The Las Vegas Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs haven’t been particularly evenly matched recently but this game should be pretty close. And that makes for some intriguing DraftKings DFS bargain picks.
The healthy Raiders offensive line absolutely dazzled against the woeful Chargers. And they look like a team that would do absolutely anything for Antonio Pierce. So the Chiefs are going to have a tougher Christmas day than Santa Claus.
Isiah Pacheco is expected to return for the Chiefs and they’ll be pleased to see him. Kansas City has only managed 125 rushing yards in their last two games. Even with Pacheco back the Chiefs will still have to figure out a way to slow down a defense that made 3 sacks, 6 QB Hits, and forced 5 fumbles last week.
DraftKings DFS Christmas Day Bargains
The Real Fast Rookie DraftKings DFS Pick – Tre Tucker
Bo Hardegree is showing Josh McDaniels just how much talent there is on this Raiders’ offense. Tucker has quite a lot of that talent. His value is going up every week, but he’s still cheaper than Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers. Last week he racked up more than 20 DraftKings DFS points. And the only time he ran the ball he lost 2 yards!
In his last four games, he’s seen 13 targets. He’s only caught 5 of them, but he averages 19 yards per catch! The Chiefs defense is allowing 11.4 yards per catch in 2023. Tucker’s explosive acceleration will cause Kansas City problems. And as the Raiders discovered how to use him in the redzone last week he could catch another touchdown this week.
The Solid Backup Running Back Pick – Zamir White
Josh Jacobs should be fit, but after his performance last week, White should see more time than he previously has. Last week he scored a rushing touchdown and averaged 4.3 yards on his 20 touches.
White projects to be the fifth most expensive running back in this game. Unless Jacobs suffers a setback with his injury White could be even cheaper than Jerick McKinnon. And McKinnon currently sits third on the Chiefs depth chart. Kansas City is allowing 4.89 yards per touch to running backs in 2023. And they’ve conceded 9 touchdowns to them this season too. Antonio Pierce’s modus operandi of running the ball and then running it some more should work well.
The Deep Threat DraftKings DFS Pick – Justin Watson
Trying to unlock Kadarius Toney’s potential looks like a task beyond Matt Nagy’s ability. So it must be time to rely on one of the Chief’s other sketchy receivers, right? It won’t be Skyy Moore who joined Mecole Hardman on IR this week.
The Chiefs tend to use Watson as a deep threat and the poor play from the offensive line has made it hard for Mahomes to get many deep balls away. With Maxx Crosby and Malcolm Koonce sniffing about Mahomes will have to be on his toes this week too. Watson is averaging 17.3 yards per touch in 2023 though, so KC should at least try to use his speed.
The Kadarius Toney Replacement DraftKings DFS Pick – Richie James
James is more of a like-for-like Toney replacement. He’s more widely recognized for his punt return skills. But he has caught 3 of his 5 targets in the last 3 games. And he’s averaging 11 yards per touch in those games (Toney averages 6.5 in his last 3).
The Underused Receiver – Hunter Renfrow
Renfrow managed to not catch a pass against a Chargers defense that gave up 378 yards and allowed 7 touchdowns. The only thing the Raiders can’t do is scheme their slot receiver open.
On the plus side that makes him super cheap in this week’s DraftKings DFS slate. He should be the seventh most expensive receiver. Renfrow is averaging 10.2 yards per touch in 2023 though. And he has the best catch rate of any Raiders’ receivers at 69.4%. They just need to get him the ball.
Main Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
