The final week of the 2024 NFL preseason begins with the Colts vs. Bengals and Bears vs. Chiefs on the Thursday Week 3 NFL preseason schedule. Bengals vs. Colts kicks off at 8 p.m. ET, while Chiefs vs. Bears follows at 8:20 p.m. ET. Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said Caleb Williams, along with the “majority” of Bears starters, won’t play on Thursday. Chiefs coach Andy Reid also said Kansas City won’t play their starters, meaning players such as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce won’t be valuable assets from the NFL DFS player pool. With both teams going head-to-head without their starters, how should you form an NFL DFS strategy?
Chiefs quarterback Chris Oladokun may be the least recognizable of the three Kansas City backup quarterbacks, with Carson Wentz, a former starter, and Ian Book, who played at Notre Dame. Oladokun has been the team’s leading passer in the first two preseason games, so should daily Fantasy football players include him in Thursday NFL DFS lineups? Before making any NFL DFS picks for Thursday 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 has been cashing big all season, 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.
Kaylor hit on epic NFL DFS picks last season like Justin Jefferson (11-159), D’Andre Swift (175-1), DeVonta Smith (4-132-1), T.J. Hockenson (7-66-2), D.J. Moore (8-230-3), David Montgomery (121-3), Ja’Marr Chase (12-141, 11-149-1), Alvin Kamara (12-91, 76), Jordan Addison (7-123-2), Jahmyr Gibbs (152-1, 5-37), Javonte Williams (79, 3-31-1), Dak Prescott (331-4), CeeDee Lamb (12-116-1), DK Metcalf (6-143-3), Aidan O’Connell (248-4) and Puka Nacua (9-164-1). Anyone who has followed his picks is way up.
Now, Kaylor has turned his attention to Thursday’s 2024 NFL preseason schedule and just locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine.
Top NFL preseason DFS picks for Thursday
One of Kaylor’s top DFS picks for Thursday is Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent. The 24-year-old was a star last week as he completed 7 of 8 passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns while adding a 10-yard run against the Bengals. Bagent was one of the feel-good stories in the NFL last season as the undrafted free agent went 2-2 in four games as a starter while completing 65.7% of his passes while Justin Fields was injured. Bagent has returned to the backup role this season behind Caleb Williams, but all reports have indicated he has no issues with that and continues to prepare hard in practice in hopes of being ready if the team needs him to start again.
Williams and the starters aren’t playing on Thursday, which signals another chance at an expanded workload for Bagent. This is another opportunity for Bagent to prove he can be the QB2 on the Chicago depth chart as the Bears have enough talent on the roster this season to compete for a playoff spot. Bagent has proven to be a serviceable NFL quarterback and Kaylor expects that to show again on Thursday.
Part of Kaylor’s Thursday NFL DFS strategy includes Chiefs running back Deneric Prince. Prince was signed by Kansas City after going unselected in the 2023 NFL Draft and he showed his big-play potential last week. He broke a 41-yard run with a burst of speed up the middle before breaking toward the sideline. He finished with 47 yards on six carries in the contest and has broken a run of at least 10 yards in each of Kansas City’s first two preseason games. He finished last year’s preseason with 12 carries for 45 yards, including a 15-yard run to showcase that burst to move the chains.
Prince averaged 5.8 yards per carry while rushing for 729 yards with six touchdowns over eight games in his senior season at Tulsa. He averaged at least 5.2 yards per rush in all four college seasons. Prince, who was the only Kansas City player with more than three carries last week, spent last season on the Kansas City practice squad and Thursday is his last chance in game action to prove to the Chiefs why he should be considered for the 53-man roster. You can see the rest of Kaylor’s NFL DFS picks here.
How to build Thursday preseason NFL DFS lineups
Kaylor is also targeting another undervalued player who could explode for huge numbers on Thursday. 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 Thursday, 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 already won a single-game millionaire maker tournament, and find out.
