The NFL DFS Grind Down: Monday Night Football - Giants vs. Rams
For this Week 2 Monday Night Football matchup on 9/21 featuring the Giants vs. Rams, Notorious will take a look at the top NFL DFS plays on DraftKings and FanDuel. As always, you can visit our NFL lineup optimizer, LineupHQ, to help you with your lineup-building process.
NFL DFS Showdown Picks – Giants vs. Rams
Jump straight to the DFS Showdown salaries and projections →
The Week 2 main slate was full of landmines. Unfortunately, I stepped on a few too many. I’m ready to dust myself off and get back at it tonight.
The Giants looked great in their opener against the Cowboys. They were efficient on offense and held Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense in check. I’m not ready to say they can contend for the division title, but perhaps this division isn’t as good as we expected. The Rams did not look like the Super Bowl favorites in their opener in Australia. They were blown out by the Niners and didn’t look particularly good on either side of the ball. They’ll look to bounce back in their home opener tonight.
This game features a 6.5-point spread and a 48.5-point total, so it should be a fun one for DFS.
Key Injuries (as of Monday, 12:00 PM ET)
▪️ WR Puka Nacua (LAR) — Questionable (hip)
▪️ WR Jordan Whittington (LAR) — Doubtful (groin)
▪️ S Kamren Kinchens (LAR) — Out (hamstring)
▪️ OLB Myles Garrett (LAR) — Out (knee, on IR)
▪️ CB Deonte Banks (NYG) — Questionable (calf)
▪️ LB Micah McFadden (NYG) — Questionable (neck)
▪️ CB Paulson Adebo (NYG) — Out (knee, on IR)
New York Giants Preview
Jaxson Dart flashed plenty of upside as a rookie and looked great in Week 1. He was efficient through the air, threw for 3 touchdowns, and added 54 yards on the ground. If he has anywhere close to double-digit rushing attempts each game, he’ll have a monster fantasy season. The Rams have an elite defense on paper, but they were torched by the Niners in Week 1 and have already placed Myles Garrett on IR. The game script sets up for a pass-heavy approach from the Giants, and Dart’s rushing upside makes him one of the more appealing CPT and MVP targets.
Giants’ 2026 wideout usage:
🔹 Malik Nabers (NYG): 70% route participation, 31% target share, 41% air yards share
🔹 Isaiah Likely (NYG, TE): 70% route participation, 28% target share, 27% air yards share
🔹 Malachi Fields (NYG): 58% route participation, 14% target share, 28% air yards share
🔹 Darnell Mooney (NYG): 76% route participation, 7% target share, 10% air yards share
🔹 Theo Johnson (NYG, TE): 36% route participation, 3% target share, 0% air yards share
Malik Nabers has been one of the best target-earners in football since coming into the league. That continued in Week 1, as he racked up a 31% target share and a 41% air yards share. He didn’t have a huge fantasy outing against the Cowboys, but the underlying usage was encouraging. Darnell Mooney was the WR2 in terms of route participation, but he only saw 2 targets last week. Meanwhile, rookie Malachi Fields was on the field less than Mooney but had a 14% target share and a 28% air yards share.
One of the big acquisitions for the Giants this offseason was Isaiah Likely. He made a huge impact in his debut, catching all 8 of his targets for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns. We can’t expect him to catch every pass thrown his way or score 2 touchdowns each game, but he’s clearly won the trust of Dart. Theo Johnson had a nice rookie season, but he’s seemingly stuck playing second fiddle to likely. In Week 1, Johnson only ran a route on 36% of dropbacks and only saw 1 target.
Cam Skattebo had a nice workload in his first game back from a serious ankle injury. He played on 60% of snaps in Week 1 and turned 18 carries into 81 yards and a touchdown. I want him to stay healthy for a few reasons, but mainly because he might be the most interesting man in the NFL. We need more Skattebo in our lives. He didn’t see a target in Week 1 (while Devin Singletary caught all 4 of his), which is a slight concern in a game where the Giants are 6.5-point underdogs. He’s a decent target tonight, but I would rank him behind Dart, Nabers, and Likely in terms of priority.
The Giants looked decent on defense in Week 1, but they were at home against a familiar opponent. It’s a big ask for them to be on the optimal DFS lineup on the road against the Super Bowl favorites. I also worry about kicker Dominic Zvada, as the Giants might be trailing in the second half and be forced to go for first downs rather than kicking field goals.
