NFL DFS Lineup Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings - 49ers vs. Rams Thursday Night Showdown

September 10, 2026

Koby's top NFL DFS lineup picks for the 49ers vs. Rams Thursday Night Football game on FanDuel, DraftKings. His NFL daily fantasy sleeper picks for Thursday, September 10, 2026.

Welcome back, RotoBallers! Football is underway; by the time y'all see this, the first game of the season will have started. And man, is it good to be back. We have our first NFL game ever debuting in Australia, Melbourne to be specific! I love when teams go to other countries and spread the love of the NFL. They will get an NFC West showdown for their first taste as the San Francisco 49ers take on the Los Angeles Rams!

The big question for today's game is who will really be at 100%. Is the 49ers going a week early to acclimate going to give them an advantage over the Rams, who just traveled a couple of days ago? Overall, the Rams are the better team, but not acclimating might hurt them a bit! I'll be your NFL Showdown guy this season, so make sure to catch my articles for Thursday and Monday Night Football. If you have any questions about other showdown slates, feel free to hit me up on X @DFSKoby, where I'm more than happy to help y'all out!

I will provide you with daily fantasy football picks on DraftKings and FanDuel for Thursday Night Football in Week 1 -- 49ers. vs Rams on September 10, 2026. These NFL DFS lineup picks can vary from higher-priced players and elite options to lower-priced players and value picks. 

MVP/Captain - NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Davante Adams - QB, $13.8K (DK), $13.5K (FD)

I won't be going the double QB route this time around; I'm going to switch it up and go with the WR in this case. This one might be looked at as a bit more of a GPP option, as a lot of people will start their lineups with Puka Nacua. I can't fault anyone for that; Nacua was on a tear last season, but that price is a little rich for me. I'll definitely take the guy who was looked at more in the red zone than anyone on the team. He led the team with a 31.7% target share in the red zone.

Matthew with a dot to Tae. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/7Ip4sUKP1r

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) August 20, 2026

Adams may not have seen as many targets in the game, but the extra looks in the red zone are big. The extra six points or nine in the MVP spot is massive! Overall, Adams is still playing at an elite level, and with no legit WR3 on this team, I expect Adams to continue seeing nearly a quarter of all the targets on this team.

Christian McCaffrey - RB, $15.9K (DK), $19.5K (FD)

This 49ers offense took on quite the overhaul; they brought Deebo Samuel back in, made Mike Evans the WR1, and the rookie De'Zhaun Stribling is making a name for himself. That being said, it might make it a little tough on Brock Purdy to get this offense going. Hence why I'm going back to ole' reliable. CMC has been one of the best running backs in the league, and as long as he avoids the injury bug, I don't see that changing.

He is massive both in the running game and receiving game. He was averaging a touchdown per game last season, while seeing 63% rush share and almost six receptions per game. The 49ers haven't quite decided how they are going about the backup running back position, so expect CMC to get a ton of work while they figure out who will get the rest of the touches. The Rams defense is going to come in hot, so I do expect CMC to be used as Purdy's scapegoat quite a bit in this one.

Other Captains/MVPs: Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua

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Flex Plays - NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Matthew Stafford - QB, $9.8K (DK), $11.4K (FD)

I am, however, gonna roll with Stafford here in the flex spot. Stafford has been incredible; in eight of his final 10 games last season, he threw the ball over 35 times. Sean McVay loves to push the ball down the field with Stafford, and with this defense beefed up, I wouldn't be surprised if they get it going early and often to make a statement. Stafford has plenty of options to choose from; his only downside is he doesn't scramble and run the ball.

If the frontline can hold it down for Stafford, then it's going to be game over, as Stafford doesn't need a ton of time to get the ball out accurately. Stafford averaged just over 282 passing yards and 2.6 touchdowns per game last season. I will have a bunch of lineups with Stafford, as I think this Rams offense is going to be too much for the 49ers to handle.

De'Zhaun Stribling, $6.6K (DK), $7.2K (FD)

Stribling has been the talk of the town since making his way onto this 49ers team. He benefited heavily from Ricky Pearsall going down with a season-ending injury. That being said, the youngster could have a big role in this offense. Deebo, Evans, and Kittle have all been dealing with injuries and are getting older. Stribling has a chance to make quite the splash as the WR3 in this offense.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket, though; with this 49ers offense, make sure you get a little bit of each guy to make sure your bases are covered. You don't want to end up with all of one guy if he duds out. I really like what I've seen from him so far, and even Purdy has come out and said he's going to be a big part of the offense.

Seems like Josh and I are aligned in our bold predictions about De’Zhaun Stribling 👀https://t.co/9nnbZyBzQE https://t.co/jKM88JdcI3 pic.twitter.com/0T1wvitpO2

— Corbin (@corbin_young21) September 7, 2026

He has some insane speed, and if he can pull away from these Rams corners, that is going to be huge for him. He has all the skills to be an elite receiver; let's see how it translates to the real thing.

Other Flex Options: Mike Evans, Brock Purdy, Kyren Williams

Value Plays - NFL DFS Lineup Picks

Colby Parkinson - TE, $3.6K (DK), $5.8K (FD)

This Rams offense is already stacked, so the TE1 is going to be considered value here. He is dirt cheap; the Rams ran a ton of three-TE sets, which gives Parkinson a ton of opportunities. He played in at least 68% of snaps in all but one week since Week 11. He became the clear target as far as TEs go. He was third on the team in target share behind Nacua and Adams with 11%. He was also third on the team in TDs per game.

Stafford loves Parkinson and will get him involved in this game. Also, the 49ers gave up the sixth most TDs to TEs last season. The only player who had more targets in the red zone last year was Adams. For Parkinson's price, I'll gladly add him to my lineups.

Rams D/ST, $4K (DK), $7K (FD)

I'm going to keep it here with the Rams defense this time. They are cheap, and they are very dangerous. As if this Rams defense wasn't strong enough, they go out and address what might have been their one weakness and go get the Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett. Then on top of that, they manage to bring Aaron Donald back? Like, this team is insane, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish with 5+ sacks.

The Rams defense was 10th best in limiting points last season. I can only imagine how much better they get. Look for the Rams defense to be a solid GPP option, as defenses are usually underowned in most showdowns.

Other Value Options: Blake Corum, Terrance Ferguson, Kaelon Black (Punt)

Sample NFL DFS Lineup

Here is a lineup option I like for the Thursday Night Football slate on DraftKings. Note that sample lineups are not intended to be used in contests by readers, but instead to show the type of roster construction that I am considering when building my lineups.

More DFS Analysis and Lineup Picks