A collective sigh echoes throughout America as we're subjected to yet another Broncos primetime game. This match-up with the Chargers does have some decent watchability appeal, and there are plenty of creative ways we can go about building showdown lineups tonight so let's get into it!

By: Ryan Humphries on Twitter and LineStar chat @Ryan_Humphries

Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers (-4) | 45.5 O/U

DEN: 20.8 Implied Points | LAC: 24.8 Implied Points

Notable DFS Relevant Injuries: WR Keenan Allen (Doubtful), RB Melvin Gordon III (Questionable), TE Eric Saubert (Questionable)

Score Prediction: DEN - 17, LAC - 23

Showdown Roster Construction (in order of preference): 4-2 Chargers, 3-3 Balanced, 4-2 Broncos

SICScore/Field View 👩‍⚕️🩺

via sicscore.com

Broncos Defense / Chargers Offense

Chargers Defense / Broncos Offense

Players & Stacks to Consider

Top Captains and Core Flex Plays:

QB Justin Herbert: This is just sort of an “okay” spot for Herbert but that shouldn’t stop him from having an excellent floor. The Broncos are allowing the fewest FPPG to opposing QBs through five weeks but they also haven’t faced the stiffest of QB competition: M. Ryan, D. Carr, J. Garoppolo, D. Mills, G. Smith. Herbert is easily the most talented QB they’ll face yet this season. Not having the ever-reliable Keenan Allen (hamstring) at his disposal is a negative but Herbert has been fine without Allen over the last four games where he has averaged 299.8 YPG and 1.8 TDs/gm on 41.5 att/gm. The Chargers head into this game as the much healthier team and I believe that will ultimately show up on the final scoreboard with Herbert leading the charge(rs).

RB Austin Ekeler: It’s not like it took too long, but the positive touchdown regression finally hit Ekeler over the last two weeks with five trips into the endzone in that span. Ekeler’s 57.3% snap% this season may not be elite (ranks 18th among RBs), but he is still handling the sort of touches we want out of a high-end RB. He may only handle 12-15 carries, but his role as a pass-catcher (7.3 TGT/gm L4Games) is where he shines. The continued absence of WR Keenan Allen should keep Ekeler’s target floor high, especially due to how often the Broncos bring the blitz. Denver’s 33.9% Blitz% ranks as the 4th highest blitz rate this season so expect plenty of quick dump-offs to Ekeler -- both by design and improvised.

WR Courtland Sutton: If we go over to the Denver side of the ball, Sutton will likely be the most comfortable Broncos player to roll out as captain. He’s a high-floor receiver thanks to his elite 28.2% TGT%, 9.2 TGT%/gm, and 12.3-yard aDOT. He is also commanding an excellent 33.3% TGT% in the redzone. The Chargers' secondary is beatable, especially on the boundaries where they have allowed the 8th most FPPG to perimeter WRs (Sutton: 84% perimeter%). Given his strong floor + ceiling combination, the $8,400 (CPTN: $12,600) price tag on Sutton is another notable plus.

Flex Plays and Leverage Captain Options:

QB Russell Wilson: How many times does Russell Wilson need to repeat the “Let’s Ride” mantra before the Broncos offense finally gets it into gear? So far, the only riding they’re doing is in the breakdown lane with a couple of flat tires and a blown transmission. Maybe the so-called “shoulder injury” that Wilson is reportedly playing through can be partially to blame. But, after passing for just four touchdowns through five games and completing under 60% of his passes, it’s time for Wilson and this Broncos offense to get going. Consider this (yet another) “get right” game for Wilson. He’s been practicing in full this week and doesn’t carry any sort of injury designation. He also has a decent set of receiving weapons at his disposal and draws a match-up with a fairly mediocre Chargers defense that ranks 12th in pass DVOA and pressures the QB at the 8th lowest rate in the NFL (19.6% Prss%). Wilson is firmly in play for showdown lineups simply due to the floor that QBs provide, though I’m much more comfortable rolling him out as a FLEX play as opposed to a captain play.

