Thursday Night Football: Jaguars at Jets | LineStar NFL DFS Primetime Preview 📺

Things could get ugly in tonight's Thursday Night Football showdown between the Jets and visiting Jaguars. Both teams currently sit on the AFC playoff bubble and some nasty weather threatens to keep this a low-scoring affair. Let's get into some DFS plays, strategies, and props for tonight's NFL action!

By: Ryan Humphries on Twitter and LineStar chat @Ryan_Humphries

Jacksonville Jaguars at New York Jets (-2.5) | 36 O/U

JAX: 16.8 Implied Points | NYJ: 19.3 Implied Points

Notable DFS-Relevant Injuries: QB Trevor Lawrence - Questionable (expected to play through sprained toe injury), QB Mike White - OUT, RB Zonovan Knight - Questionable (on track to play), WR Denzel Mims - OUT, WR Jeff Smith - OUT

Score Prediction: JAX - 20, NYJ - 16

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

Weather Note: Very ugly conditions in East Rutherford, NJ tonight. Temps will be in the 40s and steady rainfall, heavy at times, is expected. Winds are also expected to hang around 15 mph all night with 30+ mph gusts. Passing and kicking games will no doubt be affected.

SICScore/Field View 👩‍⚕️🩺

Jaguars Defense / Jets Offense

Jets Defense / Jaguars Offense

Players & Stacks to Consider

Top Captains and Core Flex Plays:

RB Travis Etienne Jr.: This would be a tricky match-up to dissect even without the cold, wet, and windy weather issues to worry about. We’ll have to downgrade both mid/deep range passing attacks tonight which would lead to a heavier focus on the running game and shorter passes. Under that criteria, Etienne sets up as a preferred captain play this evening. After a fantastic mid-season stretch, Etienne hit a bit of a slump between weeks 10 and 14, while dealing with a foot injury at times and facing some tough run defenses. However, he bounced back against a top-10 run defense versus Dallas last week, taking 19 carries for 103 yards and catching 2-of-3 targets for 24 yards. The Jets are also a high-ranking run defense themselves (7th in rush DVOA, 9th fewest FPPG allowed to RBs), but Etienne figures to be a big focus of the Jags' offense tonight.

WR Garrett Wilson: Even with the weather being a big concern, we’ll have to take some shots on the passing attack(s) somewhere. Sadly, QB Mike White (ribs) will be missing his second consecutive game, so Zach Wilson earns another start. That wasn’t all bad news for Garrett Wilson last week. He still commanded nine targets and racked up 98 yards -- though Zach Wilson had some accuracy issues, so it could’ve easily been a bigger day for the rookie wide receiver, who ended the game with only four receptions. As far as the match-up goes, it’s not too troublesome. Wilson has run 41% of his routes out of the slot, and the Jags have given up the 2nd most FPPG to slot WRs. If Zach Wilson can provide some competent QB play, Garrett Wilson is one of the more preferred receiving options in this primetime showdown.

TE Evan Engram: What a great three-game stretch Evan Engram has had. Between weeks 13 and 15, Engram has led the Jaguars in targets (32 targets, 27.6% TGT%), receptions (24), and receiving yards (254) while bringing in three touchdowns. When either team goes to pass in these poor weather conditions, there is a good chance that most throws will come close to the line of scrimmage. That would work in Engram’s favor, given his low 6.6-yard aDOT this season. The Jets have allowed the 7th most receptions to tight ends this season.

Flex Plays and Leverage Captain Options:

QB Trevor Lawrence: Awful weather, a game-high DFS salary, and a tough match-up on the road all combine to make Lawrence a tough sell as a captain play. However, it would be reasonable to consider him as a FLEX candidate. He’s been fantastic over his last four games, averaging 296.5 passing YPG, 2.8 TDs/Gm, and 28.4 FPPG. Lawrence also has some sneaky rushing upside and can often tack on around 20-30 yards on the ground. If he can manage to eke out around 15 fantasy points, that might be enough to make him an optimal play in this likely low-scoring affair.

WR Christian Kirk: Again, it’s very difficult to trust any receiving option in this game and the Jags WRs have a brutal match-up with an elite Jets secondary that is allowing the 2nd fewest FPPG to WRs this season. The Jets are a bit more vulnerable against the slot, where they rank more middle-of-the-pack (16th fewest FPPG allowed to slot WRs). Kirk has run out of the slot on 77% of his routes this season and should likely see some shorter aDOT targets with a higher chance of completion.

