The NFL DFS Grind Down: Sunday Night Football - Bengals vs. Giants
In this article, we will take a look at the top DraftKings and FanDuel picks for the Bengals vs. Giants, go over potential NFL DFS sleepers, and even take a look at some picks we can target on Fantasy Pick’em sites like Sleeper Fantasy ahead of this Sunday Night Football matchup. As always, you should be checking the NFL weather page each week to see if any games are going to be impacted by wind or rain.
NFL DFS Showdown DraftKings Picks and Sleepers — Bengals vs. Giants
When the NFL decided to put this game in the Sunday Night Football slot before the season started, they probably weren’t expecting these teams to be 3-7 combined in the standings. The Bengals have lost a few close games and have fallen to 1-4 on the season. The Giants are coming off a road win against the Seahawks and are looking to climb back to .500 on the season. This game features a 3.5-point spread and a 46.5-point total.
Key Injuries
Malik Nabers – Out
Devin Singletary – Out
Cincinnati Bengals Preview
While the Bengals are losing games, Joe Burrow has been productive for fantasy football. After a slow start against the Chiefs, he has scored 18, 28, 17, and 38 fantasy points over the last 4 games. The Giants are ranked close to league average in pressure rate, EPA against the pass, and fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks this season. At this point, Burrow doesn’t offer much rushing upside, but he’s a strong play in all formats and deserves consideration at MVP on FanDuel.
Let’s take a look at the usage for the Bengals with both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins both in the lineup (Weeks 3-5):
Ja’Marr Chase: 97% route percentage, 22% target rate, 32% air yards share
Tee Higgins: 87% route percentage, 26% target rate, 39% air yards share
Andrei Iosivas: 77% route percentage, 9% target rate, 17% air yards share
Mike Gesicki: 52% route percentage, 7% target rate, 10% air yards share
Erick All: 27% route percentage, 9% target rate, 1% air yards share
As you can see, Burrow has peppered Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins this season. It seems backwards, but Chase has actually been much more effective in the 3 games that Higgins has played, averaging over 130 receiving yards and scoring 5 touchdowns during that stretch. Higgins has quietly seen a higher target share and air yards share than Chase this season. Both are strong plays against the Giants and are viable as MVP and Captain targets. Andrei Iosivas, Mike Gesicki, and Erick All don’t project very well at their respective price points and are best suited as large-field tournament targets.
At the beginning of the week, it looked like Zack Moss would be out for this game. Fast-forward to later in the week and Moss is off the injury report, while Chase Brown is now listed as questionable (expected to play). Both running backs have been productive this season, and we seem to be inching more toward a 50/50 split. The matchup is solid, as the Giants are 22nd in PFF’s grades against the pass and 18th in EPA against the run. I’ll give a slight edge to Brown on DraftKings and Moss on FanDuel.
Any defense facing Daniel Jones (without his best receiver and top running back) is worth a look on Showdown slates. With that said, the Bengals have struggled to get pressure on the quarterback (31st in the NFL). Kicker Evan McPherson is firmly in play for all formats.
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New York Giants Preview
The Giants are coming off an improbable win on the road against the Seahawks. They had to travel back across the country, but at least this game will be at home. Daniel Jones has yet to have a breakout fantasy outing this season, but he has scored at least 18 fantasy points in 3 of 5 games. He draws an excellent matchup against the Bengals, who are 31st in PFF’s pass rush grades, 25th in EPA against the pass, and 29th in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks. The problem is twofold — he’s still Daniel Jones, and he’ll be without his top receiver in this game.
Let’s take a look at the usage for the Giants’ wideouts in Week 5 with Malik Nabers out of the lineup:
Wan’Dale Robinson: 92% route percentage, 27% target rate, 24% air yards share
Darius Slayton: 90% route percentage, 32% target rate, 72% air yards share
Jalin Hyatt: 67% route percentage, 0% target rate, 0% air yards share
Theo Johnson: 72% route percentage, 15% target rate, 13% air yards share
We’ve seen Jones and Darius Slayton connect on deep passes several times over the years. We should have seen last week’s performance from Slayton coming. He draws an even better matchup this time around, as the Bengals have one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL. He provides the upside, while Wan’Dale Robinson provides the floor. Slayton continues to see a high target rate and has an aDOT of only 4.5 yards this season. He’s a good bet for double-digit targets in this one.
Jalin Hyatt did his best Justin Watson impression last week against the Seahawks. He ran a route on 67% of dropbacks but didn’t see a single target. At a price of only $2,000, he’s one of my favorite value plays on DraftKings. After watching last week’s film, the Bengals could focus most of their defensive attention on Slayton and/or Robinson. Theo Johnson is also cheap on DraftKings and is facing a team that has allowed the 7th-most fantasy points to tight ends.
