Week 7 Thursday DraftKings DFS Lineup: Aaron Rodgers, Ja'Marr Chase and More

It's time for another DFS lineup for the Thursday night football game.

This week, we have the Steelers and Bengals squaring off - you can read about each team's top fantasy football players, projections and matchups at those links.

Here, we'll put together a six-player DFS lineup, with a captain and five flex spots. Let's get to it!

Check out player prop bets, prop bet rankings and public betting splits on FantasySP all season! 

Captain - Kenneth Gainwell ($9,600)

I am going with a lower-level fantasy asset in the captain spot this week. It's all about the matchup, as Cincinnati really struggles to slow opposing running backs.

Gainwell is the No. 2 back for Pittsburgh, but has been getting enough work to deliver fantasy points. In the No. 2 role last week, he scored 9.6 points, and if we multiply his score by 1.5, we are looking at a double-digit score.

Taking Gainwell is a way to save some salary, but put up a healthy amount of points. Now we just have to hope he delivers. If he ends up as the top Pittsburgh back, we should be in great shape!

Flex - Ja'Marr Chase ($12,000)

Chase is the best fantasy player in tonight's game, so I'm always going to try to get those guys in my DFS lineups. He's pricey, but he'll be worth it in the end.

He's averaging 19.7 fantasy points per game so far this season. Chase has 25.1 and 32 points over the past two weeks, so I'm hoping for more of that.

Chase's outlook got a boost with the trade for Joe Flacco, and in a pretty favorable matchup, I see him delivering tonight. He just cannot lose touchdowns to Tee Higgins, or any other pass catchers in Cincy.

Flex - DK Metcalf ($10,400)

After getting Gainwell in that captain slot, I've gone big with each team's best wideout. Metcalf is easily the top Steeler pass catcher, and with Calvin Austin out tonight, Metcalf should really deliver a big fantasy score.

He's averaging 16.3 fantasy points per game this season, and had 19.5 last week. Metcalf has an above-average matchup tonight, so I expect a healthy fantasy total.

Really, we just cannot have any other Pittsburgh pass catchers score in this one and we'll be good. 

Flex - Aaron Rodgers ($9,800)

Rodgers is a favorite of our projections in week 7, and while I'm not as high on him, I do like him as a DFS asset for tonight.

He's averaging 16.2 fantasy points per game, and is coming off a contest in which he had 17.5 points. 

The matchup is pretty good again, so he should add a healthy amount of fantasy points to our total. Ideally, he's throwing touchdowns to Metcalf, or Gainwell, or Gainwell is scoring on the ground.

Flex - Darnell Washington ($2,000)

I needed to create a little breathing room for my final lineup choice, so I went with the low-priced Washington here.

The matchup is fantastic, and Washington has been trending up. He's averaging 3.2 fantasy points per game, but has 5 and 9.2 points over his past two contests.

If he continues to factor in, this is the pick that could take me over the top tonight. It's worth trying in a super favorable matchup.

Flex - Steelers DST ($5,800)

Yup, I created wiggle room for my final pick to take a DST. 

Pittsburgh's DST is averaging 8.6 fantasy points per game so far, and has been in double figures three straight weeks. 

They already have 20 sacks and 10 takeaways this season. Flacco is a better QB than Jake Browning, but I still see Pittsburgh racking up fantasy points tonight.

Final Thoughts

I like this DFS lineup quite a bit - most weeks, I do.

As I was doing each team's fantasy outlook for the day, I identified a bunch of favorable matchups, and it led to DFS picks like Gainwell and Washington. 

Grabbing those two opened the door for big-time fantasy assets like Chase and Metcalf. Rodgers should also deliver a good amount of points, and really gives me a solid base to go from.

This lineup will be made or crushed by the outings from Gainwell, Washington, Rodgers and the Steelers DST. I expect above-average marks from Chase and Metcalf, so those others need to step up and outperform their season averages so far.

We'll see how the lineup ends up performing, but I think I could have a winner here. Best of luck as you put together your week 7 lineups and DFS teams.