After back-to-back weeks of two-game slates on Monday Night Football, we get a sense of normalcy with just one game tonight. The Seattle Seahawks travel cross country to the Meadowlands for a matchup with the New York Giants. The Seahawks have posted back-to-back games of 37 points as the offense has come to life after sputtering against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1. The Giants will likely be without star running back, Saquon Barkley, as he recovers from his ankle sprain suffered late in Week 2. In last week’s game against the San Francisco 49ers, the Giants mustered up just a dozen points and 150 total yards of offense. But the Seahawks defense has a little more give to it, so they aren’t completely a lost cause in this matchup. If building multiple lineups be sure to check out our NFL DFS Projections and NFL DFS Lineup Generator for Monday night's action! Let’s take a look at how we should construct our NFL DFS Showdown lineups to close out Week 4!

 

Seattle Seahawks at New York Giants

Spread: Seattle Seahawks (-1.5)

Over/Under: 47.5 points

Weather: Temps in the high 60’s around kickoff with clear skies. Winds won’t play much of a role as they’re projected to max out at maybe five miles per hour.

Notable Injuries

Seattle Seahawks

New York Giants

NFL DFS MVP/Captain

Kenneth Walker, Running Back, Seattle Seahawks

KW3 kicks off the Playbook as he’s been absolutely unstoppable. He is a special talent because he can make the absolute most out of nothing.

He’s scored four touchdowns in his last two games and he’s had at least 16 touches in each of the team’s first three games. The Giants have surrendered at least 122 yards on the ground to each of their first three opponents. Zach Charbonnet is going to make the Playbook down below at a cheaper price tag, but ultimately this is a spot where you can play Walker with confidence.

Daniel Jones, QB, New York Giants

You may laugh at this call and think “How can Jones be eligible at Captain? He has two games with less than seven points.” Sure, but he also has one game with over 30 fantasy points and that is the ceiling I’m chasing in Tournaments. Saquon Barkley is unlikely to play in this game and Jones rushed for 59 yards two weeks ago in a win over the Arizona Cardinals. The one thing giving me some pause at the moment is the fact Jamal Adams is likely to play for Seattle. That likely eliminates the potential for any deep plays for New York. But as it stands right now, the Seahawks have allowed their last three opponents to hit that precious 300-yard bonus on DraftKings. I would actually be surprised if Jones got there. He reached that feat two weeks ago, but he logged that bonus just three times last year in 18 games between the regular season and playoffs.

DK Metcalf, WR, Seattle Seahawks

Metcalf has been dealing with a rib injury, but it looks like he’ll suit up for Monday night’s matchup. If he’s a full go, this is a great spot for him. The Giants play a lot of man coverage on defense and in 2022, Metcalf averaged 3.28 yards per route run with a 37% target share against said coverage. This year he hasn’t been as dominant, but is still averaging 2.38 yards per route run against this coverage. We haven’t seen that classic blow-up spot for DK through three weeks, but he’s provided an excellent floor and still commands a fair target share when he’s on the field. Given the matchup and New York’s defensive scheme, I think he could explode in this game and I’m hoping he’s a mild leverage play if everyone is worried about the rib injury.

Tyler Lockett, WR, Seattle Seahawks

Last week was a dud against Carolina. But he still had seven targets, yet he only caught three of them. But we know what the ceiling is because we saw it in Week 2 against the Lions where he had 10 targets and caught a pair of touchdowns. This game may not have that kind of game script. However, Lockett has seven end zone targets so far through three games. I don’t like him in this spot as much as Metcalf given the coverage, but Lockett has big play potential and perhaps they try to get him into the end zone this week since he celebrated his birthday on Thursday.

