Start James Cook or Jauan Jennings as your captain’s choice for Sunday Night Football

Start James Cook or Jauan Jennings as your captain’s choice for Sunday Night Football

Looking at the weather in Buffalo, James Cook and Jauan Jennings stand out as the top captain’s picks on Sunday Night Football.

The Bills and 49ers cap off a huge NFL football Sunday with what is expected to be a great AFC-NFC matchup in Buffalo. The weather looks to be windy and possibly snowy as the lake effect hits Highmark Stadium. As you build your DFS lineups for showdown contests like that NFL Showdown $1M Sunday Night Showdown ($250,000 to 1st) (SF @ BUF)Consider the weather and conditions as you try to put together your roster. Looking at the matchups and the offenses are my top two options James Cook ($14,400 as Captain’s Pick) of invoices and Jauan Jennings ($11,100 as captain’s pick) the 49ers.

Jennings is a higher risk play but leaves more salary for other stars. Cook has shown a very high ceiling but should still provide plenty of leverage and could be the centerpiece of the Bills’ offense in the snow.

Here’s a closer look at why I like these captain’s picks and how I would go about building a lineup from top to bottom:


James Cook as Captain’s Pick

If the Bills are run-heavy or rely heavily on short passes, Cook should be ready to put up big fantasy points. The Bills are coming off their bye week, but before that, Cook scored over 19 fantasy points against the Chiefs in Week 11, giving him over 15 fantasy points in three of the last four and six of the last nine.

He only had nine carries for 20 yards in the Bills’ last game, but ran for two touchdowns and also saved his dream day by catching 5 of 6 targets for seven receiving yards.

Cook has had 10+ carries in seven games this season and has averaged 19.2 fantasy points per game in those contests. He also peaked twice with over 28 fantasy points when the offense ran through him in Week 8 against the Seahawks and in Week 2 against the Dolphins.

This season, he has averaged 17.2 fantasy points per game and scored 11 touchdowns, including three in the last three weeks.

The 49ers have been very beatable lately, especially with their running backs. Last week against them, Josh Jacobs ran for 106 yards and three touchdowns in frigid conditions that could be similar to what San Francisco faces again this week. Opposing running backs have scored a touchdown against the 49ers in six consecutive weeks, for a total of 10 points in that span.

Cook will look to continue that trend on Sunday night and introduce a very high ceiling as a captain’s pick game.


Jauan Jennings as a risky alternative

If you’re looking to go more contrarian with your captain’s pick, Jennings is a solid option to consider from the 49ers’ perspective. Last week without Brock Purdy ($9,200)Jennings had five catches on seven targets for 40 yards. However, Jennings has had big success in each of his last two games with Purdy.

He scored 11 goals against the Bucs in Week 10 and another 11 goals in Week 11 against the Seahawks. He had over 90 yards in each of those games and finished with 16.3 and 25.1 fantasy points, respectively, despite not reaching the end zone in either game.

Like Cook, Jennings also has a very high ceiling, which he demonstrated in Week 3 with three touchdowns and 49.5 fantasy points. He’ll have more competition in terms of looks this week than he did in this game, but he should still be there enough to be a great Captain’s Pick piece.

The strength of his game lies in his great hands and effectiveness on short passes and over the middle, something San Francisco will have to rely on given the elements in Buffalo this Sunday night.


Lineup plans

If you want to support Cook as captain, you can add something Josh Allen ($11,000) as a stack or Christian McCaffrey ($10,600) on the other side of the matchup. However, you can’t include all three of these stars unless you go extremely cheap on the rest of your roster.

If you think Cook will get the job done on the ground and support CMC at a FLEX spot, you can get Purdy and Jennings involved before you start your bargain games.

Choosing Jennings as captain will allow you to top up Purdy and CMC while leaving over $6,000 left over for your other spots. Or you can go with Purdy-Jennings and Cook as a FLEX play, leaving almost $7,000 for the rest of your seats and putting together a balanced lineup from top to bottom.


Value plays

The best bargain option is Dawson Knox ($4,000) who will start in place of Dalton Kincaid (knee) for the second straight game. I wrote down the benefits of Knox Earlier this week and think he’s an excellent DFS cheap player.

Another strong bargain to consider is the 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall ($4,800)who didn’t have a catch last week but showed promise earlier this season.

Both defenses also make sense if wind limits offensive effectiveness and results in turnovers, but I would avoid Kicker unless you’re just trying to increase leverage and don’t mind additional risk.


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All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds are subject to change.


I’m a promoter at DraftKings and also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson). Sometimes I play the games I give advice on on my personal account. Although I have expressed my personal opinions on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the opinion(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skills and judgment when compiling their lineups. I may also use players and strategies other than those recommended above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to non-public information.

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