NFL DFS picks for Chiefs vs. Ravens: Best DraftKings, FanDuel lineups & props for TNF season-opener

The Super Bowl-champion Chiefs will kick off their hopeful three-peat season against the Ravens on Thursday Night Football in the 2024 NFL season-opener (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC). The game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, a star-studded primetime event that's sure to generate a massive amount of DFS activity. 

If you're constructing a daily fantasy lineup for this AFC clash of the titans, look no further. The Sporting News has been preparing for this game for weeks, poring over the Chiefs and Ravens player pool and identifying the biggest studs, top sleepers, and most under-the-radar value picks for the evening. 

Let's get right to our optimal lineups for DraftKings, FanDuel, and SuperDraft DFS showdown and single-game contests to help make you some daily fantasy cash. Good luck, have fun, and enjoy Game 1 of the 2024 NFL season!

WEEK 1 FANTASY PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers

Chiefs vs. Ravens NFL DFS picks: Optimal DraftKings lineup

Before we get into our lineup and strategy, here are the key scoring settings for DraftKings Showdown contests: They're full-point PPR and they feature three-point bonuses for 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, and 100 receiving yards. The Captain pick costs 1.5 times a player's original price, but he also gets his point total multiplied by 1.5.

Captain: Isiah Pacheco, RB, Chiefs vs. Ravens ($12,600)

This game features QBs with four combined MVPs, two Super Bowl MVPs, and a partridge in a pear tree (last part unconfirmed). So, naturally, we're fading both of them. The contrarian play allows us to separate from the pack and go for the big bucks with a more balanced roster. And the anchor of the lineup? None other than Isiah "Pop" Pacheco. 

This dude runs hard — so hard that his nickname is "Pop" because he pops defenders right in the grill when he runs over them. Other guys call him "Passion," because he runs with such purpose, uplifts his team, and always gives it his all.

WEEK 1 NFL: Power rankings | ATS picks | SU picks

Not one for hyperbole? Here are some stats:

• 4.7 yards per carry over his two-year career
• 53 first downs and nine TDs with just one fumble over 249 touches last season
• 90.5-percent lifetime catch rate

Most importantly, Pacheco averaged 16.1 PPR points per game (PPG) last season. And the Ravens, surprisingly generous to RBs last year, ranked just 13th against the position. The third-year back gashed Baltimore for 18.1 DK points in the AFC title game in January, while Patrick Mahomes put up 15.1. Now you're getting Pacheco for $3,000 fewer in the Captain's spot. As Maui in "Moana" would say, "you're welcome."

MORE: NFL Week 1 best bets and top props

FLEX: Travis Kelce, TE, Chiefs vs. Ravens ($9,600)

Death, taxes, and Travis Kelce in primetime — these seem to be the certainties of life in 2024. Taylor Swift will most likely be there (it's the NFL season-opener, for goodness sakes — they'll probably get engaged at halftime), so naturally Mr. Wonderful will be extra motivated to show out with his main squeeze in attendance.

The Ravens often struggled to contain pass-catching tight ends last season, ranking just 14th in PPG allowed to the position. Kelce posted a gargantuan 32.1 DK points against Baltimore in the AFC 'chip. All the factors add up to "ya gotta play this mustachioed man" in your TNF lineups.  

FLEX 2: Derrick Henry, RB, Ravens at Chiefs ($9,000)

Continuing on our quest of drafting the biggest skill-position stars not named Jackson and Mahomes, we scoop up King Henry at RB. He's a two-time rushing champ who just joined forces with arguably the best mobile QB in the history of the league — a lot will go right here as long as LJax and Henry stay healthy.

And considering Jackson maxed out at 12 games in two of the past three seasons, expect a ton of short-yardage and goal-line work to go Henry's way as opposed to Jackson as it has the past three years in Baltimore. There are a lot of points to be had for Henry here, even against Chris Jones and the pretty solid KC front-seven. 

2024 NFL RANKINGS: QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | Defense

FLEX 3: Rashee Rice, WR, Chiefs vs. Ravens ($7,600)

Most of the offseason talk around Rice was how he took off after causing a car accident. However, since the NFL seems to be waiting until after his court proceedings to decide when and how to suspend him, it's all systems go for the second-year wideout.

Rice primarily works out of the slot — and he's a yards-after-catch beast — so he will be quite busy against a Ravens team that will put a lot of pressure on Mahomes in the pocket. Expect a big night from the young speedster, who averaged more than 14 DK PPG last season. 

FLEX 4: Xavier Worthy, WR, Chiefs vs. Ravens ($5,800)

The rookie Worthy immediately becomes the fastest player in the NFL, and most assume that he will finally help fill the void left by former Chiefs burner Tyreek Hill (last year's Offensive Player of the Year runner-up in Miami). Mahomes with this kind of weaponry at his disposal almost seems unfair. 

FLEX 5: Rashod Bateman, WR, Ravens at Chiefs ($5,200)

Everything that we're hearing about Bateman in Baltimore's camp is that he looks really good, he has developed a connection with LJax, and he was finally able to play the majority of the training camp and preseason.

You could go with a higher floor and select GOAT kicker Justin Tucker at $5,000 here, but it seems more worthwhile to just go for the high-ceiling guy and hope Bateman finally materializes in a big NFL game.

Chiefs-Ravens NFL DFS picks: Optimal FanDuel lineup

Here are the key scoring settings for FanDuel single-game tournaments: They're half-point PPR and there are no three-point bonuses for 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, or 100 receiving yards. The MVP pick multiplies that player's total by 1.5 but does not cost 1.5 times their listed salary.

Second verse, same as the first. The DraftKings lineup looked so pretty, we carbon-copied it to our FanDuel squad and submitted with $500 still on the table (just with no Bateman, as FD features four flexes and not five).

Chiefs-Ravens NFL DFS picks: Optimal SuperDraft lineup

As we did all of last season, we're also featuring SuperDraft lineups in our single-game DFS contest columns. 

For those unfamiliar, SuperDraft's DFS scoring involves point multipliers as opposed to traditional salary-capped or tiered contests. A winning lineup will likely feature a strong mix of stud fantasy contributors with 1x-1.6x boosts, as well as matchup-based sleepers with larger multipliers. Each player is assigned a scoring multiplier based on their value as determined by SuperDraft. Users can roster any player in their lineup with no restrictions.

Here are the most notable scoring rules for SuperDraft NFL contests: Half-point PPR, four-point passing TDs, and two-point bonuses for 100 rushing yards, 100 receiving yards, and 300 passing yards. SuperDraft lineups feature no D/ST position. The "Champ" position adds an additional 50-percent boost to the selected player, while the SuperFlex positions are limited to the boost listed for each player. 

MORE SUPERDRAFT DFS: How to play SuperDraft

The SuperDraft play this week is piling up the stud skill-position players this time around and worrying less about variance. All these players are guys we featured in either or both of our DK and FD lineups, and none of them have low-floor volatility.

If this game is high-scoring — and that's certainly the expectation — this lineup could go the distance for us. The 2.1 and 2.4 boosts for Rice and Worthy particularly piqued our interest — we have solid top-line value in the first three spots and high-upside home-run hitters with huge potential bonuses in our last two spots.