Mid-Tier & DFS Value Plays

Geno Smith, QB, Seattle Seahawks

I’m perfectly fine playing Smith at Captain, but I do think the above players offer more upside. The Giants haven’t really been able to generate much of a pass rush with just two sacks on the year. They also haven’t forced a turnover either which is honestly stunning through three games. The G-Men have allowed 92 total points through three games but most of the damage can be done on the ground. As of right now only Brock Purdy has thrown for 300+ yards against this defense. But it’s still a very friendly matchup for Smith. I just prefer chasing the upside of his running back and pass catchers in this matchup hoping one of them pops off for a big performance. But how can you not like this guy given the road he had to take to get back to this position as a starting quarterback?

Darren Waller, TE, New York Giants

Waller has 20 targets so far this season with 15 of them coming in the last two games. The output just hasn’t been amazing, but we still jump on the target share. He has a dozen catches for 132 yards so far. The last couple seasons, the Seahawks have been pretty awful against tight ends (as have the Giants honestly). However, so far this year they’ve kept all tight ends out of the end zone and have given up just 12 catches for 167 yards. In his career, Waller has been pretty solid in Monday Night Football games. He has a touchdown catch in three of his last four MNF performances and he’s gone for over 50 receiving yards in four of his last five Monday night games as well. The target share is decent at 22% so I’m encouraged heading into this matchup.

Matt Breida, RB, New York Giants

I know he likely turned a lot of fantasy players off last week with just seven touches for 18 total yards, but he at least found the end zone. He was tied for third at the running back position with an 80% snap rate last week and he had a 56% route participation rate. Vegas projects this to be a closer game than I do. I think it’s realistic the Giants abandon the run at some point, but I take a little more comfort in knowing Breida still runs routes and maybe can catch four or five passes. I’m not going to write up Gary Brightwell because while their workload was technically close, Brightwell only saw nine snaps last week in Barkley’s absence. 

Isaiah Hodgins and Darius Slayton, New York Giants

It’s an absolute mystery if any Giants wide receiver holds any value in season-long formats. But for this game we can talk about these two since they’re priced similarly. I will list two more Giants pass catchers down below. But it’s a nice matchup for any Giants wide receiver. Jamal Adams will return to the field for the first time in over a year, but it remains to be seen how involved he’ll be for Seattle. In his absence through three games, the Seattle defense has allowed the second-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. That could change if Riq Woolen isn’t limited in Seattle’s secondary alongside Adams, but Hodgins and Slayton line up out wide and have been involved on the offense. If I had to choose between these two, I’d lean towards Slayton because he’s cheaper and might be the bigger deep threat. 

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seattle Seahawks

A few things work against JSN currently. The Seahawks have had a fairly beat-up offensive line. And with that, they’ve run a lot of 12 personnel (two-tight end sets) because they need the additional blocker. JSN obviously comes off the field in this formation because let’s face it, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett aren’t coming off the field for two-wide receivers sets. So he’s yet to find the end zone and he only has 14 targets through three games. I do not expect a breakout game coming Monday night, but anything could happen. He only played 44% of the snaps last week so while he certainly is affordable, he shapes up as mostly a dart throw for Showdown slates and $5,000 is kind of expensive for a dart throw when you could look at a Giants wide receiver in the same range and possibly get more production. Rostering JSN for this Showdown slate is a something you do at your own risk.

Defenses/Special Teams

I’m not particularly high on either group but I am interested in Seattle with the return of Jamal Adams at safety. This will be his first game since tearing a quad tendon in Week 1 last year. Overall, neither D/ST has been very good which is probably why Vegas sees both offenses putting up 20+ points. The Seahawks have just five sacks and three takeaways so far this season. The Giants have just two sacks and that’s it. You can move the ball and score on both teams. But Jamal Adams’ presence does make me slightly more bias to Seattle. I’m not the type to play either team at MVP/Captain because the ceiling seems pretty low for both teams unless one of them has a defensive/special teams touchdown.