RB Zonovan Knight: After impressing over the course of his first three NFL games, undrafted rookie Zonovan Knight seemingly hit a wall against an improved Lions run defense last week, mustering just 23 yards on 13 carries. He also picked up an injury designation with an ankle issue but is expected to suit up tonight. Knight will be the presumed RB1 ahead of Michael Carter II and he does draw a solid match-up against a Jags run defense that has allowed the 7th most FPPG to RBs over the last four weeks and the 2nd most RB receptions this season. He’ll be a little tough to trust but, if he handled 15+ touches, Knight has a great chance to end the night as an optimal play.

Flex Fillers, Fliers, and Sleepers:

WR Elijah Moore: As mentioned with Garrett Wilson above, the Jaguars do struggle heavily against the slot (2nd most FPPG allowed to slot WRs). Garrett Wilson has run 41% of his routes out of the slot, but so had Elijah Moore, who saw seven targets from QB Zach Wilson last week. The Jets are missing a couple of their depth receivers tonight with Jeff Smith and Denzel Mims both out for a second consecutive week. Moore played 75% of the snaps last week, up from a 58% snap% on the season. He should see a similar snap share in tonight’s game to go along with 5-to-8 targets.

Jets D/ST / Jaguars D/ST: Both teams own a sub-20 point implied total tonight and this game features an incredibly low 36-point over/under. This game opened with a 43 O/U on some books which gives you some perspective on how far down the weather seems to have driven down scoring expectations. We could see some sloppy play out of both teams with multiple turnovers and a few sacks so it would seem like a great spot to utilize one or both D/STs.

TE CJ Uzomah: Both offenses may deploy more tight end-heavy formations this evening which will put CJ Uzomah on the DFS radar for tonight’s game. Uzomah hasn’t done much this season but he came up big last week, catching both of his targets for touchdowns. The Jags have been downright awful against tight ends lately, giving up the 2nd most FPPG to the position. Uzomah and TE Tyler Conklin are worth some shots as value options tonight -- however, the floor for either Jets tight end is very low.

Thursday Night Football TD Call 🏈

TE Evan Engram

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Stack Concepts:

Note: [*Player Name] indicates captain selection.

*RB Travis Etienne, Jaguars D/ST, WR Garrett Wilson: In what sets up to be a sloppy game, we can turn towards Etienne as a primary captain option. He projects to handle 20+ touches in this match-up and could also benefit from some short dump-off passes. Pair him with his D/ST for correlation and run it back with a Jets WR, Garrett Wilson being the more preferred option.

*WR Garrett Wilson, QB Trevor Lawrence, WR Christian Kirk: It probably won’t be pretty, but Garrett Wilson should put up some decent receiving numbers tonight… as long as Zach Wilson doesn’t play completely horribly. The weather concerns have been mentioned ad nauseam, but we’ll try out a Lawrence/Kirk FLEX stack here and hope that the wind/rain factor ends up being a bit overplayed.

*TE Evan Engram, QB Trevor Lawrence, RB Zonovan Knight: I could actually see this stack working out quite well. The weather may end up benefiting a receiving option like Engram, who could realistically see 10+ targets in this game. The Jets are brutal versus WRs but they allow plenty of receptions to tight ends and Engram has been a huge part of Trevor Lawrence’s recent success. We’ll run this stack back with Knight on the other side and hope that he can regain some of the momentum he had going across his first three NFL performances.

*QB Trevor Lawrence, WR Christian Kirk, TE Evan Engram: This would be another stack where we assume that the weather won’t actually have as much of a negative impact on the passing game as many would believe. Lawrence has been rolling lately and if he can carve up a stout Cowboys defense for 318 yards and four TDs, who says he can’t be effective against a similarly strong Jets defense?

*RB Zonovan Knight, RB Travis Etienne, TE Evan Engram: And this would be the “bad weather leads to a ton of RB touches and short aDOT TE targets” stack.

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Travis Etienne MORE than 13.5 Receiving Yards

Zonovan Knight MORE than 60.5 Rush 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!