NFL DFS, Thursday Night Football picks: Chargers vs. Broncos fantasy lineup advice for DraftKings, FanDuel

The Los Angeles Chargers have one of the best defenses in the NFL, but it certainly didn’t look that way in the second half last week. Los Angeles was outscored 27-0 in the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a lopsided 40-17 loss, but the defense won’t have much time to dwell on that with a short turnaround against the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football to kick off the Week 16 NFL schedule. How much should that second half alter how daily Fantasy football players form an NFL DFS strategy when making Broncos vs. Chargers NFL DFS lineups?

The Chargers, Broncos and Eagles are tied for the best scoring defense in the NFL at 17.6 points per game this season. Only the Bills and Lions allowed more points than the Chargers last week, so should your NFL DFS picks include a stack of Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert with receivers like Ladd McConkey, Josh Palmer or Quentin Johnston from the NFL DFS player pool? Before locking in any NFL DFS lineups for Chargers vs. Broncos on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, 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 cashed big all season in 2022, 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 on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel.

Kaylor hit on epic NFL DFS picks for SportsLine members throughout the 2022 and 2023 seasons. In 2022, he was all over Travis Kelce’s four-touchdown performance against the Raiders on Monday Night Football, Kirk Cousins‘ 460-yard, four-TD performance on Thanksgiving Day, and T.J. Hockenson’s 13 catches for 109 yards and two touchdowns in Week 15. In 2023, he hit on Ja’Marr Chase’s massive Week 5 performance (15 catches, 192 yards, three TDs), D.J. Moore’s eight catches for 230 yards and three touchdowns in Week 14, and De’Von Anchane’s breakout performance (233 total yards, four TD’s) in Week 3.

This season, some of Kaylor’s top picks in Showdown DFS slates include Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed, (4-138-1, 33-1), Bills quarterback Josh Allen (263-4), and Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (509-4). Anyone who followed his picks is way up.

Now, Kaylor has turned his attention to Broncos vs. Chargers on Thursday Night Football in Week 16 and locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine.

Top NFL DFS picks for Chargers vs. Broncos

One of Kaylor’s top NFL DFS picks for Thursday Night Football is Broncos quarterback Bo Nix. The No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft was the most pro-ready of the rookie quarterbacks despite being the fifth quarterback selected in the draft. He had 1,936 pass attempts in five seasons as a starting quarterback in college, including leading the county in completions (364) and completion percentage (77.4%) in his final season at Oregon. His experience at Auburn and Oregon clearly benefited his progression into becoming an NFL-ready quarterback from Day One. 

The 24-year-old has the second-most Fantasy football points among rookie quarterbacks and is QB9 overall in Fantasy football this season. Nix threw for just 130 yards last week, but he had three touchdowns as he wasn’t asked to do too much offensive in a 31-13 win over the Colts. He uncharacteristically threw three interceptions, his most in a game this season, last week and only threw three interceptions over 14 games in his final college season. Kaylor expects a strong performance from Nix for TNF NFL DFS lineups. See who else he’s high on here.

Kaylor is also targeting Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey. The rookie wide receiver’s biggest hurdle to becoming one of the most recognizable receivers in college football was his own injuries and sharing a field with Brock Bowers at Georgia. But he quickly became the go-to pass-catcher in the Chargers offense and he leads the team in receptions (63), targets (88) and receiving yards (873) this year. The 23-year-old missed Week 14 with a knee and shoulder injury but returned last week with five receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown while playing 88% of snaps.

McConkey had four receptions for 43 yards in the first meeting of the season against the Broncos, but he was targeted a team-high eight times in that Week 6 matchup. The receiver has grown more comfortable in the offense since then and formed a stronger chemistry with Justin Herbert, as displayed with three games of more than 100 yards over his last seven contests. McConkey is the unquestioned top Chargers pass-catcher in this contest and in what could be a low-scoring game, Kaylor loves his floor for NFL DFS picks. See who else Kaylor likes right here.

How to set Broncos vs. Chargers NFL DFS lineups, player pool

Kaylor is also targeting another undervalued player who could explode for huge numbers in Chargers vs. Broncos. 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 Thursday Night Football, and which under-the-radar NFL DFS picks offer huge value? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NFL DFS picks, NFL DFS rankings, NFL DFS advice, and NFL DFS stacks, all from an NFL DFS expert who won a prestigious Millionaire Maker tournament, and find out.