Side note: Can anyone else tell I’m at my wits end writing up Russell Wilson in these ‘Primetime Preview’ articles? Thankfully, there isn’t another Broncos primetime game until Week 14! Maybe they’ll be a functional offense by then.

WR Mike Williams: Without Keenan Allen, Williams is the de facto WR1 in this Chargers offense and he has been producing strong receiving lines in that role. Over the last four games (sans Keenan Allen), Williams has commanded 10.3 TGT/gm and a monster 46.9% share of the Chargers’ total air yards, which has led to 6.5 rec/gm and 95.5 YPG in that stretch. The glaring downside here is the high likelihood that Williams will draw shadow coverage from top Broncos CB Patrick Surtain II. PS2 has been an elite cover corner this season, and he has already held guys like Davante Adams and DK Metcalf firmly in check. Surtain rarely travels into the slot, so Williams should escape his coverage when he aligns there. However, considering Williams has aligned on the perimeter for 83% of his routes, he’ll be dealing with Surtain quite a bit tonight. He’ll still be Justin Herbert’s first read on most pass plays, and I’m sure the Chargers will scheme Williams into the slot a bit more to avoid Surtain. That keeps Williams firmly on the FLEX/contrarian captain radar this evening.

RB Mike Boone: We’ll have to monitor the status of Melvin Gordon III (neck/ribs), who is currently questionable to play tonight. If Gordon sits, Boone becomes arguably the best overall value on the slate and his captain viability skyrockets. As it stands now, he’s a worthy FLEX play as he continues to work into a more significant role in the wake of the season-ending Javonte Williams knee injury. In week five, Boone handled a 41% snap% while Gordon played on 56% of offensive snaps. Gordon out-touched Boone 18-to-10, but Boone was more efficient with his touches. Even if Gordon plays (which seems fairly likely), this Broncos backfield could begin to trend into a straight-up 50/50 committee -- especially if Boone continues to average well over 5.0 YPC. The Chargers' run defense is their point of weakness. They’re allowing *the* most FPPG to RBs this season, and opposing RBs are averaging an astounding 6.4 YPC against them over their last four games.

Flex Fillers, Fliers, and Sleepers:

K Brandon McManus OR K Dustin Hopkins: You know the drill. Thanks to their low salaries and high median projections, kickers are always great targets on these showdown slates. They get an extra boost when game totals are in the low-to-mid 40s (45.5 O/U in this game) since skill position players are a bit less likely to fill out the entire optimal lineup. There are also no weather impacts to worry about inside the domed SoFi Stadium.

WR Joshua Palmer: With Mike Williams drawing shadow coverage from Patrick Surtain II, Palmer should see a much more advantageous match-up against backup CB Damarri Mathis, who is filling in as the replacement for injured CB Ronald Darby, who tore his ACL in the week five game against the Colts. Palmer got hurt early in the Chargers’ week four game, but in the three full games he has played this season without Keenan Allen, Palmer drew 23 total targets, representing a solid 21.2% TGT%. He turned those 23 targets into a combined 13-153-1 receiving line. I love Palmer as a “FLEX filler” tonight, and he’s honestly worth some contrarian captain consideration as well.

TE Eric Saubert (OR TE Albert Okwuegbunam OR Greg Dulcich): The Broncos' tight end situation is worth monitoring ahead of this game. If Saubert (ankle) suits up, he’s a worthy salary-saving value play. He played 56% of snaps last week, ran many pass routes, and ended the game with five catches and 36 yards on seven targets. If Saubert sits, Albert Okwuegbunam becomes a much more viable punt play since his snaps and pass game involvement would significantly boost. Rookie TE Greg Dulcich is also active for this game and is set to make his NFL debut. At 6’4”, 243 lbs, Dulcich has great 4.6 speed and could see a few pass routes tonight (especially if Saubert is out). Dulcich is the bare minimum $200 on DraftKings.

