Perfect TNF Week 5 DFS FanDuel Showdown Lineup Featuring Puka Nacua and Blake Corum

The Rams project to run rampid against the 49ers in Week 5 Thursday Night Football. We are going to feature Puka Nacua & Blake Corum in a FanDuel DFS Showdown.

Sep 28, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua (12) celebrates after a complete pass and first down during the first half against the Indianapolis Colts at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Thursday Night Football previews to be a very unique slate for DFS. We have the 49ers plagued by injuries in Brock Purdy, Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings. We then have a complete, surging offense with the Rams. It can be a blowout, but in a divisional rivalry, perhaps not? Well, today we will preview the game and find the best value picks. Who knows, maybe Week 5 will be the big winner for us all. Only one way to find out.

TNF PREVIEW - 49ERS VS RAMS

The 49ers maintain to be an injury-plagued team week in and week out. They have had basically their entire offense on the injury report this season, and it is just October 2nd. Tonight, they will be missing Brock Purdy, Ricky Pearsall, and Jauan Jennings among their key options. Of course, George Kittle is out for the season.

#49ers starters Out vs Rams:

- Brock Purdy
- George Kittle
- Ricky Pearsall
- Jauan Jennings
- Brandon Aiyuk
- Nick Bosa
- Malik Mustapha
- Ben Bartch pic.twitter.com/n6umionZV6

— 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙎𝙁𝙉𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 (@TheSFNiners) October 1, 2025

Mac Jones is being elevated to the starting role once again. He has actually performed in a way that shows no difference to Purdy on paper. In two games, Jones has 563 Yards, 4 Touchdowns, and 1 Interception. He is surely among the better NFL backups, but he will be more handicapped than usual.

The 49ers starters tonight will be: Christian McCaffrey, Brian Robinson, Kyle Juszczyk then Kendrick Bourne, Demarcus Robinson, and Sky Moore. It will be easily expected that the 49ers will plan to run the ball and utilize the play-action as best they can. This may work, but can also be easily gameplanned by Sean McVay. I foresee the 49ers offense struggling quite a bit.

As for the Rams, they have been running rampid on offense and they remain healthy. The 49ers defense is a solid unit, but just that. Expect the Rams to have no issue putting up points today. There is not much else to say.

WEEK 5 TNF FANDUEL SHOWDOWN LINEUP

---

Avoid Mac Jones

Jones is caught in a salary issue tonight. The contest was listed before Purdy was ruled out of the lineup. What this means is that you can get Jones for $1,000. That may look like gold to most, but it is not. Reason being is that Jones will be owned in 90%, if not more of DFS lineups. This gives you no edge. I am fine fading him, especially since his scoring upside is not really all that massive in a brutal matchup of injuries against world-class.

---

MVP - 1.5X PTS - Joshua Karty ($9,600)

Commonly, kickers are very highly owned in these showdown contests. However, not so much today given the starpower in the game. Mac Jones, Matthew Stafford along with McCaffrey and Puka Nacua look to be among the highly-owned MVP items in this slate. I am projecting Karty to score well over (10) points and I do love his upside in a dome, on a short week, and with an offense that has scored a lot, but actually not been ultra efficient. They rank 13th in 3rd down conversion rate.

FLEX - Christian McCaffrey ($13,200)

If the 49ers find any success on offense, it will be with McCaffrey. In rare fashion, McCaffrey is all-clear of injury coming into this game. For that reason, he is even more of a prime play. The 49ers project a comfortable advantage in run-block win rate, thus allowing the team to flood the ball to McCaffrey as they please. May the Rams stack the box? Sure, but it may not be that simple against the ever so clever 49ers offense.

FLEX - Matthew Stafford ($11,800)

The Rams very well may route the 49ers in Thursday Night. They are implied right now to score 26.0 points, per betting odds. Los Angeles may be thought to run-first in this offense but they do actually rate above average in passing play percentage. This is despite not really ever being in heavy pass-script all season. They will pass to Nacua and Adams and they will have success. Stafford should be a very safe play and with considerable upside. If we must play high-salary players, I prefer Stafford to others.

FLEX - Puka Nacua ($12,800)

What else can I say about Nacua? He is arguably the most impressive player in the entire NFL. I laughed, but appreciated hearing Davante Adams and Stafford discuss how Nacua watches LeBron highlights every night before a game. He is an absolute warrior and is exposing everyone right now. Nacua is a must-play, matchup proof asset. He is literally averaging over 24 PPG on FanDuel, which hits nearly 2x by default. In no surprise, he is our Fantasy Sports On SI top ranked wide receiver in Week 5.

FLEX - LA Rams DST ($6,600)

I do not always love playing defenses in showdowns, but the Rams are very viable in this slate. The team is averaging 3.5 sacks per game and 1.75 turnovers per game. Look to them to frustrate Mac Jones and a very lacking offense. There is no reason they can't get more sacks and turnovers on the rather immobile backup quarterback. Double-digit output is very likely today.

FLEX - Blake Corum ($4,400)

You do not have to always be so hell-bent on fulfilling 100% of the $60,000 salary on showdowns. You have limited options and more volatility. If I leave $1,000-$2,000 on the board for better perceived output, I will do so. For that reason I am picking Corum over Jake Tonges and Demarcus Robinson. Corum has 23% of team carries and in a short week, expect that number to uptick over 30%. Corum also does carry notable touchdown opportunity with four touches this season for a touchdown. The Rams could get up, run more, rest Kyren Williams, and let Corum have a great game.

FanDuel.com