The Titans play the Dolphins on one half of the Monday Night DraftKings DFS slate this week. Between them, both teams have 8 players injured this week, so picking bargains is a tricky business. Even just finding players who will be able to play is pretty difficult.
Added to that mix that even though it’s a high-octane unit that averages a whopping 32 points per game the McDaniel offense revolves around just three players. Raheem Mostert, Tyreek Hill, and De’Von Achane have scored 37 of the Dolphins’ 47 touchdowns! So, trying to find someone who might join their exclusive club against a Titans defense is also tricky.
The Titans’ offense has only scored 20 touchdowns all season, so that’s a whole other conundrum.
Monday Night DraftKings Bargains
The Nice Change of Pace Back DraftKings DFS Pick – Jeff Wilson Jr.
Wilson is kind of the Dolphins’ offense version of a pitcher’s changeup. He’s a bruising, physical running back, a Humvee in a Miami garage that’s full of supercars. That’s not to say he isn’t fast; he ran a 4.57 40-yard time which is just 0.01 seconds slower than Antonio Brown’s time. But Wilson has had a few injuries that have slowed him down over the years. He’s still averaging 5.3 yards per touch this season though, so he’s not that old.
He’s become increasingly important to the Miami offense since the start of November, with 17 carries in 3 games. Wilson has also seen 7 targets in the passing game across those three games. In those three games, he has made 122 yards. Unsurprisingly, given what we know about the Dolphins scoring, Wilson is yet to score a touchdown this season. But his physicality should be vital against a very physical Titans defense. Wilson will be the fifth most expensive running back on this DraftKings DFS slate, so he’s a relative bargain.
The “Potentially Massive” DraftKings DFS pick – Kyle Phillips
Phillips is yet to start a game for the Titans, but he has been involved in 7 this season. And at one stage it looked like he was about to become an integral part of their offense. But he was a healthy scratch last week.
When he has played, he’s averaged 12.8 yards per touch! And if that isn’t enough to tickle your fancy, he’s caught 13 of his 19 targets this season, so if Tim Kelly gives him an opportunity Phillips will probably make the most of it. If Phillips is afforded an opportunity this week, it’ll probably be against Kader Kohou who is allowing 81.4% of passes thrown in his direction to be completed. Kohou has also missed 14.3% of the tackles he’s been asked to make and is allowing an overall passer rating of 125.7 when QBs look his way. Phillips is a DraftKings DFS bargain purely because the likes of Hill, Hopkins, Waddle, and Westbrook-Ikhine will be more expensive.
The “He Must Be Healthy By Now” DraftKings DFS Pick – Braxton Berrios
Berrios has battled a hamstring problem this season which has seen his usage take a real nosedive. At the start of the season, he was averaging more than 3 targets per game, and he even ran the ball once. In his last 3 games, he’s only seen 1 target. He initially suffered the injury 5 weeks ago though so he should be back to full fitness this week.
Berrios is used in motion a lot and that would be a good way to throw the big-hitting Titans defense off its game. If Berrios is back to his normal usage, he could line up opposite Roger McCreary who is himself recovering from a foot injury. McCreary is having a very good season, but he has missed 12.5% of his tackles. And you wouldn’t want to defend against the Dolphins offense with a sore foot, would you?
Berrios is going to be in the same DraftKings DFS price band as Phillips because they haven’t been used consistently recently. But he has the talent to turn limited opportunities into big points.
The New Guy Pick – Julian Hill
Tight end Hill went undrafted in 2023, but that tight end class was loaded. He’s hardly a regular in the Miami offense, he’s only caught 4 passes, but they’ve only thrown him 6. He caught both his targets last week and he averaged 11.5 yards per reception, so he’s a long shot. But his talent makes him a very interesting long shot. Hill will be one of the cheapest tight ends on DraftKings DFS this week due to his scarce usage. But he appears to have overtaken Durham Smythe in the pecking order when it comes to catching passes.
The “Ready To Go Off” DraftKings DFS Pick – Chig Okonkwo
Okonkwo is definitely an integral part of the Titans’ offense, but he’s the polar opposite of Hill. Okonkwo has seen 54 targets this year. He’s only caught 35 of them, whether that’s a result of the Titans only throwing him contested passes or because he’s just having an inconsistent season isn’t clear. But if he does manage to improve on his 64.8% catch rate this week, he could put up a lot of points.
Tight ends are averaging 9.7 yards per reception against the Dolphins, and Miami allows 12 DraftKings DFS points per game to the tight end position. Okonkwo will be the most expensive tight end on this DraftKings DFS slate, but he’s also the only one who averaged 20.7 yards last week!
Main Photo Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
