DFS Showdown Tips: Saints-Cardinals

By Matt Schauf 7:15pm EDT 10/19/22

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OK, folks. You wore me down. I can only say no for so long.

If you play the showdown slates for the single primetime games during the week, then you've probably noticed the value charts I post for the Sunday and Monday night games. I tend to put those together while watching the games on Sunday.

When people started asking about Thursday night, I was hesitant. I wasn't sure I could fit it every week. But I kept hearing (polite) requests from DS subscribers. And even though I have plenty of practice telling my children no ... I couldn't keep it going here.

So from this week on, I'll be delivering a Showdown Tips article for the Thursday night game. It'll most likely hit the site by Wednesday night, ahead of the real Thursday crunch of podcast, injury updates, lineup-setting and rankings checks.

This initial run presents an interesting matchup. The Saints continue to deal with myriad injuries, including a QB question we apparently won't get answered until just before kickoff.

The Cardinals know they won't have Marquise Brown. They will get DeAndre Hopkins for the 1st time this year. And they officially don't know yet what the backfield will look like.

We'll keep all of those situations updated -- as always -- in Shark Bites. But we can go ahead and start building some lineups with what we do know.

Let's get to the charts ...

(NOTE: The Saints released WR Keith Kirkwood on Thursday.)

DraftKings

Keaontay Ingram leads this chart because he sports a sub-$1000 salary and a projection in our weekly rankings. Ingram played only 9 snaps as Arizona's RB2 last week, so he's tough to get interested in.

Arizona's most frequent slot defender so far this year has been hybrid Isaiah Simmons. According to Pro Football Focus, Simmons has allowed 12 catches for 138 yards and a TD among 14 targets so far this season. So whoever gets time in the slot for New Orleans will carry upside.

TE Juwan Johnson gained intrigue (in the same area of the field) when Adam Trainman got ruled out. All the pass-catchers get a little more interesting if Jameis Winston is ready to play over Andy Dalton. That's less a knock on Dalton than it is a nod to Winston's downfield nature -- and aptitude for helping create shootout conditions with some erratic play.

FanDuel

I gotta be honest: Eno Benjamin makes me uncomfortable here. He did little against Seattle despite dominating the backfield work and now faces a negative RB scoring matchup. Keep an eye on his projection for some movement today. There's also still the question of whether James Conner (questionable) plays.

DeAndre Hopkins is the big wild card here. Does he immediately take on the strong target share that Marquise Brown leaves behind? He wasn't getting as big a share last year before his knee injury. The setting is positive for him tonight, with Saints lead CB Marshon Lattimore (abdomen) set to miss his 2nd straight game.

Rondale Moore looks like the most solid bet in the corps for opportunities. And Football Outsiders rates New Orleans 22nd or worse in coverage DVOA vs. every WR spot.