The 2026 NFL regular season kicks off Wednesday night with a Super Bowl LX rematch between the Seahawks and Patriots in Seattle at 8:20 p.m. EDT.
FanDuel and DraftKings both offer DFS showdown contests for Wednesday's single-game slate. The featured GPP contest on DraftKings is the Wednesday Kickoff Millionaire, with $20 entries and $1 million to first place; FanDuel's NFL Wednesday Million offers $15 entries and $200K to the winner.
Wednesday Starting Lineups
The Patriots are projected to start:
- QB Drake Maye ($10,000 DK, $12,400 FD)
- RB Rhamondre Stevenson ($8,400 DK, $10,000 FD)
- WR A.J. Brown ($9,600 DK, $10,800 FD)
- WR Romeo Doubs ($6,600 DK, $8,200 FD)
- WR DeMario Douglas ($3,000 DK, $3,800 FD)
- TE Hunter Henry ($4,800 DK, $7,600 FD)
- K Andy Borregales ($5,000 DK, $6,200 FD)
The Seahawks counter with a starting lineup of:
- QB Sam Darnold ($9,400 DK, $11,600 FD)
- RB Jadarian Price ($7,200 DK, $9,200 FD)
- WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba ($10,600 DK, $13,000 FD)
- WR Rashid Shaheed ($6,400 DK, $7,200 FD)
- WR Cooper Kupp ($5,200 DK, $5,400 FD)
- TE AJ Barner ($4,600 DK, $4,800 FD)
- K Jason Myers ($5,400 DK, $6,400 FD)
For lineup information, keep updated with our fantasy football news page. Always consult our NFL Starting Lineups page for the latest starting lineup information prior to kickoff.
Our RotoWire NFL Optimizer will help you pinpoint top DFS targets, in addition to the players highlighted below.
Showdown DFS Roster Strategy
Both FanDuel and DraftKings have an MVP/Captain slot for showdown slates, followed by five flex positions. The MVP/Captain has a multiplier of 1.5X for both their fantasy production and salary. DraftKings lineups have a salary cap of $50,000, while FanDuel's is $60,000. DraftKings uses PPR scoring with bonuses for 100-yard receiving or rushing performances and 300-yard passing games, while FanDuel has 0.5 PPR scoring.
Paying up for projected top scorers as your Captain/MVP is usually worth it, though doing so requires taking a leap of faith on a bargain-bin option or two to round out your lineup. Taking the road less traveled with a cheaper player in the Captain/MVP slot helps improve the depth of your lineup and can pay off big in large GPP contests by giving your lineup more uniqueness, but this strategy lowers your floor, as a big game out of your Captain/MVP is a prerequisite to success in DFS showdown contests.
Starting QBs typically carry premium salaries, but it's usually worth it to deploy one or both of those options in your lineup. Starting WRs, RBs and TEs generally offer more upside than defenses and kickers, though the high floors of those last two positions can be useful to fill out a lineup if you aren't a fan of a game's skill position sleepers.
Quarterback
Drake Maye benefited from one of the easiest schedules in league history last year and had a historically inept postseason, finishing with the worst playoff pass Expected Points Added total ever. Maye's dual-threat ability allowed him to post respectable fantasy-point totals even while he struggled throughout the postseason, including 20.5 DK fantasy points in the 29-13 Super Bowl loss to Seattle. The 2024 third overall pick generated 35 total TDs during the regular season, and New England beefed up its WR room by adding A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs in the offseason.
Even against a Seahawks defense that allowed the fewest points in the league last season, Maye is likely to feature in the vast majority of DFS lineups, often in the Captain/MVP slot.
Sam Darnold was largely carried to the Super Bowl title by an excellent supporting cast last season, though he had his moments along the way. He reached the 4,000-yard and 25-touchdown thresholds through the air for a second consecutive regular season and threw for 346 yards and three TDs in the NFC Championship Game against the Rams, though Darnold also had a league-worst 20 regular-season turnovers and threw for a meager 202 yards and one TD on 38 pass attempts against the Patriots in Seattle's Super Bowl win.
You can't write Darnold off completely, but he's unlikely to post a gaudy stat line against New England's stout pass defense.
