The Eagles vs. Patriots will be a standalone NFL preseason game on Thursday with a 7 p.m. ET kickoff. They will begin the Week 2 NFL preseason schedule when coaches may decide to play their starters longer than they will in any other preseason game. Still, the Eagles may not play their typical stars in the NFL DFS player pool such as Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown and Saquon Barkley on Thursday, so how should that factor into your NFL DFS strategy?
The Patriots have plenty of unanswered questions and competition at key positions this NFL preseason. Jacoby Brissett, the training camp favorite to start the 2024 NFL season at quarterback, didn’t complete any of his three pass attempts, while Drake Maye, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, completed 2 of 3 for 19 yards in New England’s first preseason contest. Should you expect a higher usage from these Patriots quarterbacks when forming an NFL DFS strategy? Before making any NFL DFS picks for Eagles vs. Patriots on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel for Thursday, 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 matchup of Patriots vs. Eagles 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 Eagles vs. Patriots
One of Kaylor’s top DFS picks for Thursday is Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft played one series in his debut last week, completing 2 of 3 passes for 19 yards. Both Maye and Jacoby Brissett, the two most likely candidates to start Week 1, each only played one series in the opener. But Patriots coach Jared Mayo told the media Maye will play “a lot more” against the Eagles.
Maye was one of the top quarterbacks in college football over his two years as a starter at North Carolina. He averaged 305 passing yards per game over 26 college games in 2022 and 2023 before declaring for the NFL Draft. Maye had 24 touchdown passes over 12 games last year after throwing 38 touchdowns in 14 games as a redshirt freshman in 2022. Maye, along with Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels, was a part of one of the highest-profile quarterback classes in NFL history and with Maye expected to play more snaps on Thursday, Kaylor views Maye as a strong option for NFL DFS lineups.
Part of Kaylor’s Thursday NFL DFS strategy includes rostering Eagles running back Will Shipley. Shipley was one of just three Eagles running backs to have at least seven carries in their first preseason game and the fourth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft rushed for 23 yards on seven carries and had a 7-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter from Kenny Pickett.
Shipley rushed for 827 yards on 5.0 yards per carry as a junior at Clemson last year and finished the year with 1,071 and seven touchdowns. He was coming off a huge sophomore campaign with 1,424 total yards and 15 touchdowns, including 1,182 rushing yards on 5.6 yards per carry. The decisive runner has a good initial burst and he has a chance to contend for the RB2 for the Eagles behind Saquon Barkley with a strong preseason and training camp. You can see the rest of Kaylor’s NFL DFS picks here.
How to build Patriots vs. Eagles 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 Eagles vs. Patriots, 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.