The New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers square off on Thursday Night Football. San Francisco is favored by 10.5 points after the Giants got destroyed in Week 1 by the Dallas Cowboys and needed a huge comeback to defeat the lowly Arizona Cardinals in Week 2. Key injuries to Saquon Barkley and the 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk are creating question marks on both team’s depth charts but opening a lot of value on this Prime Time Flex slate on OwnersBox NFL DFS. Let’s take a look at Stokastic’s custom OwnersBox DFS projections to find the best low-owned value plays for GIants-49ers TNF.
OwnersBox NFL DFS Picks: Giants-49ers DFS Values for TNF
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Top NFL DFS Value Plays
George Kittle – $4,800
It might be surprising to see a name like George Kittle at the top of this list. He has been quiet in the first two weeks of the season, but that could change at any moment. Kittle has historically been a boom/bust type of play. His floor is never terribly low, but he’s prone to low-output games. On the other hand, Kittle records most of his production in spike weeks. If Aiyuk is out of the lineup, this could be one of those ceiling games for Kittle.
Even if the 49ers receiving core is at full health, there’s plenty of reasons to consider rostering Kittle. He projects for 9.98 fantasy points and 22.9% ownership in the flex. The projection makes Kittle the fifth-best point-per-dollar value play on the slate. He’s also the highest projected player under $5,000. It’s hard to call anyone with his stature, salary and ownership a hidden gem, but Kittle does rate as the top player in his price range. Keep an eye out for the Aiyuk news because his absence will certainly boost Kittle’s prospects higher.
Jauan Jennings – $3,900
The most direct beneficiary from a Brandon Aiyuk injury is likely to be Jauan Jennings, who is now in his third season with the 49ers. He operated as their third wide receiver last season and has done so in the first two games of this year as well. Jennings doesn’t see the field often, and when he does, he doesn’t command tons of targets. However, that would change in Aiyuk’s absence. Jennings knows this offense well, and he is likely to get a significant bump in playing time in this Giants-49ers Thursday Night game, making him viable for OwnersBox NFL DFS lineups.
There are plenty of ways that Jennings pays off his price tag. Stokastic’s custom OwnersBox DFS projections currently have him at 5.09 fantasy points and 13.7%. Those metrics make Jennings the top value play below $4,000. Jennings’ point-per-dollar projection is a notch below the Giants’ Parris Campbell, but so is his ownership. Campbell is currently picking up 22.9% flex ownership, making Jennings a great pivot for just $100 extra.
Eric Gray – $4,000
The biggest question mark on this slate is who gets the Giants’ backfield work with Saquon Barkley sidelined. Most NFL DFS players expect it to be Matt Breida, and rightfully so. Breida is a veteran presence and acted as New York’s backup running back in 2022. However, it’s unclear if Brian Daboll considers him a full-time back. Given that Breida has rarely played that role in his career, there’s plenty of opportunity for the rest of the Giants rushers to work into this game. Expect Gary Brightwell and Eric Gray to get work on Thursday Night Football.
Brightwell is second on the Giants depth chart, but at $4,800– only $200 less than Breida– it’s hard to justify getting a lot of Brightwell in your lineups. Gray was the Giants’ fifth-round pick this year. He has only played on special teams this year, but that could change on Thursday Night Football. Daboll and the Giants could opt to see what they have in Gray, especially if this game gets out of hand. That’s a real possibility with its 10.5-point spread. Gray projects for just north of a fantasy point and virtually no ownership. There is a lot of volatility in that projection. If he works into the Giants rotation, he could be the unowned play that lifts lineups to the top of OwnersBox NFL DFS contests for Giants-49ers.
Elijah Mitchell – $4,300
Elijah Mitchell is one of the scariest players on the board for this Giants-49ers game. He has been nowhere to be found in the 49ers’ first two games. Mitchell was expected to pick up plenty of playing time spelling Christian McCaffrey, but the team has decided not to spell McCaffrey at all. Mitchell had five carries in the 49ers’ Week 1 blowout against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He didn’t record a single carry in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Rams. McCaffrey is soaking up nearly all of the team’s backfield usage, leaving Mitchell as an afterthought.
That said, Mitchell has hardly been persona non grata. Head coach Kyle Shanahan continues to reiterate that he wants to get Mitchell work. Thursday Night Football could be the right time for that to happen. Top players often get a bit of rest on short weeks. The 49ers could opt to lighten McCaffrey’s workload on the short week and after he just played nearly all their snaps in Week’s 1 and 2. Mitchell’s projection is just 5.3 fantasy points, but he has significant upside. Games scripts where the 49ers get out to a big lead or when they use Mitchell to punch it in at the goal line in relief of McCaffrey make a lot of sense. Mitchell is a solid point-per-dollar play to consider for Giants-49ers NFL DFS on OwnersBox.
Daniel Bellinger – $3,600
The Giants brought in Darren Waller from the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason to solidify their tight end position — so far so good, at least from a fantasy perspective. Waller has dominated targets at the position and has been one of the team’s top overall receivers. He and the receiving core could get even more opportunity with Barkley out since the back was one of the team’s top targets in the pass game in addition to running. But if the Giants do unleash more of their pass attack, that could distribute to a tight end not named Waller.
Daniel Bellinger has played on about 75% of the team’s offensive snaps in the first two weeks. The Giants mostly use him as a blocker, especially given their offensive line woes. However, that’s still a lot of time on the field for a player priced as low as Bellinger. At just $3,600, he is a solid value play on this NFL DFS slate. Bellinger projects for 1.62 fantasy points and 8% flex ownership. He’s a top paydown option that will need to catch a ball in the end zone to pay off. If he does, that $3,600 salary will be paid off in spades, especially since it allows you to roster high-projected, high-salary guys like McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and others.
