Week 17 causes a mess of many obstacles in player participation. Some teams are resting starters like the Rams, Chiefs and Eagles to prepare for a postseason run, and others like non-playoff teams are getting reps for younger backups. In our DraftKings daily fantasy football cash-game lineup, we're manuevering through these obstacles for the best lineup possible in the last week of the NFL regular season.
Last week hurt us bad. Early exits by Evan Engram and Zeke’s most important lineman — plus Jason Garrett deciding to screw us on the one yard-line— kept the lineup from comfortably hitting in cash. Alas, we neared the cash line again in a week filled with high-owned duds across the landscape.
WEEK 17 DFS:
FanDuel GPP lineup | DK GPP | Values | Stacks | DFS Lineup Builder
Week 17 DraftKings Picks: Cash lineup, advice
For DraftKings' 16-game featured slate in NFL Week 17.
QB Jameis Winston, TB vs. NO ($5800): Winston should get the full complement at receiver with D-Jax returning to practice and Chris Godwin showing he can produce with usage. Marshon Lattimore probably tracks Mike Evans, but Winston spreads it around enough to rank sixth in dropbacks and fourth in yards since Week 14 without Evans really going off.
RB Christian McCaffrey, CAR @ ATL ($6700): The Falcons’ brand of Cover-3 has improved enough to vault them from 25th to 10th in year-over-year total defense. A major trade-off has come at running back, the position that Atlanta allows a league-high 101 catches on the season. Enter the only RB competing with Le’Veon Bell in target volume.
RB Jamaal Williams, GB @ DET ($5200): Monitor Aaron Jones’ status after aggravating his knee injury on Sunday. While Jones didn’t steal much in touch share, Williams did manage 80-plus percent of snaps and top 23 DraftKing points in each game from Week 11 to Jones’ limited return in Week 13, per Pro Football Reference. Since then, he’s only hit that snap share and DK total once. J-Will’s the key to pulling off a frugal high-touch backfield with Run CMC.
WEEK 17 RANKINGS
Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End | D/ST | Kicker
WR Julio Jones, ATL vs. CAR ($8200): We saved up — now we pay up for studs at receiver. Jones shook off the ailments plaguing him on Monday night to roast New Orleans despite facing a ton of Marshon Lattimore. Julio averages 164 receiving yards in his past four meetings with Carolina, including three 100-yard days. Not a bad split.
WR Keenan Allen, SD vs. OAK ($7800): Factoring out Week 15 when Allen exited early, no player has seen more targets since mid-November. We can jam both Julio and Keenan for well under the WR price ceiling in Week 17 games that ensure the usage of an elimination game. We’d prefer a dome game in late December, as with Julio, but 60s and dry with low wind isn’t bad either.
WR Marquise Goodwin, SF @ LAR ($6600): San Francisco's new alpha WR1 ranks sixth in targets and fourth in receiving yards since Jimmy Garoppolo took over in Week 13, per Pro Football Focus data. He struggled last week when the 49ers looked elsewhere from the Jags corners, but it won't be the same this week. Also, it's a bonus if the Rams rest Trumaine Johnson with a wild-card weekend matchup already locked in.
TE Lance Kendricks, GB @ DET ($2500): This hinges on Richard Rodgers sitting. Kendricks took over for the injured tight end on Saturday night and racked up eight targets to rank third at the position last week. A cap-saver here at $4600 off the ceiling held by Travis Kelce, who like other premium TEs faces usage concerns ahead of the postseason.
FLEX Robby Anderson, NYJ @ NE ($5000): Anderson’s 19 targets rank seventh among WRs since Bryce Petty went behind center Week 15. Per PFF's shadow coverage matrix, Anderson dealt with two of their top-five graded corners in back-to-back weeks, so New England’s 30th-ranked defense against receivers in DraftKings scoring comes as a welcome respite.
D/ST 49ers @ Rams ($2100): Counting on Sean McVay (smart) resting starters with a playoff game locked in just one week away, potentially a Saturday contest. Basement price against inexperienced Sean Mannion and understudies for a majority of snaps….would be optimal.