Despite his team’s up-and-down year, Kirk Cousins is having one of his finest seasons under center. His 25:3 touchdown-to-interception ratio leads the league and Cousins has been one of the most reliable NFL DFS picks at his position all year. But Cousins has also notoriously struggled in primetime games, which presents a quandary for Thursday Night Football. Should the Vikings quarterback factor into your NFL DFS strategy based on his stellar season, or is history too hard to ignore?
Vikings vs. Steelers could be an opportunity for Cousins to make people forget, at least for one night, of his past primetime woes. However, he’ll lead a banged-up Vikings offense that has few healthy playmakers outside of Justin Jefferson. So which Minnesota players should you keep an eye on when making your daily Fantasy football picks? Before finalizing your Steelers vs. Vikings NFL DFS picks, be sure to check out the NFL DFS advice, strategy and projections from SportsLine daily Fantasy expert Mike McClure.
McClure is a legendary professional DFS player with almost $2 million in career winnings. His methodology has led to enormous cashes on FanDuel and DraftKings. He took down two high-stakes tournaments on FanDuel in 2020 and recorded a pair top-10 finishes in tournaments with over 130,000 entrants on DraftKings. His lineups also finished inside the top 1 percent in more than a dozen other tournaments last season.
He uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every snap of NFL action, taking factors such as matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account. This allows him to find the best DFS values that he shares only with members at SportsLine.
Now, McClure has turned his attention to Vikings vs. Steelers and locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.
Top NFL DFS picks for Steelers vs. Vikings
One of McClure’s top NFL DFS picks for Thursday Night Football is Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson. The 25-year-old is coming off the most productive game of his three-year career, as he posted an 8-105-2 stat line in Week 13. It was the third-most receiving yards in his career and just his third ever multi-touchdown game.
Over the last three weeks, Johnson has produced more Fantasy points than all but one receiver, and he’ll be standing on the other sideline in Justin Jefferson. Johnson has averaged 100.3 receiving yards and scored three TDs over the last three games, as he’s solidified himself as Ben Roethlisberger’s No. 1 option. Johnson needs just 10 more receiving yards to set a new career-high, but he could get much more than that against a Vikings defense that is among the bottom 10 in passing yards allowed.
Part of McClure’s optimal NFL DFS strategy also includes rostering Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, who is coming off career-highs of 11 catches and 182 yards to go along with a touchdown in Week 13. After catching 88 passes for 1,400 yards and seven scores as a rookie, Jefferson has been even more prolific in 2021. He’s already caught 78 balls for 1,209 yards and seven scores in 12 games and been one of the game’s most productive receivers on a weekly basis.
Jefferson has had at least eight catches for 143 yards in three of his last four games. He’s already had 12 games with at least 100 yards receiving in his career. He is first in the NFL in air yards (1,418), first in deep targets (26) and second in air yards share (43.4 percent), so expect Cousins to look for him downfield on Thursday Night Football.
How to set NFL DFS lineups for Vikings vs. Steelers
McClure is also targeting an undervalued player who is set to explode for huge numbers on Thursday Night Football. 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 here.
So who is Mike McClure putting in his optimal NFL DFS lineups for Thursday Night Football? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NFL DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a daily Fantasy expert with nearly $2 million in winnings, and find out.
