Jared Contestabile 
After what has seemed like a never-ending stretch of just brutally bad football on Thursdays, we may have ourselves a good one this week. The Cardinals (-2.5) host the Saints with a total around 45 points. There are some key injuries in this one that you will want to monitor leading up until lock. There is ALSO a big name returning in this one. Let’s get to it.
DraftKings and FanDuel each have a slightly different setup for Showdown slates, with DraftKings using a “Captain” spot. Captain earns you 1.5X points, BUT also costs you 1.5X in salary. FanDuel uses an “MVP”, which is ALSO 1.5X points, but salaries are the same, regardless of position. DraftKings uses 5 FLEX spots, and FanDuel uses 4 “AnyFLEX” spots to fill out your roster.
Captain/MVP Plays
Kyler Murray, Cardinals ($16,800 DraftKings, $17,000 FanDuel)
Murray is the perfect example of a QB who is always valuable in fantasy, even when he isn’t so valuable in real life. The Cardinals struggled in a major way against Seattle last week (yes, THAT Seattle), but Murray still scored nearly 20 DraftKings points with zero scores.
You all saw what Joe Burrow did to this Saints defense on Sunday. While Kyler isn’t in his tier as a real life QB, he is certainly capable of a monster performance here. The Saints are 21st in the NFL in fantasy points allowed to opposing QBs. Did I mention that Marson Lattimore is likely OUT again? Kyler has a huge ceiling here, despite the fact that Marquise Brown is set to miss an extended period of time. Why? Well, the Cardinals have a pretty important player returning on Thursday night…
DeAndre Hopkins, Cardinals ($15,300 DraftKings, $12,500 FanDuel)
Hopkins had a very forgettable 2021 season, failing to reach 100 yards in any game. I’m chocking a lot of that up to him not being 100% healthy. Either way, with Marquise Brown on the shelf for the foreseeable future, I’m expecting D-Hop to jump right into this prime matchup and post big numbers. The Saints are 26th in the NFL in fantasy points allowed to opposing WR, and Hopkins may just still be among the best.
This matchup is simply too good to ignore, especially if Lattimore is officially ruled OUT for this one.
Alvin Kamara, Saints ($15,900 DraftKings, $15,000 FanDuel)
I have been actively trying to trade for Kamara in some of my home leagues. Last night, one of my good friends told me he wouldn’t trade him because he views him as the #1 PPR back. While I personally don’t believe that is true anymore, he is clearly the #1 back in this game.
He has averaged 27 touches over the last two games, and usage is king, especially on showdown slates. Arizona has actually been decent against the run, but Kamara does it all. He may have the highest floor of any player on this slate. He needs to be one of the first players you look to for Thursday Night. The Saints will likely still be without Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry, and possibly Chris Olave as well. Keep an eye on the status of those three just in case, but it seems like Olave is the only one of the trio with a real shot to suit up in this one.
FLEX/AnyFLEX Plays
Rondale Moore, Cardinals ($5,800 DraftKings, $9,000 FanDuel)
Rondale may be the lock of the night on DraftKings. His price is dirt cheap, and the return of Hopkins likely won’t affect his role in the slot. He has seen 18 targets over the last two games, totaling 13/117. He doesn’t have a massive ceiling by any means, but he should see a solid amount of volume once again.
The Saints are allowing nearly 40 fantasy points per game to opposing WR this season, and I’m banking on both Moore and Hopkins to capitalize.
Juwan Johnson, Saints ($3,000 DraftKings, $6,500 FanDuel)
Some of you may have read my Tight End article that I post each week, and the Cardinals are ALWAYS a target for me. They have been absolutely gashed by opposing TE, with only the Seahawks being worse this season. I mentioned above the injuries the Saints are dealing with at WR, meaning that Johnson should continue to see a decent amount of volume in a prime matchup. He had a modest 4/41 line against the Bengals, but did see six targets. He is far too cheap for this matchup.
Zach Ertz, Cardinals ($7,000 DraftKings, $10,000 FanDuel)
Ertz has been targeted more than any TE not named Mark Andrews or Travis Kelce. With the Cardinals dealing with injuries on offense as well (James Conner, Darrel Williams, and Eno Benjamin are all QUESTIONABLE), Ertz should continue to see elite volume at the position. Ertz has 10+ targets in four of his last five games. He deserves serious consideration at a very reasonable price.
Other Options
The Saints QB situation is a complete mess. Andy Dalton is dealing with a back issue, Jameis Winston is unlikely to return in full capacity in this one, and Taysom Hill is the wildcard. If you can decipher which game is a Tayson game, you may just win all the money. What better scenario for Taysom to blow up than a game where both other QBs are less than 100%. This may just be a Taysom game, and I’ll have some exposure. I’m not interested in Dalton or Winston, regardless of status.
Will Lutz continues to have one of the biggest legs in the NFL, and as usual, he is dirt cheap on DraftKings. Rodrigo Blankenship may end up kicking for Arizona, as Matt Prater is still banged up. I’m not super excited about him here.
Despite seeing just nine snaps against Cincinnati, Rasheed Shaheed (awesome name by the way) took a carry 44 yards for a score, and failed to haul in his only target. If the trio of WR miss again, he could be your dirt-cheap punt play.
Mark Ingram is more enticing to me than most of the other pass-catching options for New Orleans, provided that Thomas, Olave, and Landry don’t play. If Olave is in, I’ll have some shares, but Taysom and injuries throw a wrench into most plans. Injury status before kickoff will be key in this one. I’ll jump into Discord and chat with everyone once we get an update prior to kickoff!
Make sure to join our Discord to jump into our conversations with the team and share your successes (I am “Myrtle Beach Mermen”, if you understand the reference, we will get along right away! We have a TON of great tools for you to check out, make sure you’re taking advantage! You can find projections here and try out the optimizer here.
Good luck on Thursday Night! Make sure to follow me on Twitter if you aren’t already, and let’s meet at the top of the leaderboards!
