Week 15 kicks off on Thursday night with the 6-7 San Francisco 49ers hosting the 7-6 Los Angeles Rams at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Both teams are fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive in this crucial NFC West clash.
Ahead of this Thursday Night Football showdown, who are the best players to plug in your DFS lineup? Using DraftKings’ prices, let’s build a lineup that could win big on Thursday!
Week 15 TNF DFS Picks
- CAPTAIN: Brock Purdy, $14,100
- FLEX: Matthew Stafford, $9,000
- FLEX: Jauan Jennings, $8,600
- FLEX: George Kittle, $8,000
- FLEX: Deebo Samuel, $7,600
- FLEX: Tutu Atwell, $2,600
DFS Strategy: Aye Aye, Captain Purdy
Brock Purdy has had a solid 2024 campaign, but when we focus on the last five weeks, Mr. Irrelevant has been on fire. Over his last five games, Purdy has thrown for 1,193 yards, six touchdowns, and one interception while also rushing for 124 yards and two scores.
Purdy boasts a high floor, kept afloat by his ability and willingness to run with the football (and potentially score!), combined with multi-TD upside passing the ball. With both of San Francisco’s starting running backs (Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason) out for this contest, there’s reason to believe Purdy could have another strong performance.
The Rams rank 22nd in blitz rate, and if Purdy is given time to throw, we could see him push the envelope again this week against a defense that has struggled to stop passing attacks all season. Los Angeles currently ranks:
- 26th in passer rating
- 29th in touchdown rate
- 30th in yards per completion
- 31st in yards per attempt
It’s worth noting that Purdy lit up the Rams in their last meeting in Week 3, throwing for 292 yards and three scores on 30 pass attempts (while also rushing for 41 yards). And Purdy has more rushing yards and touchdowns this year than he previously had in his career, so there is the potential for him to add some value with his legs.
Targeting Purdy’s Weapons
Since Purdy is our captain, we’re targeting the Niners’ pass-catchers as well. With a posted total of 48.5 points, tonight’s game should give DFS players no shortage of points.
This season, there are only three receivers who have spent at least 30% of their time in the slot and average 2.1 PPR points per target with at least 75 targets:
- Ja’Marr Chase
- Amon-Ra St. Brown
- Jauan Jennings
Jennings has exceeded all expectations this season, and his ability to win quick routes should prove profitable this week against the third-best blitzing team in the NFL (49% pressure rate when bringing an extra body). We have enough evidence that Purdy is capable of getting his playmakers the ball; with San Francisco’s running game in shambles, Jennings’ production floor is that of a star WR.
As the injuries pile up, Deebo Samuel Sr.’s projected role only becomes more fantasy-friendly. He was handed the rock five times last week against the Chicago Bears, his highest total since Week 1, and we should expect him to continue to get carries this week with Isaac Guerendo playing through a sprained foot. This gives him a solid floor and makes him a bit of a DFS cheat code.
The Rams are the second-worst pass defense in terms of yards per attempt, thus making every target worth more for Samuel. Efficiency has been an issue for much of this season, but he’s a solid option since it’s very possible he sees 10+ opportunities (targets + rush attempts).
George Kittle has been reliable all season, as he has 10 top-10 TE finishes this year. Last week marked the fifth time in six games that he’s had a 30-yard gain, and he’s coming off his second game of the season with at least 125 receiving yards.
Admittedly, there are a lot of Niners in this lineup. While Puka Nacua, Cooper Kupp, and Kyren Williams are great, these players are extremely expensive and tough to get into your lineup without limiting the rest of your squad.
With Matthew Stafford’s attention generally split close to evenly between Kupp and Nacua, it’s difficult to know which one will go off. Rather than trying to pick one or the other, we’ll load up on the 49ers’ pass-catchers and then play Stafford so we benefit from both Nacua and Kupp’s production.
It is worth noting that the 49ers are allowing the third-fewest passing yards per game (182.6) this season, which is another reason to load up on San Francisco’s skill-position players rather than Los Angeles’ weapons.