WR DeAndre Carter: Carter sticks out as one of my favorite pure punt plays on the board. His best fantasy game came in week one (15.7 DKFP) which was Keenan Allen’s only healthy game played this season. However, he’s been on the field for 67% of snaps over the last four games without Allen and has held a decent little floor of 2-to-3 catches per game. As mentioned with Palmer, Carter could also benefit from avoiding coverage from Patrick Surtain II. While he does have great speed and has been utilized primarily as a deep threat in the past, the Chargers are getting the ball to Carter a little closer to the line of scrimmage recently, which has led to a high 81.3% catch%. He’s a nice, affordable FLEX option at only $2,600 on DraftKings.

Chargers D/ST: They’ve under-performed this season, but the Broncos offense has under-performed even more. I’d probably prefer either kicker if you’re getting into this price range, but the Chargers would be the preferred D/ST to target tonight.

Monday Night Football TD Call 🏈

WR Mike Williams

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Stack Concepts:

Note: [*Player Name] indicates captain selection.

*QB Justin Herbert, WR Mike Williams, WR Joshua Palmer: Standard CPTN Herbert double stack. If you’re worried about the Surtain shadow coverage on Mike Williams limiting his floor/ceiling, I could get behind subbing him out for DeAndre Carter or one of the tight ends (Gerald Everett preferred, Donald Parham Jr. as a lottery ticket). Due to his highly-involved role as a receiver, RB Austin Ekeler also works as a non-conventional stack piece with CPTN Herbert, though you’re obviously spending a big chunk of salary on those two players.

*RB Austin Ekeler, Chargers D/ST, K Dustin Hopkins (Fade QB Justin Herbert): Ekeler is the priciest player on the slate so we’ll need to go with some cheaper plays in the FLEX. When rolling out CPTN Ekeler lineups, I like the idea of fading Herbert and stacking the Chargers D/ST as a correlation play. Throw in K Dustin Hopkins and you’ll still have plenty of salary left over to fill in other high-priced players like Mike Williams, Courtland Sutton, or Russell Wilson.

*WR Courtland Sutton, QB Russell Wilson, RB Austin Ekeler: I Love Sutton’s combination of having a strong floor/ceiling with an extremely reasonable DraftKings DFS price. Even when Russell Wilson struggles, Sutton has come through with solid receiving lines. I’d stack Wilson with CPTN Sutton and run it back with Ekeler or another primary Chargers receiver on the other side.

*QB Russell Wilson, WR Courtland Sutton, WR Jerry Jeudy: As mentioned above, Wilson is more of a FLEX play for me tonight but he does have optimal CPTN upside if he can ever “figure things out.” If he does post an optimal CPTN performance tonight, two or three of his pass catchers will likely end up as optimal FLEX plays as well.

*WR Mike Williams, QB Justin Herbert, RB Mike Boone: As stated several times already, it is a tough match-up against Surtain, but Williams has been receiving high-end target volume with an elite air yard share while Keenan Allen has been sidelined. Herbert is still going to target him even when he’s in Surtain’s coverage and Mike Williams is no slouch of a receiver in his own right. If people get scared off of the WR/CB match-up, I love Williams as a contrarian captain play. Stack him with Herbert in the FLEX and run it back with Mike Boone on the other side.

*WR Joshua Palmer, QB Justin Herbert, RB Melvin Gordon III (Fade WR Mike Williams): Same concept as above but in this scenario, we’re switching to Melvin Gordon III from Mike Boone as the “run it back” option and we’re also assuming Mike Williams has a down game and Palmer emerges as the highest-scoring Chargers receiver. Given Palmer’s chances of seeing 8-to-10 targets and virtually zero coverage from Surtain, it’s certainly possible that comes to fruition.

PrizePicks MNF Power Play ⚡

Here is a two-pick "Power Play" I’m liking for Monday Night Football over on PrizePicks! Nothing is ever a guarantee to hit but these prop parlays have been treating us pretty well overall this season so let's keep it rolling! If it hits, it will return 3x the wager.

Courtland Sutton MORE than 67.5 receiving Yards

Josh Palmer MORE than 3.0 Receptions

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That will wrap us up with today's "Primetime Preview" edition! Once again, you can find me on Twitter or in LineStar chat @Ryan_Humphries. Good luck everyone!