Football is back! The Kansas City Chiefs will be dropping another Super Bowl Championship banner on national television when they take on the Detroit Lions to start the 2023 NFL season. It’s time for us to officially make our Thursday Night Football DFS picks of the week! Let’s take a closer look.
Lions vs. Chiefs Top TNF DFS Picks on DraftKings
The moment has finally arrived where you can start building out your DFS lineups for the Detroit Lions vs. Kansas City Chiefs Week 1 showdown on Thursday Night Football. Let’s take a closer look at some of the best DFS plays for the 2023 NFL season opener.
Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs ($8,100)
The reigning league MVP has been nearly flawless in season openers. His Week 1 résumé includes 18 TD passes with 0 INTs and an average of 308 passing yards over his Week 1 starts.
Sure, a banged up Travis Kelce may limit his ceiling a touch, but he is still the baddest man on the planet and facing off against a suspect Lions secondary.
Try not to overthink this, Mahomes is the QB you want playing from this slate.
David Montgomery, RB, Detroit Lions ($5,700)
The Jahmyr Gibbs hype train is real, but perhaps you should consider going with the cheaper option out of the Lions’ backfield for this contest.
Gibbs projects as a dynamic playmaker in the passing game and certainly will see some work alongside David Montgomery in the season opener, but exactly how much work is the real question.
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Montgomery has a better profile as an early-down ball carrier with the better short-yardage skill set. Sure, the Chiefs gave up more receptions to RBs than any other team in 2022, but who is to say all of the receptions from this backfield will go to Gibbs in Week 1?
I have some pass-protection concerns for Gibbs entering the NFL, which could give Montgomery more snaps and looks in passing downs to start the season.
Gibbs is the more explosive talent, but as we learned last year with Jamaal Williams and D’Andre Swift in this backfield, the more explosive option doesn’t always get rewarded with the valuable fantasy carries inside the 5-yard line. I’d roll with Montgomery in my lineup for this matchup.
Skyy Moore, WR, Kansas City Chiefs ($4,300)
With Kelce and Toney both banged up and JuJu Smith-Schuster no longer on the roster, there is a strong case to be made that Skyy Moore could lead this team in targets for their season opener.
Moore didn’t give us much to get excited about in his rookie season. But Chiefs general manager Brett Veach expects a ‘big jump’ from Moore in his sophomore campaign.
If there were ever a week for Moore to assert himself as a viable WR1 for Mahomes and the Chiefs, it would be in Week 1 against a shaky Lions secondary and Kelce nursing a knee injury.
Sam LaPorta, TE, Detroit Lions ($3,800)
The majority of reports coming from Lions training camp with regard to Sam LaPorta have been overwhelmingly positive.
Sure, transitioning from the college game to the NFL isn’t easy at the tight end position. Still, by all accounts, LaPorta appears to be handling the transition quite well.
LaPorta possesses a quality pass-catching skill set entering the NFL and should dominate the snap share at the position in what many expect to be a high scoring affair in this contest.
Don’t be surprised if LaPorta finds pay dirt in his NFL debut.
Kansas City Chiefs Defense
As previously mentioned, Mahomes has never thrown an INT in a season opening game.
While I expect the Lions’ offense to be productive in this contest, I could see Goff making more mistakes than Mahomes in a tough road environment with a raucous crowd at Arrowhead.
Not to mention, I like the options in the return for KC just a bit more than the Lions.