With Devin Singletary out, Tyrone Tracy was the primary back against the Seahawks. He turned 20 opportunities into 130 yards from scrimmage. This is certainly a better matchup on paper, as the Bengals are 31st in EPA against the run. I will note that he only ran a route on 28% of dropbacks, so he’ll need a positive or neutral game script to hit his ceiling. Eric Gray will serve as the pass-catching back. He also ran a route on 28% of dropbacks and had 4 targets last week.
The Giants have been decent defensively this season and have a nice pass rush. One knock on Joe Burrow in the past is that he holds onto the ball a little too long in the pocket. There’s a path for this defense to be relevant on this Showdown slate. With Graham Gano out, Greg Joseph will be the kicker for New York.
Lineup Construction Thoughts
Given all of the injuries on the offensive side of the ball for the Giants, lineup construction feels pretty straightforward on this slate. We can load up on the stars from the Bengals (Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins) and then round out lineups with the value plays from the Giants. The good point-per-dollar options also create unique roster construction opportunities on DraftKings, as there are plenty of viable choices at Captain.
Bengals vs. Giants DFS Salaries & Projections
| Player | Team | Pos | Proj | DK Sal | CPT Sal | DK/$ | FD Sal | FD/$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ja’Marr Chase | CIN | WR | 19.82 | $11,400 | $17,100 | 1.74 | ||
| Joe Burrow | CIN | QB | 19.82 | $10,000 | $15,000 | 1.98 | ||
| Daniel Jones | NYG | QB | 18.43 | $9,000 | $13,500 | 2.05 | ||
| Tee Higgins | CIN | WR | 16.19 | $9,400 | $14,100 | 1.72 | ||
| Wan’Dale Robinson | NYG | WR | 15.83 | $8,200 | $12,300 | 1.93 | ||
| Chase Brown | CIN | RB | 13.12 | $8,600 | $12,900 | 1.53 | ||
| Tyrone Tracy | NYG | RB | 12.26 | $7,400 | $11,100 | 1.66 | ||
| Darius Slayton | NYG | WR | 11.80 | $6,600 | $9,900 | 1.79 | ||
| Zack Moss | CIN | RB | 10.81 | $8,000 | $12,000 | 1.35 | ||
| Evan McPherson | CIN | K | 8.05 | $5,200 | $7,800 | 1.55 | ||
| Greg Joseph | NYG | K | 7.90 | $5,000 | $7,500 | 1.58 | ||
| Theo Johnson | NYG | TE | 7.55 | $2,800 | $4,200 | 2.70 | ||
| Bengals | CIN | DST | 6.90 | $4,800 | $7,200 | 1.44 | ||
| Eric Gray | NYG | RB | 6.56 | $3,000 | $4,500 | 2.19 | ||
| Andrei Iosivas | CIN | WR | 6.19 | $4,400 | $6,600 | 1.41 | ||
| Giants | NYG | DST | 5.54 | $3,600 | $5,400 | 1.54 | ||
| Mike Gesicki | CIN | TE | 5.01 | $4,000 | $6,000 | 1.25 | ||
| Jalin Hyatt | NYG | WR | 4.32 | $2,000 | $3,000 | 2.16 | ||
| Erick All | CIN | TE | 4.31 | $3,400 | $5,100 | 1.27 | ||
| Daniel Bellinger | NYG | TE | 2.62 | $1,000 | $1,500 | 2.62 | ||
| Drew Sample | CIN | TE | 2.54 | $1,600 | $2,400 | 1.59 | ||
| Isaiah Hodgins | NYG | WR | 1.63 | $600 | $900 | 2.72 |
Fantasy Sleepers
Jalin Hyatt: $2,000 DK
After laying an egg last week, Jalin Hyatt is not expected to be popular on this slate. He doesn’t project particularly well, and there are plenty of strong value plays. We’ve seen him be a deep threat in this offense, and he ran a route on 67% of dropbacks last week. I expect him to see more than 0 targets against the Bengals.
Bengals vs. Giants Fantasy Pick’em
Season Fantasy Pick’em Record: 14-4 (update after TNF and SMF)
Jalin Hyatt more than 19.5 receiving yards (1.80x) – Sleeper Fantasy
Props like this are stressful to sweat because we don’t expect Jalin Hyatt to see a lot of targets in this game. While the volume leaves much to be desired, he’s a deep threat who is going up against a Bengals team that has struggled with outside receivers. Hyatt ran a route on 67% of dropbacks with Malik Nabers out last week, so we should expect something similar on Sunday night.
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Image Credit: Getty Images
Stats credit: Fantasy Points Data and ProFootballFocus