Following their impressive Week 2 comeback victory, the New York Giants play the white-hot San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night. The combination of a sluggish start to the season by the Giants and the 49ers looking bored by how easy winning in the NFL is making it pretty difficult to pick contrarian options. But could there still be some under-the-radar DFS picks and bargains available on DraftKings?
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4 Best Thursday Night Football DFS Picks on DraftKings
Christian McCaffrey
Well, there could be some under-the-radar options, but there’s only one guaranteed star this week. Christian McCaffrey is the most expensive player on the slate at DraftKings. He’s $8,700 and with good reason.
The 49ers have gained 756 yards on offense this season. McCaffrey has gained 40% of them himself. He’s got 304 yards in two games. He’s proved to be virtually unstoppable in 2023, but there’s always a chance that McCaffrey’s next significant injury isn’t far away.
Darius Slayton
As good as the 49ers’ offense (or CMC) has been at keeping the ball, the defense hasn’t exactly been lights out so far. Steve Wilks’ unit is ranked 23rd after allowing 495 yards in two games. They’ve allowed 669 total yards so far and last week they conceded 23 points against a Rams team without Cooper Kupp.
Slayton is averaging 12.83 yards per reception in 2023. He has the second most receiving yards of any Giants receiver and only Darren Waller has seen more targets. He’s one of the best DFS picks on DraftKings this week, he is the fourth most expensive receiver at $4,300. Slayton figures to be lining up opposite Deommodore Lenoir too and he’s allowed eight completions this season. That’s more than any other 49ers defensive back
Matt Breida
Saquon Barkley is questionable and even if he is 100% healthy Breida should be getting more looks from Brian Daboll. Barkley is the Giants McCaffrey (although he’s only made 155 yards so far in 2023), but he’s even more fragile than the former Carolina Panther.
Breida averages 5.4 yards per touch over his seven-year career. And he’s only had 627 touches in the NFL so not only has he got plenty of tread on his tires, but he’s also primed to have some big games if given the opportunity.
Here’s the fastest run in the NFL from 2019 by Matt Breida, newest Giants RB!
— Justin Penik (@JustinPenik) March 21, 2022
Jaylin Hyatt
There are wild, out-of-the-blue DraftKings DFS picks and then there’s Giants’ rookie Jaylin Hyatt. He’s only seen three targets in 2023, but he is averaging 44.5 yards per reception! Hyatt should find himself up against either Isiaih Oliver who has allowed a 100% completion rate so far in 2023, or a linebacker.
Steve Wilks’s defense doesn’t use as many defensive backs as his predecessor DeMeco Ryans’. Judging by the Giants’ offensive line performance so far this season Daniel Jones will be under a lot of pressure against the 49ers. It’ll be a big one if they can protect him long enough to hit on a long pass.
At $3,800 Hyatt is the fifth most expensive receiver on the DraftKings slate, purely because the Giants have been relying on Barkley so much on the early going.
Barkley has had 53% of the Giants total carries and only Darren Waller has seen more targets in 2023. The 49ers have only allowed 140 yards rushing in the first two games so the Giants will have to mix it up to stand any chance.
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Main Photo: Michael Karras – USA Today Sports
