Best NFL DFS Picks for Thursday: Raiders-Texans and 49ers-Chargers Preseason DraftKings and FanDuel Lineups

Preseason Week 2 kicks off Thursday night with a two-game DFS slate that tips off at 8 p.m. ET: Raiders at Texans on ESPN, followed by 49ers at Chargers on NFL Network at 10 p.m. ET. Both DraftKings and FanDuel are running dedicated preseason contests tonight, and the format flips the usual DFS script — every player carries the same salary, so this is purely about identifying who plays the most snaps and produces.

That changes the approach for building NFL DFS picks tonight. Established starters are largely sitting or playing a series at most, so the real value lives with backups and rookies fighting for reps. Below are five plays worth building around for tonight’s DraftKings lineup or FanDuel roster, built around expected workload rather than name recognition.

Fernando Mendoza, QB — Raiders at Texans

Mendoza is the headline story of this Thursday Night Football DFS slate. The No. 1 overall pick, who wears No. 15 for Las Vegas, is set to see extended run under head coach Klint Kubiak, who has been rotating all three Raiders quarterbacks with the first-team offense throughout the week. Kirk Cousins remains the presumptive Week 1 starter and won’t play long, which opens the door for Mendoza to log heavy snaps behind him.

In his professional debut last Thursday against Arizona, Mendoza completed 10 of 16 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown — a promising first outing for a rookie getting his first live NFL reps. Houston brings an elite starting defense, but Mendoza will be facing mostly backups once the Texans’ first unit gives way, which softens the matchup considerably. Given the volume he’s projected to see, Mendoza profiles as the top overall NFL DFS target on tonight’s card.

Noah Whittington, RB — Texans vs. Raiders

Whittington is stepping into a clearer workload after Houston’s backfield thinned out. He logged 14 touches in the Texans’ preseason opener, and that role should only grow after Josh Pitsenberger was placed on IR with an ankle injury following nine carries last week. With David Montgomery and Woody Marks both likely to be rested, and Jawhar Jordan (hip) and British Brooks (hand) banged up, Whittington and Owen Wright are the only backs in line for real workload behind Houston’s top options.

For a preseason DFS slate where touches are king, that kind of clear-cut opportunity is exactly what to target. Whittington doesn’t need to be efficient to pay off in a flat-salary format — he just needs volume, and right now he’s got a path to plenty of it.

Mike Washington, RB — Raiders at Texans

Washington flashed real juice in his NFL debut, ripping off a 53-yard run on one of his six carries last week. He’s currently the favorite to win the backup job behind Ashton Jeanty, and another strong showing tonight would go a long way toward locking that up. Like Mendoza, Washington figures to see extensive time as part of Las Vegas’ second-team offense once the top unit exits, giving him a runway for touches in a game where roster spots and depth-chart standing are genuinely on the line.

Big-play backs like Washington carry outsized upside in these preseason formats — one long run can be the difference between a middling lineup and a winning one, and he’s already shown he can produce exactly that.

De’Zhaun Stribling, WR — 49ers at Chargers

Stribling has quickly become one of the more buzzed-about names of this preseason after catching seven of eight targets for 63 yards in his NFL debut. He wears No. 15 for San Francisco, and with the 49ers dealing with injuries at wide receiver, there’s a real path to another heavy target share tonight. Coach Kyle Shanahan has confirmed that Brock Purdy is likely to see the field for at least a series, but San Francisco’s receiver corps is thin enough that the coaching staff has strong incentive to keep feeding Stribling regardless of who’s throwing him the ball.

He impressed throughout training camp before backing it up in Week 1 game action, and that combination of trust and opportunity makes him one of the safer DFS plays on the board for a two-game slate like this one.

KeAndre Lambert-Smith, WR — Chargers vs. 49ers

Lambert-Smith is scrapping for a role behind Ladd McConkey and an injured Quentin Johnston, but he’s already shown he can win targets when given the chance. He tied for the team lead with six targets in Week 1 of the preseason, hauling in four of them for 58 yards. That’s a real workload in a format where target volume translates directly into fantasy production, and with the Chargers’ receiver depth chart still unsettled behind their top two, Lambert-Smith has a legitimate shot at another featured role tonight.

He’s the kind of value name that separates a good FanDuel picks lineup from a great one — not a marquee name, but a player with a clear runway to touches in a game where touches are the only currency that matters.

Building Your Lineup

Because every player carries the same salary in these preseason DraftKings and FanDuel contests, the format rewards volume over anything else — chase the players who are locked into extended snaps, not the biggest names on the depth chart. Pairing Mendoza with one of his pass-catchers gives you a mini-stack that benefits if the rookie keeps slinging it around Houston’s backup secondary, while a Whittington-Washington RB combo covers both sides of tonight’s early game if either offense leans run-heavy in a low-scoring exhibition script.

For the second game, the 49ers’ receiver injuries make Stribling one of the safer plays on the entire slate, while Lambert-Smith gives you correlated upside if the Chargers’ offense finds a rhythm through the air. Since ownership tends to cluster around whichever quarterback logs the most first-half snaps, don’t be afraid to pivot to the RB and WR value plays below him to differentiate your Thursday Night Football DFS build from the pack.