MLB DFS Showdown Playbook

McWilliams is a twitchy, low-cut nickelback who made a strong push up boards with a bounce-back 2024 campaign and a standout Senior Bowl week. After shuttling between outside corner and slot during his time at UAB and UCF, McWilliams showed his best tape when aligned inside, where his short-area quickness and route anticipation allowed him to consistently undercut breaks and contest targets. At 5’10”, 191 pounds with sub-30” arms, McWilliams lacks prototypical boundary size, but compensates with elite short-space burst (1.53 10-yard, 4.41 40) and a relentless play demeanor. He tallied 9 PBUs and 2 INTs over the past two years and plays with strong pedal mechanics and a nose for attacking the top of routes. He’s also physical in run support and brings added value as a special teamer and returner (11.6 YPR on punts). Limitations show up downfield—he struggles to find the ball on vertical shots and can get outmatched by size. Still, McWilliams is an immediate nickel option for zone-heavy schemes.

Ludicrously efficient and accurate for a 2024 Buffaloes team that narrowly missed the playoff, Sanders (6’1/212) arrives as a polarizing Heisman finalist who lives off short passes and takes many, many sacks. The good news is, he cut his 2024 pressure-to-sack rate from a miserable 25.0 to a more palatable 20.5. Despite the quarterback takedowns, Sanders also posted a 5.2 to 1.2 “big time throw to turnover-worthy play” rate. He turns the ball over at a well below average clip. Part of that is Sanders’ microscopic aDOT, though he is lethally accurate on his short throws. Sanders led the nation with a 74 percent completion percentage in 2024. Although Sanders could eventually max out as a next generation Kirk Cousins or Andy Dalton, that wouldn’t be a bad thing. Poised and tough, Sanders is a floor-based selection whose general competence could make him something more if he is able to further decrease his sack rate in the big leagues.

The Seahawks dealt Sam Howell and pick No. 172 to the Vikings to move up and take Mills. Mills (6’5"/291) spent five years in South Bend as a gap shooting three-tech, starting 35 games over the last three years as a key cog in Notre Dame’s National Championship runner-up defense led by HC Marcus Freeman. Mills sustained a knee injury that ended his 2024 campaign three games early, but not before he rolled up 8.5 TFLs and 7.5 sacks to go with 34 pressures and an 83.1 pass rush grade. Though he’s an able tackler who rarely lets ball carriers escape his grasp, as is evidenced by his sterling 3.4% missed tackle rate, Mills is much more dangerous in the pass game, having posted an elite 14.3 percent pass rush win rate. He has the requisite length and size to be a penetrating 3-4 defensive end who brings the heat on passing downs.

No word yet on the reason for the move. Fitzgerald was playing second base and batting eighth in the original lineup. It’ll be rookie Christian Koss taking over at the keystone in his place. There should be an update on his status shortly.

Jackson (6’6/328) is a strong, towering nose tackle with poor athleticism (3.74 RAS) and little pass-rush utility. His run-defense chops should get him on an NFL field for first and second down, though. Jackson’s physical measurements vary source-to-source, but at minimum, he should be considered as having a 6-foot-10 wingspan and 34-inch arms. He wields his upper-body length effectively by delivering powerful punches and swimming past blockers. Jackson spent three seasons at Memphis before transferring to Florida in 2023. In his two seasons as a Florida starter, Jackson totaled just 18 quarterback pressures and two sacks but consistently stonewalled opposing rushers. Among 80 Power Five defensive tackles with at least 335 regular season run-defense snaps, Jackson ranks top 12 in stops (37) and tackles (52) via just 342 qualifying snaps.