When the 2024 NFL season began, many daily Fantasy football players pointed at Sam Darnold as the reason the Vikings would struggle. However, entering Vikings vs. Rams on Thursday Night Football at 8:15 p.m. ET, Darnold has the seventh-best quarterback rating (104.0), spearheaded by 12 touchdowns and just five interceptions. Darnold was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, which produced Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield. Although Darnold's career success doesn't measure up to theirs, his statistics this season do. With Darnold coming at a significantly lower price than they would be for NFL DFS picks, how should Darnold factor into your TNF NFL DFS strategy?
Darnold hasn't had a receiver like Justin Jefferson over his career, so should you build NFL DFS stacks around Darnold and Jefferson for NFL DFS lineups? Are you better off saving the money and focusing on Rams like Matthew Stafford, Kyren Williams or Cooper Kupp when making TNF DFS picks? Before locking in any NFL DFS lineups for Vikings vs. Rams 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, some of Kaylor's top picks in Showdown DFS slates include Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed, (4-138-1, 33-1), Bills quarterback Josh Allen (263-4), and Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (509-4).
Now, Kaylor has turned his attention to Rams vs. Vikings on Thursday Night Football in Week 8 and locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine.
Top NFL DFS picks for Vikings vs. Rams
One of Kaylor's top NFL DFS picks for Thursday Night Football is Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson. The three-time Pro Bowler has been one of the most consistent receivers in the NFL this season with more than 80 yards in each of his last five games. There were some concerns entering this season about how Jefferson would perform without Kirk Cousins at quarterback and a perceived drop off with Sam Darnold, but Jefferson's close to his career average of 97.4 receiving yards per game as he's averaging 88.5 yards per game this season.
Jefferson has more targets (51) than all other Minnesota wide receivers combined (46) as the clear alpha within the organization at the position. He's averaging a career-best 16.1 yards per reception, creating even more explosive plays with Darnold than he did with Cousins and other quarterbacks. His nine receptions of at least 20 yards or greater are tied for the second-most in the NFL and Kaylor expects some more chunk plays against the Rams, who have allowed two plays of more than 50 yards over the last two weeks.
Kaylor is also targeting Rams receiver Cooper Kupp. There was optimism last week that Kupp would return from his ankle injury, but the Rams decided to play it safe with their All-Pro receiver and sideline him again last week. However, coach Sean McVay said on Monday that Kupp is expected to play and although McVay said the role is "to be determined" just the fact that he's on the field means Stafford will target him on a significant percentage of the routes he runs.
Kupp was targeted 21 times in Week 1 and with Puka Nacua (knee) still out on Thursday, Stafford will still look Kupp's way often. Having 21 targets may be a bit of a stretch for his first game back, but when he's on the field, Kupp will often be Stafford's first read. The 31-year-old has averaged 10.3 targets per game over the last four seasons and led the NFL in receptions, yards and targets in 2021 with Stafford, so Kaylor expects the receiver to be an immediate asset for NFL DFS lineups. See who else Kaylor likes right here.
How to set Rams vs. Vikings NFL DFS lineups, player pool
Kaylor is also targeting another undervalued player who could explode for huge numbers in Vikings vs. Rams. 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.