NFL DFS Expert Survey: Lions vs. Bills (9/17)

by Justin Bailey (Jbails26)

Created Sep 17, 2026

Last Updated 2026-09-17 18:13:42 Premium Content Part of the product NFL DFS

Our panel of experts is here to give you their insights on NFL DFS today for the 9/17 Showdown slate on DraftKings and FanDuel that features the Lions vs. Bills. They’re ready to answer key questions that will assist you in making those crucial lineup-building decisions. Curious about Noto’s three favorite Captains? Or perhaps you’re wondering about Neil Orfield’s favorite correlation? Read their thoughts below!

NFL DFS DraftKings & FanDuel Expert Survey: Thursday Night Football Picks

DraftKings

Who are your three favorite Captains, ranked in order?

Notorious: Josh Allen, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams
headChopper: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, Josh Allen
ncorfield8k: Jahmyr Gibbs, Josh Allen, DJ Moore
Davis Mattek: Jahmyr Gibbs, Josh Allen, Dalton Kincaid

How do you plan to beat the field of opponents in the tournaments you will be playing? What tactic or strategy will set you apart?

Notorious: I typically have a tough time getting really unique in Showdown, because I usually only build 1-2 lineups per slate. However, it’s easy to be contrarian tonight. My two biggest stands are being overweight on Jameson Williams and being underweight on James Cook III. Williams didn’t have the best box score in Week 1, but he had 9 targets and racked up 56% of the team’s air yards. I don’t dislike Cook tonight. I just prefer the other spends.

headChopper: I’ve built some lineups and run some simulations trying to engineer lineups I like for the game, and I seem to be on par with the field in most aspects. That tends to happen when you get two great offenses that are so concentrated around a small group of players. Everything runs through Josh Allen and James Cook III for Buffalo, and for Detroit, Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown get such a heavy workload. So, I think being overweight on Jameson Williams is a small differentiator, and being well above the small pOWN% number on Isaac TeSlaa is a path to having a unique lineup that still maintains a realistic chance at upside.

ncorfield8k: There should be a lot of scoring in this game, and there are plenty of great fantasy assets. It’s hard to figure out a ‘best approach’ because there are so many great options. Working in reverse, I don’t think I’ll have much, if any, Jared Goff at CPT/MVP. I’ll probably avoid Jake Bates, as the Lions are aggressive about going for it instead of settling for field goals, and Bates hasn’t historically had a ton of spike weeks. I don’t love the pay-down options, so I’ll probably live in the mid-range with two or three of Sam LaPorta, Jameson Williams, Dalton Kincaid, DJ Moore, and Khalil Shakir mixed into most of my lineups, and frequently at CPT/MVP.

Davis Mattek: I think this is an insanely good game for how I like to build in Showdown, which is super aggressive with 5-1 stacks, fading D/STs and kickers, and going all-in on players like Jackson Hawes, Brock Wright, etc. I think you’ll need at least one of the two Lions studs (i.e., Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs), Josh Allen, and another mid-salary player, which means the punt plays are the most important guys on the slate.

What’s one rule/setting that you’re going to use in our NFL DFS optimizer (LineupHQ) or NFL DFS sims tool (SimLabs)?

Want to read more? Sign up for NFL Premium!

-

-

-