Every NFL week starts with a Thursday Night Football game for most of the remainder of the 2021 season, and these are our favorite slates to play Daily Fantasy Football. The TNF showdown slate allows you a smaller crop of players to choose from, and if your cheap sleeper pick hits, you can cash big in your tournaments or easily win your head-to-head DFS matchups.
Each week, I'll get the Thursday Night DFS picks from our experts and we'll feature them below. But first, let's preview the matchup and what we might expect.
Patrick Mahomes enters this game with a career record of 5-2 against the Los Angeles Chargers, but of course, three of those games came before Justin Herbert entered the NFL. Mahomes hasn't racked up an MVP award since his 2018 season, but if Week 1 was any indication of what's to come, we could be looking at a career year for Patrick. He torched the cardinals for five touchdown passes and it marked the sixth time in his career he threw for at least five touchdown passes in a game -- that ties Dan Marino and Ben Roethlisberger on the all-time last. He will be a challenge all game for a revamped Chargers defense that bolstered their pass rush this offseason by acquiring Khalil Mack.
On the flip side, Herbert showed in Week 1 against the Raiders that he's ready to also challenge for an MVP-caliber campaign. Of course, he'll have to do it in this matchup without his most reliable third-down receiving option Keenan Allen. Mike Williams, who had a slow Week 1, will be a popular DFS pick in Allen's absence.
This is a very fun week to play the island game (primetime) in DFS because there will be plenty of offense. The fun part will be trying to figure out which of these Chargers and Chiefs receiving options cash in when in on the red zone -- and that's exactly what our experts will try to help you with.
Without further ado, here's a look at who our experts are picking on this DFS Thursday Night Football slate:
Dave Richard
Draft Kings
CPT Justin Herbert $16800
FLEX Austin Ekeler $10200
FLEX M. Valdes-Scantling $6400
FLEX Mecole Hardman $5600
FLEX Josh Palmer $5000
FLEX Gerald Everett $4800
Jamey Eisenberg
CAPTAIN/MVP: Joshua Palmer $7500
FLEX Justin Herbert $112000
FLEX M. Valdes-Scantling $6400
FLEX JuJu Smith-Schuster $8000
FLEX Patrick Mahomes $11800
FLEX Gerald Everett $4800
Heath Cummings
FanDuel
Patrick Mahomes $17000
Justin Herbert $15500
Josh Palmer $7000
Travis Kelce $14000
Jerick McKinnon $6500
Frank Stampfl
CPT Justin Herbert $16800
FLEX Tre' McKitty $400
FLEX Travis Kelce $11000
FLEX Patrick Mahomes $11800
FLEX Josh Palmer $5000
FLEX Gerald Everett $4800