Kickers

This is definitely a game where I prefer the kickers over the D/ST’s. I just don’t think either team has a particularly great defense, especially the Giants since they’ve struggled to generate pressure and force turnovers. Graham Gano hasn’t had a ton of volume so far this year with just five field goal attempts and four extra point attempts through three games. Jason Myers, on the other hand, has returned 33 fantasy points to managers so far through three games but 18 of those points came last week. He’s had 11 field goal attempts and seven extra point attempts. Myers probably provides the better floor in this game, but you’ll need Seattle to stall a couple times when they get into the red zone just to get some field goals. Given that we have a projected total of 47.5 points and this game is almost reaching pick ‘em territory, I’d say both kickers are in play if you correlate them properly as Flex options.

Seattle Seahawks Tight Ends

This could be where we find some value. Noah Fant is cheap at just $3,600. He’s caught four receptions in each of his last two games. But diving even deeper and we could find even more value. Colby Parkinson is super cheap at just $800 on DraftKings. Over his last two games he’s put up six fantasy points with five receptions for 79 yards in that span. The key to value Monday night will be Will Dissly and his status. Dissly is questionable with a shoulder injury and as mentioned in the JSN section, the Seahawks run a decent amount of 12 personnel. If Dissly’s out, that likely means more snaps for Parkinson and he has a shot to really hit value. Dissly did log limited practice sessions last week so it’s possible he gets some action. If Dissly is active, he’s also viable and only $400, and he’s listed above Parkinson on the depth chart.

NFL DFS Dart Throw Bargains

Zach Charbonnet, RB, Seattle Seahawks

Charbonnnet made some noise last week against Carolina after absolutely trucking Sam Franklin Jr.

The highlight reel is fun and all but there are reasons to actually like Charbonnet in this matchup. His workload has gradually increased with each week:

  • Week 1: 24% snap share, three touches
  • Week 2: 26% snap share, six touches
  • Week 3: 43% snap share, 10 touches

Kenneth Walker has been getting all the statistical accolades but Charbonnet is slowly eating into his workload. You have to imagine the Seahawks want to get him into the end zone at some point, right?

Wan’Dale Robinson, WR, New York Giants

Robinson is not nearly as cheap as he was for his return. But even in his first game back from injury he logged five targets, of which he caught four of them. He only ran eight routes on 34 of Jones’ drop backs in the last game, but it’s entirely possible he leapfrogs Parris Campbell at some point and gets more work. He’s still a bit of a risk especially if he doesn’t run a ton of routes, but it seems like Jones wants to feature him when he is available and on the field. Campbell is viable since he’s listed as the starter and the Seahawks have been particularly weak against slot receivers.

Jalin Hyatt, WR, New York Giants

Hyatt has seen his Showdown price drop dramatically this season. He has just three targets on the year but didn’t have a single target last week despite generating some good separation at times against the San Francisco 49ers.

Obviously not every route run in that reel was a wide-open missed opportunity by the Giants, but it does highlight his speed pretty well. Personally, I want to see the Giants feature Robinson and Hyatt more in this offense. I don’t know if Brian Daboll feels the same this early in the year but the passing attack for New York is ugly sans Saquon Barkley.

Daniel Bellinger, TE, New York Giants

We have a pair of $200 plays to close out the Playbook. Bellinger’s volume has been incredibly low with just two catches for nine yards on the year. However, he did play on 54% of the team’s offensive snaps last week. He popped up on the injury report earlier in the week but he’s practiced in full so I don’t hate the massive salary savings. I just wish they would get him more work because it was just a year ago he had some intrigue in this offense.

Jake Bobo, WR, Seattle Seahawks

Absolute shot in the dark here with Bobo. He found the end zone last week so it’s really a matter of if you think Seattle can go back to him. He’s only $200 and he’s the fourth wide receiver on Seattle’s depth chart. The good news is that they only carry four wide receivers. We obviously don’t hope for an injury, but if Metcalf’s rib injury does limit him or flare up tonight then it opens a door for Bobo. Obviously, I’d rather pay up a little more to one of the Seattle tight ends in this spot since they likely see the field more.