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Los Angeles Rams Preview
Matthew Stafford didn’t look good in the opener, but you could say that about all of the Rams. It was an extremely off game for both sides of the ball. I expect a much better performance from the Rams tonight in their home opener, but Stafford could be without his top weapon. Puka Nacua is officially listed as questionable with a hip injury, but Adam Schefter reported that he’s trending in the wrong direction.
Nacua’s absence would slightly hurt the projection for Stafford, but he’d still be one of the top UTIL and FLEX options on the slate. I typically don’t use him at the multiplier spots because if he has a big game, one of his receivers is likely to have a bigger game since Stafford doesn’t offer any rushing upside.
Rams’ 2026 wideout usage:
🔹 Puka Nacua (LAR): 69% route participation, 32% target share, 46% air yards share
🔹 Davante Adams (LAR): 69% route participation, 21% target share, 26% air yards share
🔹 Colby Parkinson (LAR, TE): 62% route participation, 7% target share, 4% air yards share
🔹 Tyler Higbee (LAR, TE): 14% route participation, 7% target share, 4% air yards share
🔹 Jordan Whittington (LAR): 45% route participation, 4% target share, 5% air yards share
Unfortunately, we won’t be able to lock in our lineups until we know the availability of Nacua. If you are itching to start your builds early, I would make two different sets — one with the thought that Nacua will play, the other with the thought that he will be out. If Nacua is active, he immediately becomes one of the more intriguing decision points in tournaments. The injury will keep ownership at a reasonable level, but he would obviously carry more risk than usual. He’s coming off a career year and had a massive 46% air yards share in Week 1. If Nacua is active, I would still consider Davante Adams one of the top plays, as the Rams could use Nacua as somewhat of a decoy.
If Nacua is out, Adams will become the clear WR1 and really the only trustworthy wide receiver in the offense. Jordan Whittington is not expected to play, which means the Rams might have to turn to Konata Mumpfield and Xavier Smith. Both would become great point-per-dollar options (especially on DraftKings), but they could draw quite a bit of ownership.
The Rams already like to give their three tight ends a bunch of snaps and targets, so I expect them to see a ton of work tonight if Nacua and Whittington are both out. The problem is that they have four legitimate tight ends that will see significant playing time — Colby Parkinson, Terrance Ferguson, Tyler Higbee, and Davis Allen. I always seem to fall for the high aDOT of Ferguson, but he put up a bagel in Week 1’s game against the Niners. This is a great slate to build multiple lineups, as there are 6 viable punt plays on the Rams that we can mix and match throughout our lineups.
Heading into the season, we expected more of a timeshare between Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, but Sean McVay continues to give more work to the former. Williams played on 63% of the snaps and had 14 touches, while Corum played on 23% of the snaps and had 10 touches. Corum was more efficient on a per-touch basis and is the more explosive player at this stage of their respective careers. Everything points to him having a bigger role moving forward, but we don’t get to make those decisions. Both are viable tonight against a shaky Giants run defense, especially if Nacua is out and the Rams lean more on the run.
Aaron Donald will play his first game since retiring after the 2023 season. We don’t know how much he’s going to play in this game, but his presence will be needed with Myles Garrett out. The Rams defense is somewhat appealing here as a low-owned tournament play. Kicker Harrison Mevis would typically be a strong option in all formats, but we have more value than we know what to do with on this slate.
DraftKings Ownership Angle & CPT Picks
This is a fantastic slate for Showdown, because there are so many options at CPT. With a lot of value expected (especially if Puka Nacua is out), it makes the most sense to spend up at the multiplier position. Jaxson Dart has rushing upside, Malik Nabers should rack up targets and air yards, and this is a great spot for Davante Adams to prove that he’s not washed. I’m not against using one of the strong point-per-dollar values at CPT, but know that your lineup construction will look like everyone else’s with a cheap CPT.
🥈 Davante Adams (if Puka Nacua is out)
FanDuel Ownership Angle & MVP Picks
On FanDuel, I’m a little more interested in Kyren Williams. I do think Blake Corum will have a bigger role moving forward, but Williams has a pretty clear path to 15+ touches in a nice matchup as a home favorite.
🥈 Davante Adams (if Puka Nacua is out)
For a full stat preview of every game this week, head to the NFL First Look.
Image Credit: Imagn
Stats credit: Fantasy Points Data