Monday Night Football: Steelers at Colts | LineStar NFL DFS Primetime Preview 📺

It's far from a sexy primetime match-up on tap this evening but we will look to find the best DFS approach nonetheless!

By: Ryan Humphries on Twitter and LineStar chat @Ryan_Humphries

Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts (-2.5) | 39.5 O/U

PIT: 18.5 Implied Points | IND: 21.0 Implied Points

Notable DFS Relevant Injuries: TE Kylen Granson - Doubtful, K Chris Boswell - OUT/IR, RB Jaylen Warren - OUT

Score Prediction: PIT - 20, IND - 24

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

SICScore/Field View 👩‍⚕️🩺

Steelers Defense / Colts Offense

Colts Defense / Steelers Offense

Players & Stacks to Consider

Top Captains and Core Flex Plays:

RB Jonathan Taylor: The Colts have managed to find their run game again under the leadership of HC Jeff Saturday. In two games with Saturday at the helm, Taylor has handled 24 touches and 25 touches while finding the end zone in both games. So volume will not be an issue tonight and Taylor’s role as a receiver is further cemented since the Colts traded away Nyheim Hines. The major hangup, outside of Taylor’s lofty showdown price, will be the match-up. The Steelers can be fairly stout against the run and they’re limiting opposing RBs to 70.5 rushing YPG in their last four games. However, they do allow a decent amount of RB receiving production and Taylor is the clear favorite to end this game as the highest-scoring DFS player.

RB Najee Harris: It’s been a very forgettable sophomore season for Najee Harris but he’ll have very little competition for snaps/touches tonight. RB Jaylen Warren had been building up a complimentary role to Harris in recent weeks but a hamstring injury will keep him sidelined tonight. We can hope for Harris to bring some momentum into this game after posting his best fantasy performance of the season last week (24 total touches, 116 total yards, two TDs) where he also played 92% of snaps. The Colts can be very stingy against the run but they have allowed the 5th most receptions to RBs this season. Given Harris’ secured workload, he’s firmly on the captain radar tonight.

TE Pat Freiermuth: If you’re hunting for a cheaper captain play, Freiermuth looks promising. He is averaging 8.8 targets/gm over his last four and saw a season-high 12 targets against the Bengals last week. Very few tight ends in the NFL have a higher target share than Freiermuth (22.3% TGT%). Unfortunately, he has hauled in just one touchdown on the season. If he can find his way into the endzone this evening, that may unlock his optimal captain potential.

Flex Plays and Leverage Captain Options:

QB Kenny Pickett: Matt Ryan versus Kenny Pickett is far from an intriguing QB duel but if I’m taking one QB in this game, it’ll likely be Pickett. He has shown some ability as a runner and the receiving weapons he has at his disposal are highly capable. It just comes down to whether or not he can deliver the ball accurately and let them make plays after the catch. Let’s hope for him to put up around 250 yards and a touchdown while adding on around 30 yards rushing. If he can accomplish that, I like his chances of ending the night as an optimal FLEX play.

WR George Pickens: It’s beginning to feel as if Pickens is taking over as the WR1 in the Steelers offense in place of Diontae Johnson. The rookie-to-rookie connection between Pickett and Pickens has really “picked” up some steam lately and Pickens heads into MNF with three touchdowns in his last four games. Unfortunately, it’s a brutal match-up against a Colts secondary that allows the fewest FPPG to WRs. Nonetheless, the ball will need to be thrown somewhere and if I’m putting any trust in a Steelers WR, I’ll side with Pickens over Johnson.

WR Parris Campbell: Since Matt Ryan regained the starting job two weeks ago with Jeff Saturday taking over the head coaching position, Campbell has commanded a 25.9% TGT% and has just one fewer target and catch than Michael Pittman Jr. Pittman remains the better talent, but Campbell has established himself as a reliable pass catcher who primarily operates out of the slot. The Steelers' secondary has been torched throughout this season -- they’re allowing the most FPPG to WRs and the 4th most FPPG to slot WRs.

Flex Fillers, Fliers, and Sleepers:

Colts D/ST: The Colts are slight favorites at home facing a rookie QB in primetime and this game possesses a sub-40-point total. This should be a solid, albeit underwhelming, spot to utilize the Colts D/ST as a FLEX filler.

K Chase McLaughlin OR K Matthew Wright: Both offenses may struggle to finish drives that happen to stall out in field goal range. It wouldn’t shock me if both kickers converted multiple FGs in this game. This is inside a dome as well, so no weather issues to worry about. Consider either kicker to be a solid FLEX filler. I have no real lean toward one over the other since I imagine both kickers will carry similar ownership.

TE Jelani Woods: The rookie tight end has missed a couple of games with a shoulder injury but he heads into tonight without an injury designation. He’ll stand to handle some extra snaps and perhaps a few targets with TE Kylen Granson doubtful to play. Mostly a lotto ticket here but Woods has taken three of his seven catches this season for touchdowns.

WR Gunner Olszewski: Complete punt play at the bare minimum of $200 on DraftKings. Olszewski has seen a notable snap share in the last couple of games after the Steelers traded away Chase Claypool. He played 42% of snaps last week and caught 2-of-3 targets for 39 yards. Olszewski also returns kicks so there is always the low, low, low-end chance that he makes it into the endzone as a returner.

Monday Night Football TD Call 🏈

WR Parris Campbell

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Stack Concepts:

Note: [*Player Name] indicates captain selection.

*RB Jonathan Taylor, Colts D/ST, TE Pat Freiermuth: Volume is king in DFS and Taylor should see plenty of it tonight. We’ll pair the Colts D/ST with him for correlation purposes and roll with Freiermuth as the bring-back option following his 12-target game in week 11.

*RB Najee Harris, K Matthew Wright, WR Parris Campbell: This game may likely follow a very run-heavy game script on both sides with quite a few “dink and dunk” type passes. Harris would stand to benefit from such a script. We’ll pair the Steelers kicker in with the CPTN Najee stack in hopes of soaking up most/all of the Steelers' points scored tonight. Then bring it back with Campbell on the other side, who should see his fair share of high-percentage targets from Matt Ryan.

*TE Pat Freiermuth, QB Kenny Pickett, RB Jonathan Taylor: The target volume has been great for Freiermuth so he makes plenty of sense as a cheaper captain play. We’ll stack Pickett with him in the FLEX and, since Freiermuth is so affordable, there is enough room to make Jonathan Taylor work as a high-floor FLEX play as well. On DraftKings, this stack leaves you with an average of $6,400 per remaining player. Very doable. I’m liking this stack quite a bit for cash games tonight.

*QB Kenny Pickett, WR George Pickens, TE Pat Freiermuth: Standard CPTN Pickett double stack. As mentioned, Pickett makes more sense as a FLEX play but, who knows, maybe he has the best game of his rookie season tonight.

*WR George Pickens, QB Kenny Pickett, WR Michael Pittman Jr.: Pickens has all the raw talent in the world and he has been turning that into DFS production and touchdowns lately. As is almost always the case when rostering a WR at captain, we’ll want to stack his QB with him in the FLEX.

*WR Parris Campbell, QB Matt Ryan, RB Najee Harris: Campbell’s recent involvement has been extremely encouraging and the match-up with the Steelers' soft secondary is a major plus toward his viability as a captain play.

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.

Parris Campbell MORE than 10.5 Fantasy Score

Pat Freiermuth MORE than 44.5 Receiving Yards

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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!