SECOND SHIFT MNF Showdown · Monday Oct 26 · DAL @ PHI
MNF Showdown: Cowboys @ Eagles — Brandon's Thoughts
Dallas is in a great spot tonight. They're facing an Eagles team missing several key pieces, with backups filling in across Philadelphia's side. The big question still hanging is Saquon Barkley — we're waiting on news on whether he returns.
Where the field goes: CeeDee Lamb, Dak Prescott and Javonte Williams are the popular captain spots.
How to be different: Tanner McKee, Darius Cooper and Dallas Goedert are the ways to step off the chalk. On the Dallas side, George Pickens is my leverage captain.
My No. 1 captain: Dallas Goedert. He's one of the captains I'll be overexposed to, because I want leverage on the field.
Game outlook: This one could stay low-scoring, or it could hit its ceiling no matter who lines up.
Things can change before lock — watch the news, and we'll check back before kickoff.
The Numbers (assuming Saquon plays)
Second Shift model projections and projected ownership for large-field contests (rebuilt 9:37 AM CT with Saquon active). Captain rate = how often the player was the captain in the sim's optimal lineups.
| Player | Team | Pos | Salary | Projection | Proj. Own (Flex) | Proj. Own (CPT) | Sim Optimal CPT Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CeeDee Lamb | DAL | WR | $11,000 | 23.3 | 65.0% | 20.8% | 22.7% |
| Dak Prescott | DAL | QB | $10,400 | 19.0 | 53.0% | 4.0% | 8.6% |
| Javonte Williams | DAL | RB | $10,600 | 18.6 | 48.4% | 10.5% | 14.0% |
| Tanner McKee | PHI | QB | $8,600 | 16.0 | 38.6% | 3.0% | 6.3% |
| George Pickens | DAL | WR | $9,000 | 15.4 | 32.8% | 7.5% | 9.5% |
| Saquon Barkley | PHI | RB | $9,600 | 15.1 | 28.5% | 6.6% | 7.6% |
| Dallas Goedert | PHI | TE | $6,400 | 13.6 | 36.0% | 7.7% | 9.0% |
| Darius Cooper | PHI | WR | $3,200 | 9.7 | 43.5% | 7.0% | 3.5% |
| Ryan Flournoy | DAL | WR | $5,000 | 9.6 | 19.9% | 4.7% | 4.5% |
| Makai Lemon | PHI | WR | $3,800 | 8.7 | 23.1% | 4.9% | 3.1% |
| Brandon Aubrey | DAL | K | $5,400 | 8.0 | 12.0% | 0.8% | 1.4% |
| Jake Ferguson | DAL | TE | $4,400 | 7.8 | 14.5% | 3.6% | 1.8% |
| Hollywood Brown | PHI | WR | $2,800 | 7.7 | 28.5% | 5.1% | 3.0% |
| Dameon Pierce | PHI | RB | $7,600 | 5.4 | 5.2% | 1.7% | 0.5% |
Where the leverage is: Lamb is the clear chalk captain at about 21% projected captain ownership, and Javonte (10.5%) and Dak (4.0%) round out where the field goes. On the Dallas side, Pickens is the captain in 9.5% of the sim's optimal lineups, more than Dak, while his projected captain ownership is 7.5% and he's $2,000 cheaper than Lamb. On the Philly side, Goedert is the captain in 9.0% of optimal lineups against 7.7% projected captain ownership at $6,400, and McKee (6.3% optimal captain vs. 3.0% projected) and Cooper, the cheap new WR1, give you more ways to build lineups that don't look like the field's.