Week 14 NFL DFS Monday Night Showdown: Rams at Cards

The NFL DFS season continues with the Monday night showdown, and we’ve got the breakdown to help you win big money in the final Week 14 NFL DFS contests!

NOTE: For a refresher on showdown general rules and strategy, see my first showdown article of 2021.

Let’s get to the game!

Week 14 NFL DFS MVP candidates (1.5x points)

Some notes on the differences between MVP on FanDuel and DraftKings: The 1.5x point boost on FD comes with no salary penalty, while and DK also bumps the salary to 1.5x – a crucial factor in deciding who we can and cannot afford on both sites. We can use this to our advantage on FD by occasionally targeting non-QBs to establish more variance and more unique lineups, and on DK it allows us to build more hearty overall stacks when we punt the MVP position with a cheap but high-upside player.

Week 14 NFL DFS Chalk: Cooper Kupp (FD $15,000, DK $18,000)

Pivot: Kyler Murray (FD $17,000, DK $16,800)

Contrarian #1: Matthew Stafford (FD $15,500, DK $15,600)

Contrarian #2: DeAndre Hopkins(FD $12,500, DK $14,400)

Contrarian #3: Sony Michel (FD $12,000, DK $10,800)

DK Value Play: Chase Edmonds (FD $10,000, DK $6,900)

Cooper Kupp edges out Kyler Murray as the chalk play at CPT for Monday night, but either makes for a high-upside play with almost unlimited scoring potential. Kupp is the highest-scoring fantasy WR this season, averaging over 27 DK points per game, and Murray posted 30.82 DK points in last week’s return at Chicago. Getting both in your lineup will be difficult this week, but it can be done, especially if we can find another value play to plug in at CPT.

Rams notes: I won’t necessarily prioritize Matthew Stafford tonight, but I have plenty of interest in Van Jefferson and Sony Michel, and to a lesser degree, Odell Beckham, Jr. Of course, we’re making the assumption that Darrell Henderson won’t clear COVID protocols in time for the game, so I’ve left him off my list of targets. Tyler Higbee is a risk-reward option but has been a steady contributor to the offense this season aside from weeks 2 and 12, and he’s a solid value at $5K in a contest that’s missing any viable flex options under $2K.

Cards notes: DeAndre Hopkins is no longer the best WR in football, but he’s still a huge part of the Cards red zone offense and has a 20-25 point ceiling. Chase Edmonds is eligible to return from IR tonight, and the Cards have been playing it pretty close to the vest if they intend on activating him for this contest. They are well within their rights not to disclose whether or not he’s been practicing since he’s currently on IR, but if he suits up, he could be a big-time value play on a team that likes to run the ball and will utilize his smarts and skills to do anything that’s asked of him. We’ll have to stay tuned to the pre-game reports before deciding if we have any exposure, and how much. If he sits this out, James Conner should get a huge workload. A.J. Green had just one catch last week and could be a sneaky flex play at just $4,800, and as usual, Christian Kirk is a boom-or-bust type with huge upside and a terribly low floor. The same can probably be said for TE Zach Ertz.

Week 14 NFL DFS Final thoughts (and some DOs and DON’Ts)

Remember to build your team based on a narrative that makes sense.

DO: Build a trio (or quartet) of offensive weapons for a team that makes sense together.

DON’T: Be afraid to take some risks.

DO: Use the projected team totals to shade one way or the other with your selections.

DON’T: Worry about spending every dollar.

Now that we’ve established some Week 14 NFL DFS narratives and MVP candidates, the best way to round out this piece is with a list of my favorite options in descending order, based on overall value (a combo of salary and projected points):

1. Cooper Kupp
2. Kyler Murray
3. Matthew Stafford
4. DeAndre Hopkins
5. Sony Michel
6. James Conner
7. Van Jefferson
8. Chase Edmonds (if active)
9. Tyler Higbee
10. A.J. Green
11. Odell Beckham, Jr.
12. Christian Kirk
13. Zach Ertz
14. Matt Prater
15. Matt Gay
16. Rams DST
17. Cards DST
18. Eno Benjamin (if Edmonds inactive)
19. Rondale Moore
20. Mehki Sargent
21. Ben Skowronek
22. Demetrius Harris
23. Kendall Blanton

Don’t forget to read the rest of WinDaily’s excellent football articles this week as you prep for next week’s action!