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 13 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 13 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 13 NFL DFS Chalk: Josh Allen (FD $17,500, DK $16,800)
Pivot: Stefon Diggs (FD $14,000, DK $15,900)
Contrarian #1: Damien Harris (FD $12,500, DK $14,700)
Contrarian #2: Cole Beasley (FD $10,000, DK $11,700)
Contrarian #3: Mac Jones (FD $15,000, DK $15,000)
DK Value Play: Devin Singletary (FD $8,000, DK $6,900)
DK Value Play #2: Nelson Agholor (FD $7,000, DK $4,500)
Josh Allen is the clear chalk and it’s not very close, as his overall ownership could be near 90% this week. I like Stefon Diggs as the main pivot because he’s got the ability to score a ton of points over two drives, as we’ve seen him do to salvage fantasy performances in the past. Mac Jones is an interesting contrarian play because we could easily see him pay off the price if he can keep up with Allen, and with the Bills missing Tre’Davious White.
Patriots notes: I like both Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson but understand it’s tough for them to both eat, so I’ll deal with that by using both in 1/10 GPPs and alternating each in eight of the other builds, with just one without either. The price has come up a bit on Kendrick Bourne but he is a playmaker, along with Nelson Agholor, who could flash some serious game-changing value in lineups tonight if he can haul in some a red zone targets. The Bills are favored in this game but the Patriots have the kind of team that could bury them early if the offense gets off to a slow start. The Patriots DST could be as good or better than the Bills DST, so I’ll try to find room for one or two builds for each because turnovers could play a pivotal role. Hunter Henry is the best value play other than Agholor. Jakobi Meyers is a little out of my price range.
Bills notes: I’ll start off by saying I love the value on Devin Singletary tonight, but only if Zack Moss gets scratched again. IK like what Matt Breida has ben doing but he’s way overpriced for that low of an upside in this game. And let’s be honest, we just saw an RB duo put up big numbers against the Pats. I like the price on Dawson Knox as well, because he has two-TD upside. The WRS to own shouldn’t get to nuts outside of Diggs and Cole Beasley, though I’m partial to using Gabriel Davis considering the physical presence of an athlete him in the red zone. Tyler Bass, and his counterpart on the Pats, seem to be in play this week as well, since they both get so many attempts. The Pats attempt the most, and the Bills attempt the ninth most.
Week 13 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 with the Patriots running game. It’s a timeshare but both get meaningful carries and the Bills unit, while tough against the run, hasn’t faced a bruising unit like these two underrated backs in a while.
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 13 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):
- Josh Allen
- Stefon Diggs
- Mac Jones
- Damien Harris
- Dawson Knox
- Cole Beasley
- Rhamondre Stevenson
- Devin Singletary
- Matt Breida
- Kendrick Bourne
- Hunter Henry
- Jakobi Meyers
- Tyler Bass
- Nelson Agholor
- Bills DST
- Patriots DST
- Nick Folk (questionable)
- Brandon Bolden (questionable)
- Emmanuel Sanders
- Gabriel Davis
- Jonnu Smith
- N’Keal Harry
- Zack Moss (if active)
- Tommy Sweeney
- Devin Asiasi
- Isaiah McKenzie
Don’t forget to read the rest of WinDaily’s excellent football articles this week as you prep for next week’s action!