If you’re competing in a DFS tournament or 50/50 competition for the Sunday Night Football single-game slate between the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers, then you’ve come to the right place for picks. We’ve run through dozens of potential game scripts to arrive at the most likely scenarios and how these scenarios would impact fantasy football performances. Here are our top two recommended Chiefs vs. Steelers DFS lineups, based on FanDuel pricing.
Top NFL DFS FanDuel picks for Chiefs vs. Steelers | Lineup No. 1
This lineup assumes a surprisingly competitive game featuring an exceptional performance from one of the fantasy’s top running backs. It also assumes Kansas City generates more offense from their secondary receiving options rather than their primary pass catchers.
Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs ($17,500)
To appreciate Patrick Mahomes, we have to appreciate how consistently great he’s been so early in his career. His midseason struggles appear to be over. He’s fifth in QB fantasy points per game. When you’re looking for a great DFS quarterback, of course Mahomes is one of the names that rises to the top. But more than that, we look at usage.
How much does his team lean on him vs. the running game? In Kansas City’s case, they’re 14th in rushing attempts, while Mahomes is No. 2 in pass attempts. Even if the Chiefs jump out to a 2-touchdown lead, Mahomes should still be throwing, which is what DFS investors want to hear.
Najee Harris, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers ($14,500)
Despite Ben Roethlisberger struggling for much of the season, Najee Harris somehow rose to the occasion, finishing as the overall fantasy RB3. To appreciate how great he’s been, consider that his average yards before contact is 1.8, which is only 42nd-best among NFL running backs. Yet, he is No. 2 in broken tackles with 29.
A lesser RB might have wilted under these adverse conditions. Against a middling Kansas City run defense, Harris has breakout potential as the Steelers’ best hope for an upset.
Chase Claypool, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers ($11,000)
First, the price is right, as Diontae Johnson is priced $1,500 higher. Second, 58% of Chase Claypool’s targets this season have come while trailing vs. 56% for Johnson. We should assume Pittsburgh won’t be leading for much of this game.
Third, while it’s easy to dismiss him as a fringe starter (WR39 in fantasy points per game), consider that Claypool has only 2 touchdowns after racking up 9 last year. Only two of this season’s top 50 fantasy WRs have fewer than 2 TDs. Simply put, Claypool’s relatively muted campaign is due, in part, to a fairly anomalous scoring total that easily could be corrected given his volume and obvious chemistry with Big Ben.
Mecole Hardman, WR, Kansas City Chiefs ($8,500)
Most fantasy managers and DFS competitors understand the risks with Mecole Hardman. In a large majority of his nearly 50 career regular-season games, he has been unstartable. But there are glimmers of hope.
Seven of his 15 highest-yardage outputs occurred this season, topped off by last week’s career-high 8-103-0 line. Also, his catch rate has steadily improved each year, reaching a very respectable 71.1% this year.
Hardman’s bargain DFS price is based more on his three-year NFL reputation than what we’ve seen these last three months. He’s coming into his own at the right time for fantasy bettors.
Byron Pringle, WR, Kansas City Chiefs ($8,000)
Byron Pringle is averaging 0.06 more DFS fantasy points per game than Hardman. Since Hardman is inexplicably cheap, we can understand why Pringle would be, too. Yet, his price doesn’t factor in his rising usage. Pringle didn’t exceed 5 catches in any of his first five games, and in the middle of the season, endured a stretch of 1 reception in four of five contests.
But the newest iteration of Pringle is one to be taken seriously: 17 catches on 23 targets in his last four games. Sure, we might consider Tyreek Hill’s injury woes as a primary factor. However, that doesn’t tell the whole story for a guy with a career 72% catch rate and 7 touchdowns on a mere 93 targets. Pringle is a legitimate talent and remains a fantastic dart throw in the opening round of the playoffs.
Top NFL DFS FanDuel picks for Chiefs vs. Steelers | Lineup No. 2
Our second lineup assumes a blowout Chiefs victory, forcing Harris to be game-scripted out by the third quarter. Mahomes remains in the DFS MVP slot, while Harris and Claypool are replaced by the following new players.
Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs ($13,000)
Is this the end of Travis Kelce’s reign atop the fantasy TE throne? He usurped Rob Gronkowski all the way back in 2016 and hasn’t looked back . . . until this season, when he finished as the overall TE2. Some DFS bettors might be concerned that the Chiefs’ No. 1 TE has looked more human recently, with one big exception.
Kelce had only 5.7 fantasy points in Weeks 13 and 14. In his last two games, he hit 13.4 points each time. But of course, he blew up against the Chargers in Week 15 with 41.1 points, reminding us that he remains one of the best of all time. The Chiefs need a high-producing Kelce this weekend, and there’s a very good chance they’ll get it.
Diontae Johnson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers ($12,500)
With $13,000 remaining in this lineup, we can afford Big Ben’s No. 1 receiver. The case for Claypool already has been made; there’s a decent chance he’ll earn his DFS salary. But if we’re going all-in on a comfortable Chiefs victory, we’re banking on Roethlisberger playing a desperate game of catch-up. Johnson obviously has the edge over Claypool if we can afford him — and in this lineup, we can.