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Week 2 of the 2025 NFL preseason schedule wraps up with a Monday Night Football showdown between the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders. Both teams lost their preseason openers, with Cincinnati falling 34-27 to the Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington losing 48-18 to the New England Patriots. Both teams are expected to have their starting quarterbacks -- Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels -- play for at least a couple of series on Monday night. Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota (leg), and wide receiver Terry McLaurin (contract) are both out for the Commanders.

Kickoff is at 8 p.m. ET at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md. Should you back Burrow and his top targets, wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, when making MNF DFS picks and NFL DFS stacks on Monday? Or should you build around Daniels? Before making any NFL DFS picks for Monday on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, be sure to check out the NFL DFS lineup advice, strategy and player stacks from SportsLine NFL daily Fantasy expert Jimmie Kaylor. 

Kaylor is a NFL betting and DFS expert for SportsLine, who opened the 2022 NFL season by winning DraftKings' NFL Showdown Thursday Kickoff Millionaire contest. He edged out over 355,000 other entrants in the contest and also has multiple five-figure tournament wins on his DFS resume. Kaylor has covered the NFL and college football for close to a decade as a member of the Pro Football Writers of America, and his background as a former college and NFL player gives him a unique perspective when building his fantasy lineups and locking in his betting picks. Anybody following his DFS picks over the last three seasons could have seen huge returns. 

Now, Kaylor has turned his attention to Monday's 2025 NFL preseason schedule and locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see his picks and analysis at SportsLine, and new players can get $50 in Pick6 credits at DraftKings when they play $5: 

Top NFL preseason DFS picks for Monday

One of Kaylor's top DFS picks for Monday is Bengals quarterback Jake Browning. The former Washington standout went undrafted in 2019 after a highly productive college career. He began his NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings, but has since settled into the backup quarterback role in Cincinnati.

Browning doesn't have a large amount of starting experience at the NFL level, but he was successful when called upon during regular season action. When Joe Burrow went down with a season-ending injury in 2023, Browning stepped in and went 4-3 in seven starts, completing 70.4% of his passes for 1,936 yards, 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Browning is expected to see extensive action after Burrow on Monday night.

Another part of Kaylor's Monday NFL DFS strategy includes rostering Commanders running back Chris Rodriguez. The former Kentucky standout was a sixth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but has only played in a reserve role as a professional thus far. Rodriguez is currently battling Jeremy McNichols for the third spot on Washington's depth chart behind Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler.

In 22 career NFL games, Rodriguez has totaled 86 carries for 420 yards and four touchdowns. His combination of size (5-foot-11, 224 pounds), speed (4.52-second 40-yard dash), and NFL experience make him an intriguing DFS option for Monday night. You can see the rest of Kaylor's NFL DFS picks here. You can see the rest of Kaylor's NFL DFS picks here, and new users can see the latest FanDuel promo code to get $300 in bonus bets at FanDuel if your $5 bet wins:

How to build Monday preseason NFL DFS lineups

Kaylor is also targeting another undervalued player who could explode for huge numbers on Monday. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is, and the rest of Kaylor's NFL DFS picks, at SportsLine. 

So who is Jimmie Kaylor including in his optimal NFL DFS lineups for Monday, and which under-the-radar NFL DFS picks offer huge value? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NFL DFS picks, rankings, advice and stacks, all from a DFS expert who already won a single-game millionaire maker tournament, and find out.