Seahawks vs Broncos Showdown DFS: EMac's Week 6 TNF Top-10

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Seattle Seahawks Overview

Linebacker Drake Thomas (ankle) and rookie running back Jadarian Price (chest) are out, while Zach Charbonnet (knee) is not quite ready to return from the PUP reserve.

Quarterback

Seattle has dropped two of the last three, mostly due to turnovers. In Week 3 it was a painful 33-11 loss in Washington, with Sam Darnold tossing a pair of picks, including a 50-yard pick-six, while Price lost a fumble. Sunday it was another heartbreaker in a 32-29 defeat at home against San Francisco, with Darnold again throwing two interceptions with running backs George Holani and Emanuel Wilson each suffering a fumble.

It is always tough playing in the thin Denver air, though at least tonight there is little wind and precipitation in the game window is unlikely, while second half temperatures are expected to be in the upper-40s.

On Sunday, the Broncos defense clowned Justin Herbert, though that is not much of a notable feat this season. Matthew Stafford is the only opposing quarterback to clear 218 passing yards and he is one of three signal-callers to log two passing touchdowns against the Broncos, who have ceded only seven to date.

Expect a conservative approach from the Seahawks, while looking to take a few chances against the thinned out defensive backfield with their otherworldly wideout. Darnold is going to have to limit turnovers and keep the chains moving in order for Seattle to make good on their -2.5 point favorite status.

Running Back

Ken Walker III is enjoying life in Kansas City, getting the bag from the Chiefs. General manager John Schneider had Marshawn Lynch in his first five seasons with the franchise, though he has otherwise elected to limit the salary cap allocation to the running back position. Seattle is 2-1 in Super Bowls since he took the helm in 2010, so it is hard to argue with the strategy of focusing on a deep defense with a mostly conservative offense, that got by on big plays from Russell Wilson and more recently Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Emanuel Wilson appears to have consolidated the rushing opportunities in the absence of Price with George Holani popping up in the passing game, while still seeing a handful of carries.

In the last two tilts, it is Wilson with six redzone opportunities to zero for Holani and a 6-5 target edge. Expect something in the 60%-40% backfield split range and of course the cherry on top for Wilson is a 41-11 advantage in carries.

Fullback Brady Russell will likely be on the field for 8-10 snaps, though he is mostly a special teamer who has three of his four career targets this season, with no career carries for the former Colorado tight end in his four campaigns.

There is a chance that Robert Henry Jr. will be active after being signed off the Washington practice squad a week ago.

Wide Receivers

It should be no surprise that JSN is again dominating the passing game, after having been named the NFL Offensive MVP last year. He has 50 targets this season and is leading the league with 583 yards, 116.6 yards per game and seven touchdowns. He also has the highest salary cap hit across the DFS world and he is the only player to break five-figures on DraftKings.

Rashid Shaheed (19 targets) and Cooper Kupp (15) should each be in the mix for a couple-three targets, with Shaheed the more dynamic options who usually gets a carry or two along with his role in the return game. Kupp is on the field more, though he is more of a short-route/trusted set of hands option than anything else now that he is well beyond his glory days.

Tory Horton is the only other wideout to see action and the former Colorado State Ram is likely to be limited to around a dozen snaps tonight, unless something happens to Shaheed.

Tight Ends

AJ Barner is second on the team with 19 targets and thus far he has typically seen a 90% snap-share. He has yet to score and has topped 20 receiving yards only once. His touchdown came on a one-yard plunge in the second game as he is usually under center for the “Seattle Shove” in short yardage, having had that opportunity 10 times last year.

Eric Saubert (3 targets) is the backup tight end for blocking and also plays on special teams, while Elijah Arroyo (2 targets) has no blocking chops, though he has a similar 25%ish snap rate as Saubert with the team employing 12-personel between 30%-40% of the time.

Kickers and DST

Jason Myers has had multiple field goal attempts only twice through five games, the first and again on Sunday. This should not drive our decision points as he is still 10-of-10 and also led the league in field goal attempts in the 2023 and 2025 seasons. Each of the last two years he has converted on 9-of-12 (75%) of his efforts from 50-plus yards and he has been successful on both of his chances this season.

The “Dark Side” has collected 14 sacks which is seventh overall and a league leading 11 takeaways. Denver is in the middle of the pack with three interceptions and three lost fumbles and the second-fewest sacks with six.

Denver Broncos Overview

Wideout Pat Bryant (ankle) is on the injured reserve, along with rookie running back Jona Coleman (ankle). Additionally, defensive backs Patrick Surtain II and Riley Moss will each be missing their second-consecutive game with ankle issues.

Quarterback

Bo Nix is looking like a game-manager with rushing upside on his best days. In his first two seasons he averaged 226.6 yards per game, with similar standard and advanced metrics across the board. This year that has plummeted to 188.4 yards per tilt, while his rushing average has slid from 5.1 attempts and 23.1 yards per game to just 3.6 ypc and 7.0 ypg.

Even with head coach Sean Payton taking back most of the play calling duties last week from offensive coordinator Davis Webb, the team was still less than dynamic and actually down right dreadful at utilizing Jaylen Waddle, who was acquired from Miami to upgrade the pass-catching corps, incurring a sizeable draft capital investment.

