The Eagles and Buccaneers begin Sunday’s playoff action in the wild-card round. We count postseason studs Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski among our DraftKings Showdown lineup picks. Of course the field will be high at Brady and Gronk so we also include some DFS dart throws and sleepers which should have relatively low property.
These are the important settings for DraftKings single game contests: Is, and there is, and. The Captain pick costs 1.5 times the player’s original price, but also gets their total points multiplied by 1.5.
DraftKings Showdown Picks: Eagles vs. Buccaneers
$ 50,000 budget, at least one player from each team is needed.
The Eagles allowed the most DK points to tight ends during the regular season, and with Chris Godwin (ACL) and Antonio Brown out of the picture, Gronk could easily be Tom Brady’s number one target during the postseason. We know he’s a dominant force in the red zone, but he also has a 100-yard lead in this matchup. A 7-120-2 line wouldn’t surprise anyone, right?
Brady stacking up with a few pass receivers has been a recipe for DFS success for most of the year, which is why we’re running him again in the first round of the playoffs. Brady’s numbers and résumé speak for themselves, and he’s probably the best “Captain” pick, so we’ll avoid that chalk while still benefiting from his greatness. More than likely, he’ll hit the 300-yard pass bonus as well.
Our original pick here was Cyril Grayson (hamstring), but since he’s now “iffy” to play, Scottie Miller has a similar boom-or-bust profile. He’s a speed burner like Grayson and will likely share that deep-threat role with Breshad Perriman.
Tampa Bay allowed RB’s second-most receptions this year (117), so Scott should be in line for several dunks. We’ll see if he can be explosive with his touches, but since this is a full PPR score, we’re happy to include it here. Miles Sanders is coming off a hand injury, so perhaps his role in the passing game is limited and Scott is the satellite here.
Smith is Jalen Hurts’ No. 1 WR, but he doesn’t have much volume. At this location, Philadelphia will likely have to spend more than they would like, so Smith could hit his 100-yard bonus, whether in trash weather or not. Ultimately, we’re building this lineup around the idea that Tampa Bay scores with ease and hits big numbers, so the natural counter is Smith on the other side of things.
The pressure on the Tampa Bay quarterbacks could be too much for Hurts in the first playoff game of his career, and again, we’re hoping the Eagles will have to get through to keep up. The Philadelphia run-first mentality will have to be put aside in this case, and the more Hurts is asked to pass, the more likely he is to make a mistake. It’s really tough to project turnovers, but at the very least, the Eagles should have a hard time scoring.