Fantasy Football: Starts and DFS picks ahead of Super Bowl 57

• Miles Sanders set to thrive: The Philadelphia Eagles RB is fully healthy and ready to take advantage of the team's run-blocking advantage over the Kansas City Chiefs‘ front seven.
• Kadarius Toney could be Chiefs most productive WR: The explosive receiver could generate some serious points for DFS managers due to his ability to create yards after the catch.

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

RB Miles Sanders, Philadelphia Eagles ($7,800 Flex/$11,700 Captain on DraftKings)

• Philadelphia is implied to score 26.0 points as -1.5-point Super Bowl LVII favorites at BetMGM.
• PFF’s OL/DL matchup chart gives Philadelphia a dominant 35.0% run-blocking matchup advantage rating. 
• Kansas City is allowing a 41.0% touchdown-conversion rate on opponent rushing attempts inside Kansas City’s five-yard line.
• Philadelphia is converting 47.0% of rushing attempts inside the opponent’s five-yard line.
• Sanders’ DraftKings salaries are both the sixth-highest overall. 
• Sanders offers reasonable affordability, which will be exploited by sharp players. The masses may be fearful of his recently reduced workload.
• The Penn State product (73.6 PFF offense grade) appeared on the Week 17 and Week 18 injury reports due to a knee injury. The team has since significantly reduced Sanders’ second-half playing time whenever possible in an effort to preserve his health for Super Bowl LVII.
• The table below shows the Philadelphia backfield’s second-half usage rates in Weeks 1-16 and Week 17-NFC Conference Championship (NFCCC). 

• Sanders’ 137 second-half rushing attempts in Weeks 1-16 ranked third among NFL running backs. His drop in usage is substantial.
• With two weeks to receive treatment, Sanders should be his healthiest since Week 16. Expect a return to his high-volume, highly efficient rushing productivity.
• The table below ranks (in parentheses) Sanders’ 2022-2023 rushing data among 45 NFL running backs with at least 100 rushing attempts.

• Sanders’ 34 regular-season explosive rushing plays ranked No. 4 among qualifying running backs.
• Sanders is an inefficient passing-game asset, but his 77.8% catch rate offers points-per-reception scoring potential.
• Among NFL front-seven defenders with at least 100 run-defense snaps, Kansas City has just three players who rank inside the top 32 at their respective position in run-stop rate — linebacker Nick Bolton (8.0% run-stop rate, tied for No. 26 among 95 qualifying linebackers), edge rusher Carlos Dunlap (9.1% run-stop rate, No. 13 among 122 qualifying edge rushers) and defensive tackle Khalen Saunders (8.8% run-stop rate, tied for No. 22 among 142 qualifying defensive tackles).
• The table below ranks in parentheses Kansas City’s run-defense data among NFL teams.