Running Back
Both teams are dealing with a notable backfield injury, as Zach Charbonnet (knee) will be out multiple weeks to begin the season for Seattle, while TreVeyon Henderson (ankle) has been ruled out for New England's season opener. Kenneth Walker ran roughshod over the Patriots with 161 scrimmage yards on 29 touches in Charbonnet's absence, but the Super Bowl LX MVP signed with Kansas City in the offseason.
Seattle drafted Jadarian Price 32nd overall to fill Walker's previous role, while George Holani ($6,300 DK, $5,000 FD) is expected to play on third downs and near the goal line, filling Charbonnet's shoes. The Seahawks will likely try to replicate their successful Super Bowl formula with a run-first approach. Price is a high-ceiling option worthy of Captain/MVP consideration in his NFL debut, though his floor is low since we have yet to see the Notre Dame product face an NFL defense. Holani's a sneaky-good value play given his expected role.
Rhamondre Stevenson is poised to get the lion's share of backfield touches for the Patriots in Henderson's absence. Stevenson rushed just seven times for 23 yards against the Seahawks in the Super Bowl but caught all five of his targets for 40 yards and a TD. He offers a high floor thanks to his three-down role, while backup Corey Kiner ($3,600 DK, $4,600 FD) isn't expected to factor in much since the latter has been with the Patriots for less than two weeks.
Wide Receiver
A.J. Brown has topped 1,000 receiving yards in six of seven NFL seasons split between the Titans and Eagles, while fellow offseason addition Romeo Doubs is expected to start opposite Brown after setting a career high with 724 receiving yards last season with the Packers. Brown has the talent to excel despite the difficult matchup, though expectations should be tempered against a Seahawks secondary that allowed the second-fewest yards to WRs last season.
The Patriots have some interesting bargain options in the slot between DeMario Douglas and Kyle Williams ($3,900 DK, $3,000 FD). Douglas is listed as the starter but Williams showcased big-play ability by scoring a touchdown in each of New England's three preseason games as the 2025 third-round pick vies for a larger role in his second NFL campaign.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards during the 2025 regular season but mustered only 27 yards in the Super Bowl while being blanketed by star cornerback Christian Gonzalez. With Gonzalez likely to shadow him once again, JSN will be hard-pressed to live up to his gaudy valuation, though the star WR certainly has enough talent to overcome the tough matchup and potentially warrant a lineup spot.
Cooper Kupp led the Seahawks with six catches for 61 yards on 12 targets in the Super Bowl. His best days are behind him, but he's a solid high-floor value play, while Rashid Shaheed is a boom-or-bust big-play threat in a Seattle WR room that's largely unchanged from last season.
Tight End
New England's Hunter Henry is an enticing value pick considering the Seahawks excelled against both WRs and RBs last season but gave up the sixth-most yards to TEs. Rookie third-round pick Eli Raridon ($2,700 DK, $1,600 FD) is unlikely to threaten Henry's target share at the position much out of the gate.
AJ Barner remains the starter for Seattle at TE after scoring seven TDs (six receiving, one rushing) in his second NFL campaign last season. Elijah Arroyo ($2,400 DK, $3,400 FD) is an intriguing dart throw at the position, as the 2025 second-round pick could play a larger role in his sophomore season following a disappointing 179-yard rookie campaign. Arroyo had a 36-yard touchdown catch during the preseason, while the Patriots were average at defending TEs last season.
Kicker/DST
Both defenses are worth a look in this matchup since they were among the league's best last season. The Seahawks ($6,600 DK, $6,800 FD) boast an elite defense that scored 22 fantasy points against the Patriots in the Super Bowl, including a pick-six. The Patriots ($5,100 DK, $6,600 FD) had Darnold seeing ghosts back in his early Jets days, and New England's defense could pile up some multi-point fantasy plays if Darnold's turnover bugaboos continue.
Seahawks kicker Jason Myers made five field goals in the Super Bowl and tied for the league lead with 48 field-goal attempts during the regular season, but he's coming off a disturbingly inaccurate preseason by missing five kicks in three games. The Patriots probably won't score enough to make their second-year kicker Andy Borregales worth rostering since Seattle allowed a league-low 17.2 PPG last season and kickers have limited ceilings to begin with.
