After a surprising 26-7 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 3, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rebounded with a dominant 33-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday in a rematch of last year's Wild Card Weekend matchup, which Tampa Bay won, 32-9. Tampa Bay wide receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans are one of only two pairs of teammate receivers ranking in the top 15 in Fantasy football 2024, so should your NFL DFS strategy consist of NFL DFS stacks with quarterback Baker Mayfield and at least one of these two top receivers when making NFL DFS picks for Buccaneers vs. Falcons on Thursday Night Football?
Tampa Bay improved to 3-1 last week after winning the NFC South last year and ranks 10th in the NFL in scoring (24.3 points per game), so is this the offense to target when making NFL DFS lineups? The Falcons are 21st in scoring (18.8 points per game), so how should that affect how you view Atlanta options like Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts when making Thursday Night Football NFL DFS picks? Before locking in any NFL DFS lineups for Buccaneers vs. Falcons on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, be sure to check out the NFL DFS lineup advice, strategy and player stacks from SportsLine NFL daily Fantasy expert Jimmie Kaylor.
Kaylor is a NFL and DFS expert for SportsLine, who opened the 2022 NFL season by winning DraftKings' NFL Showdown Thursday Kickoff Millionaire contest. He edged out over 355,000 other entrants in the contest and also has multiple five-figure tournament wins on his DFS resume. Kaylor, who cashed big all season in 2022, has covered the NFL and college football for close to a decade as a member of the Pro Football Writers of America, and his background as a former college and NFL player gives him a unique perspective when building his fantasy lineups and locking in his betting picks on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel.
Kaylor hit on epic NFL DFS picks for SportsLine members throughout the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In 2022, he was all over Travis Kelce's four-touchdown performance against the Raiders on Monday Night Football, Kirk Cousins' 460-yard, four-TD performance on Thanksgiving Day, and T.J. Hockenson's 13 catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns in Week 15. In 2023, he hit on Ja'Marr Chase's massive Week 5 performance (15 catches, 192 yards, three TDs), D.J. Moore's eight catches for 230 yards and three touchdowns in Week 14, and De'Von Anchane's breakout performance (233 total yards, four TD's) in Week 3. Anyone who followed his picks is way up.
This season, in the Sao Paulo game one of Kaylor's top picks was Green Bay wide receiver Jayden Reed, who caught four passes for 138 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 33 yards and a score, and James Cook, who scored three touchdowns on Thursday Night Football against the Dolphins.
Now, Kaylor has turned his attention to Falcons vs. Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football in Week 5 and locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine.
Top NFL DFS picks for Buccaneers vs. Falcons
One of Kaylor's top NFL DFS picks for Thursday Night Football is Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins. The 36-year-old has thrown for at least 230 yards in three straight weeks as he gets more comfortable in Atlanta and returning to play after tearing his Achilles last season. The 13-year veteran averaged at least 260 passing yards per game in each of his last four seasons and there are signs of him returning to that type of quarterback. The Falcons threw on 70% of their plays last week and Cousins completed 21 of 35 passes (60%), as he's completed at least 60% of his passes in all four games in his first season with the Falcons.
Teams have been pass-heavy against Tampa Bay this season with the Bucs facing the 29th-most pass attempts per game in the league, and that's a trend the Falcons may continue on Thursday. Cousins has options like Drake London, Darnell Mooney, Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson as pass-catchers and he's spread the ball around rather evenly this season. Last week was the first time the most targeted pass-catcher had more than two more targets than any other player. Six different pass-catchers have at least 15 targets and regardless of who may be the high recipient on Thursday, Cousins allows you to take advantage of all passing production.
Kaylor is also targeting Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin. The eight-year veteran is averaging the second-most receptions (6.8) and receiving yards (80.5) per game over his career. He leads the Buccaneers in receptions (27) and receiving yards (322) this season while ranking third in the league in receptions and sixth in yards.
Godwin was a significant part of Tampa Bay's game plan against Atlanta last season, drawing 23 targets over the two games. He averaged 59.5 yards over those games and he's recorded more than 50 yards in seven straight games against Atlanta, including two games with more than 130 yards. Kaylor expects Godwin to be a featured part of the Bucs' game plan again this week, making Godwin a valuable asset for Thursday Night Football NFL DFS lineups. See who else Kaylor likes right here.
How to set Falcons vs. Buccaneers NFL DFS lineups, player pool
Kaylor is also targeting another undervalued player who could explode for huge numbers in Buccaneers vs. Falcons. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is, and the rest of Kaylor's NFL DFS picks, at SportsLine.
So who is Jimmie Kaylor including in his optimal NFL DFS lineups for Thursday Night Football, and which under-the-radar NFL DFS picks offer huge value? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NFL DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a DFS expert who won a prestigious millionaire maker tournament, and find out.