Nothing makes choosing DraftKings DFS bargain picks more difficult than a clunky offense with injuries. And a clunky Eagles offense against a Buccaneers defense that seems to be finding good form is giving upset vibes. And the injuries the Eagles picked up last week don’t seem to help them at all. Jalen Hurts dislocated finger shouldn’t stop him from playing or throwing the ball, but it’ll be annoying at the very least. Losing to the Cardinals probably focused the Eagles’ minds but how are those bodies going to hold up? That’s the important question. They had 12 players on the Week 18 injury report and AJ Brown joined Hurts in the treatment room in their game against Arizona.
The Buccaneers only had 14 players on Week 18’s injury report and they sailed through their game in Carolina relatively serenely. The offense was a bit drab (they only scored 9 points), but they held the desperate Panthers to 0 points. They sacked poor Bryce Young 3 times and created 2 turnovers, if they can do that this week, it should be a close game.
Super Wildcard Weekend DraftKings DFS Bargains For Eagles at Buccaneers
The Victim Of Philadelphia’s Lack Of Ambition Pick – Quez Watkins
The Eagles’ offense has been incredibly vanilla this season and they’ve barely passed to anyone not named Brown, Smith, or Goedert. But Watkins saw 11 targets last week and he costs just $3,000 on this DraftKings DFS Captains Showdown slate. It is almost impossible to project anything from what happened in Philadelphia last week, but maybe, just maybe the penny has dropped for the Eagles.
Watkins is averaging 9.5 yards per touch in 2023. But he’s only had 15 touches! If the Eagles decide to use Watkins in this game (and if Brown’s knee injury lingers, they may have no choice) he’ll be lined up opposite Jamel Dean. Dean is one of the Buccaneers’ more physical DBs, he’s only missed 2 tackles all season. And he’s allowing just 66.1% of passes to be completed when they come his way. But he is allowing 13.1 yards per completion, and he’s conceded 3 touchdowns. Only 7 teams conceded more DraftKings DFS points than the Buccaneers during the regular season and they allowed 13.5 yards per completion. So, Watkins will have opportunities if the Eagles let him.
The Ubiquitous DraftKings DFS Pick – Jake Elliott
$5,000 for a kicker who has kicked a 61-yarder this season and who has only 2 of the 40 kicks he’s attempted in playoff games is an absolute bargain. That’s it. No Notes.
The Rookie Redzone Threat DraftKings DFS Pick – Trey Palmer
Buccaneers’ rookie Palmer clocked a 4.33 40-yard dash at the NFL combine. So, he doesn’t need much opportunity to gobble up the yards. And he only costs $2,800 on the DraftKings DFS Captains Showdown slate this week.
He’s averaging 9.7 yards per touch this season and he’s caught 3 touchdowns. And oddly they’ve all been red zone plays, he’s yet to score a touchdown on a deep pass. They’ve all been impressive catches either in traffic or when he’s lost the defender covering him in the endzone.
This week he should be covered by Avonte Maddox. Maddox allows 83.3% of passes to be completed. And those completions are going for 13.5 yards on average. He’s yet to concede a touchdown though, Palmer will be looking to change that. No team allowed more DraftKings DFS points to wide receivers than the Eagles did during the regular season. And only the Commanders conceded more touchdown receptions. The Buccaneers will be looking to exploit that.
The Playoff Specialist DraftKings DFS Pick – Kenneth Gainwell
If D’Andre Swift is carrying an injury (and he hasn’t had a 100-yard from scrimmage game since Week 11. And he had 4 in the previous 9 games before that) Gainwell is going to be important. And he only costs $4,200 on this week’s DraftKings DFS Captains Showdown slate.
Gainwell’s 4.8 yards per touch is 0.1 yards better than Swift’s average during the regular season. During his previous playoff campaigns, Gainwell averaged 6.3 yards per touch. Even if Swift is fully fit, he should still have a significant role in this game. The Buccaneers allowed 3.94 yards per carry to running backs during the regular season and 5.9 yards per catch.
The Trending Upward Pick – Buccaneers D/ST
The Buccaneers defense has created 10 turnovers in their last 7 games. And they’ve conceded an average of 17.9 points in those games. And they’ve made 18 sacks in those 7 games. They also scored a defensive touchdown and recorded a safety in 2023.
But better than all of that they only cost $4,000 in this week’s DraftKings DFS Captains Showdown slate. That’s $400 cheaper than Chase Edmonds and he averages 4.8 fewer DraftKings DFS points per game!
Main Photo: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