Running Back

J.K. Dobbins is coming off a season-high 52% snap share, with nine more snaps than RJ Harvey’s 23. Dobbins has had a pair of targets in each of the three games without Coleman, while Harvey had seven, 10 and then just one on Sunday.

Adam Prentice and Tyler Badie will be seen from time-to-time, with Prentice mostly blocking as a fullback and Badie a wild card for zero to five opportunities, because apparently the team hates Harvey, despite him putting up nearly 900 combined yards as a rookie with seven rushing and five receiving touchdowns.

Wide Receivers

Speaking of hating players, how has Waddle only been on the field for 68% of the offensive action this season. He has a team-leading 21% target share with a 76% route-participation rate. In Week 2 he had 138 yards on eight receptions for his only game of 35+ yards and his lone touchdowns was in Week 4. This is criminally low considering the team gave up first and third round draft pick, with offsetting fourth-rounders to Miami for Waddle.

Cortland Sutton is a constant presence on the field, leading the position with a 78% snap-share and ranking second with 25 targets. He would be more appealing if there were any volume to this passing game, but otherwise he is a neutral option in a game with a 40.5 projected point total.

Bryant’s absence opened the way for Lil’Jordan Humphrey to be active on Sunday and of course the former New Orleans Saints player under Payton had two targets, because why not?! If not for Payton, it is unlikely that Humphrey would be in the league, though now he has a chance to get the 66 receiving yards needed to reach 1,000 for his career that started back in 2019 as a UDFA in The Big Easy.

Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims Jr. also had two targets apiece on Sunday, giving them six and five for the season.

Condolences to Broncos fans, since Payton was rewarded with a contract extension in June, rewarding him with around $20 million annually through the 2030 season.

Tight Ends

Evan Engram should be on the field for something around 60% of the offensive action tonight and he has 17 of the 26 targets to the tight end position, with four-plus in three of his five games, though only two redzone looks. Nate Atkins is likely to log around 20 snaps and while he has not had a target in the last two games, three of his five combined looks in Weeks 2 and 3 were in the redzone.

Adam Trautman has one target in the last four games, though he will be on the field for half the snaps if his trends hold.

Kickers and DST

Wil Lutz has been solid in his time with Denver, transitioning from calling the climate controlled Superdome his home base for the first six seasons. While he has three misses already, after having just 11 over the last three seasons combined, he is still trusted by the team and could get some work if Nix is not able to maneuver the offense into the redzone with any frequency.

Seattle is around league average with just 11 sacks in five games, though the five interceptions and four fumbles have them in the upper-quartile. The Broncos are in the upper-third with 13 sacks and have seven takeaways, though the absence of Surtain and Moss will be felt.

NFL DFS Week 6 TNF Showdown: Top-10

1. Jaxson Smith-Njigba: The real question is how many lineups will we build without him.
2. Emanuel Wilson: Single-game contests make for strange bedfellows.
3. Bo Nix: Slight advantage over Darnold.
4. Sam Darnold: Expect next to nothing on the ground and he really needs to tighten up on his interceptions, issuing five in his three full games.
5. Jaylen Waddle: Take the damn luxury car out of the garage!
6. J.K. Dobbins: There is a strong argument that he is better than Waddle on FanDuel.
7. RJ Harvey: So many missed opportunities, hopefully Seattle gets out to a two score lead in the first half so the Broncos shift away from the run and uber conservative playcalling. Sees action as a kickoff returner.
8. Wil Lutz: Homefield advantage.
9. Jason Myers: If I could only play one kicker, I would take Myers on DraftKings for the $400 savings and Lutz on FanDuel with a tiny $200 discount. Then start to finagle the build based on the rest of the lineup, rostership, etc.
10. Seattle DST: Join the “Dark Side” tonight.
11. SECONDARY TARGETS
12. Evan Engram: Less competition from his position-mates, but still a low-volume offense.
13. Rashid Shaheed: Should see at least a couple manufactured offensive opportunities, one long target and of course he is a threat to score as a kick returner having earned accolades as a Pro Bowl returner in 2023 and 2025.
14. AJ Barner: A little more appealing that Shaheed on FanDuel, so let personal preference be your guide. The on-field presence is unparalleled by his skill-position teammates.
15. Cortland Sutton: Boring but steady, though no salary cap relief.
16. Denver DST: Would replace Seattle in the top-10 if this unit was at full-health.
17. LOTTERY TICKETS
18. Cooper Kupp and George Holani: Similar fantasy point per dollar ratios on DraftKings, both are tertiary targets in the offense behind JSN and Wilson.
19. Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims Jr., Tyler Badie, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins: This is the listed order of preference when considering salary. Franklin has the college connection with Nix, while Mims is the main punt returner, with Badie in the mix on kickoff returns. All should be active and stepping between the lines on offense tonight.
20. Elijah Arroyo and Tory Horton: Need a lucky touchdown, which Horton has already done once on just four targets and he did have five last year on 22 looks. Arroyo scored once on his 26 opportunities last year, but we are all familiar with his training camp highlights.
21. Robert Henry Jr.: If he is active, we have to think he will at least get a carry or two and that puts him in play on DraftKings at the $200 minimum.
22. Eric Saubert, Irvin Charles, Velus Jones Jr. and Brady Russell: Deep cuts for the Seahawks, though Charles and Jones may not be active.

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