The 2024 NFL schedule opens with a matchup between the last two NFL MVP award winners when Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs host Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in the 2024 NFL Kickoff Game on Thursday at 8:20 p.m. ET. The Chiefs and Ravens also met in last season’s AFC Championship Game, and the NFL DFS player pool for this matchup is full of Pro Bowl-caliber players. Building showdown NFL DFS lineups requires a different type of NFL DFS strategy. Kickers and defenses are both viable options, and picking the right Captain (DraftKings) or MVP (FanDuel) in your NFL DFS picks is essential.
Will Jackson or Mahomes be the top DFS quarterback on Thursday? Should you consider tight ends Travis Kelce and Mark Andrews for your Captain and MVP roster spots? Before locking in any NFL DFS lineups for Ravens vs. Chiefs on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, be sure to check out the NFL DFS lineup advice, strategy and player stacks from SportsLine NFL daily Fantasy expert Jimmie Kaylor.
Kaylor is a NFL and DFS expert for SportsLine, who opened the 2022 NFL season by winning DraftKings’ NFL Showdown Thursday Kickoff Millionaire contest. He edged out over 355,000 other entrants in the contest and also has multiple five-figure tournament wins on his DFS resume. Kaylor, who cashed big all season in 2022, has covered the NFL and college football for close to a decade as a member of the Pro Football Writers of America, and his background as a former college and NFL player gives him a unique perspective when building his fantasy lineups and locking in his betting picks on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel.
Kaylor hit on epic NFL DFS picks for SportsLine members throughout the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In 2022, he was all over Travis Kelce’s four-touchdown performance against the Raiders on Monday Night Football, Kirk Cousins’ 460-yard, four-TD performance on Thanksgiving Day, and T.J. Hockenson’s 13 catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns in Week 15. In 2023, he hit on Ja’Marr Chase’s massive Week 5 performance (15 catches, 192 yards, three TDs), D.J. Moore’s eight catches for 230 yards and three touchdowns in Week 14, and De’Von Anchane’s breakout performance (233 total yards, four TD’s) in Week 3. Anyone who followed his picks is way up.
Now, Kaylor has turned his attention to Ravens vs. Chiefs in the 2024 NFL Kickoff Game and locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine.
Top NFL DFS picks for Chiefs vs. Ravens
One of Kaylor’s top NFL DFS picks for the NFL Kickoff Game 2024 is Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Kelce is arguably the best tight end in NFL history, and he will likely pass Antonio Gates for third on the NFL’s all-time receiving yards list for tight ends early in the 2024 season. The former Cincinnati star is on the tail end of his career, but he remains dominant in the middle of the field.
Kelce came up 16 yards short of his eighth-straight 1,000-yard receiving season in 2023, and enters the regular season with career totals of 907 receptions, 11,328 yards, and 74 touchdown catches. Since Mahomes took over as the Chiefs’ full-time starting quarterback in 2018, Kelce has averaged 140 targets per season, or just under nine targets per game. In the Chiefs’ matchup with Baltimore in last year’s AFC Championship Game, Kelce caught 11 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown.
Kaylor is also targeting Ravens receiver Zay Flowers in his NFL DFS picks. The Ravens have a fully healthy Mark Andrews back this season but that may not limit Flowers’ production. Andrews has been Lamar Jackson’s favorite target over his six-year career but Flowers still had at least 70 yards in three games he and Andrews played together last year. The opposing defense’s need to worry about Andrews in the middle of the field can open up opportunities for Flowers deep and on the outside as opposed to teams dedicating the majority of the week to slowing down the first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Flowers enters his second NFL season and many rookies show significant improvements in Year Two. He ranked fifth among rookies in receiving yards (858) and fourth in receptions (77) last year, but there’s still room for growth. After going through his second NFL training camp, a full offseason and developing a better understanding of Todd Monken’s offense, Flowers should be an immediate contributor this fall. Flowers ended last season with a career-high 115 yards against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game and Kaylor thinks another performance like that is possible for 2024 NFL Kickoff Game NFL DFS lineups. See who else Kaylor likes right here.
How to set Ravens vs. Chiefs NFL DFS lineups, player pools
Kaylor is also targeting another undervalued player who could explode for huge numbers in Chiefs vs. Ravens. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is, and the rest of Kaylor’s NFL DFS picks, at SportsLine.
So who is Jimmie Kaylor including in his optimal NFL DFS lineups for Chiefs vs. Ravens, and which under-the-radar NFL DFS picks offer huge value? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NFL DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a DFS expert who won a prestigious millionaire maker tournament last season, and find out.
