Underdog Fantasy Thursday Night Football Top Plays 9/11

Well, that was fun! Week 1 is in the books, and it’s time to look ahead to Thursday Night Football of Week 2, featuring the Washington Commanders in Lambeau to face the hometown Green Bay Packers. This projects to be a fun game with lots of opportunity for scoring and fantasy points, and I’m going to lean into that opportunity with my lineup for Thursday Night Football.

Tucker Kraft HIGHER Than 33.5 Receiving Yards

The main thing I gathered from Week 1 for the Packers is that they feel a lot better about their pass catchers this season, and Jordan Love seems poised to be a bit on the pass-happy side. The problem was that we didn’t see that a ton last week, because the Lions (somehow) didn’t push the Packers really at all in that game.

I think Tucker Kraft is very talented as a player, and I like the upside swing on his ability to gain yards after the catch. The Commanders don’t boast the most athletic linebacking core or freakishly large safeties to match up with Kraft, and I can easily picture Kraft going higher on this projection in a single play if we’re lucky.

Austin Ekeler HIGHER Than 44.5 Rushing + Receiving Yards

Absolutely everyone and their mother is going to be in on the action for Bill Croskey-Merritt, and I don’t blame anyone for doing so. However, I still think the Commanders view Ekeler as their primary running back when push comes to shove, and he’s basically got a monopoly and the pass-catching role out of the backfield for them.

What a lot of folks might not consider is that, similar to the Packers, Washington was also not pushed in their Week 1 game. They pretty comfortably dominated the Giants, and they did not have to heavily rely on their best players to consistently make plays. I don’t think that continues this week, and I think that Austin Ekeler will see the most snaps and the most touches in the backfield in this game.

Jayden Daniels HIGHER Than 8.5 Rush Attempts

One parallel I do see between the Commanders in Week 1 and Week 2 is that they are facing very stiff defensive front sevens. While Washington’s offensive line is not bad, it’s also not great, and I think the Packers’ pass-rushers are going to have the chance to get after Jayden Daniels in this game.

Daniels had 11 rush attempts last week against the fearsome Giants’ defensive line, and I think that continues here in Week 2 against Micah Parsons and company. Daniels still appears to be more of a scrambler when pressure comes at him this point, and his weapons aren’t good enough for him to be able to consistently pull a Russell Wilson and run around behind the line of scrimmage waiting for something to happen on every play.

Matthew Golden HIGHER Than 3.5 Receptions

Matthew Golden is so talented, and people will look at Week 1 and say that his low target share was due to his status as a rookie, and that could definitely be true. But I think it was because the Packers didn’t need to throw the ball very much against the Lions’ hapless offense.

I think that Golden will take a step forward this week in a more competitive game environment, and I think that his talent will win out and help him to command a better target share. Four receptions is a very achievable mark to hit, and I predict he will hit it this week against the Commanders.

**All projections are pulled from FantasyPros Weekly Research Tools.