perspective.

Before we dive into the Baltimore Ravens vs. Kansas City Chiefs game let’s review the rules for the Draftkings single game showdown contest.

Draftkings Single Game Showdown Contest Rules

You have $50,000 to utilize on five players from either team. However, one of those players will be designated as your team captain. The captain accumulates 1.5 times the standard fantasy points. Additionally, the captain is 1.5 times the standard cost of the flex position.

The remaining four players in your lineup will receive the standard fantasy points. Having stated that, it is highly important for you to identify the correct player for your captain position if you hope to win a large field DFS GPP (guaranteed prize pool) showdown contest.

If you have additional questions regarding the rules for the single game showdown contest, I recommend that you check out the Draftkings website for more details.

*I recommend that all readers review the starting lineups for both teams prior to setting your DFS lineup for this one game slate.

Here are my Draftkings picks for this week’s Baltimore Ravens vs. Kansas City Chiefs matchup.

Draftkings NFL Showdown Picks

Captain-Patrick Mahomes, Quarterback, Kansas City Chiefs $10,400

Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was certainly the driving force behind the Kansas City Chiefs success on the offensive side of the Football in 2024 that led the team to a Super Bowl Championship. Having stated that, how did Mahomes perform from a statistical perspective? Let’s review Patrick Mahomes relevant key player Game data from the 2023 NFL regular season to answer that question.

In the 16 games that quarterback Patrick Mahomes played for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2024 NFL regular season, Mahomes averaged an impressive 327.2 passing yards, 2.1 passing touchdowns, and added 33.2 rushing yards a game. It has to be said, those are the type of numbers I need to see from a player that I select for the captain position.

Looking closer at the data just presented, in the 16 regular season contests that Mahomes played for the Chiefs in the 2024 NFL regular season, Mahomes averaged a robust 24.5 Draftkings points a Game.

As I noted in the rules section above, selecting the correct player at the captain position for a DFS NFL showdown lineup is absolutely vital if you hope to win a large field GPP (guaranteed prize pool) Draftkings contest. Keep that in mind as you determine which player to select as your captain for this one game Draftkings contest. For me, the obvious first choice at the captain position for this NFL DFS contest is Kansas City Chiefs starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Flex Plays

Lamar Jackson, Quarterback, Baltimore Ravens $11,400

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson played at an exceptionally high level in 2024. How well did Jackson play? Upon the conclusion of the 2023 regular season, Lamar Jackson was named the Most Valuable Player in the NFL. Let’s take a quick look at Jackson’s game data from the 2023 season to better shed light on my previous statement.

In the 16 games that quarterback Lamar Jackson played for the Baltimore Ravens in the 2023 NFL regular season, Jackson averaged 256.4 passing yards, 1.7 passing touchdowns, 60.1 rushing yards, and 0.5 rushing touchdowns a game.

For the reasons just noted, I fully expect Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson to post outstanding fantasy numbers versus the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night.

Additional flex plays I like to perform well this week (Draftkings price noted): Travis Kelce, Tight End (Kansas City Chiefs) $9,600: Derrick Henry, Running Back (Baltimore Ravens) $9,000: Isiah Pacheco, Running Back (Kansas City Chiefs) $8,400.