Week 17 of the NFL season kicked off with three games on Christmas Day. Now, we get two games on Saturday (Houston Texans at Los Angeles Chargers and the Baltimore Ravens at the Green Bay Packers). These are two fantastic games and should be fun to build some lineups for. The Main Slate only has nine games, but there are still enough good players for us to be creative with our lineups. The Sunday Night Football game could be a playoff game preview between the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers. This weekend looks like a good time to sit on the couch and watch some football, while winning some cash on DraftKings.
Here are my picks for the NFL Week 17….
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QUARTERBACK: The Jacksonville Jaguars are one of the hottest teams in the NFL right now. They just went to Denver and punched the Broncos in the mouth. Now they have a chance to win the AFC South and possibly get the No. 1 seed in the AFC. I will take a chance with TREVOR LAWRENCE as my Cash Contest QB. He has averaged 28.15 DK Points over his last five games. Lawrence should continue to roll vs. a Colts team that just gave up 5 TD passes to Brock Purdy.
RUNNINGBACKS: I thought about playing Chase Brown or Travis Eteinne Jr. as my top RB in my Cash Contest lineup because they both have great matchups. I decided to play SAQUON BARKLEY. It has been a disappointing season for Barkley because he is nowhere near the RB he was last year, but he is starting to heat up. Barkley is averaging 20.8 DK Points over his last three games. The Bills have allowed the most rushing TDs this year. Barkley should score well in this big game Sunday… RHAMONDRE STEVENSON should get most of the carries for the Patriots this week since All-Star Rookie TreVeyon Henderson is dealing with a concussion. The matchup for Stevenson vs. the Jets is too good to pass up. The J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets Jets have given up the fifth-most DK Points to the RB Position this year. Stevenson should score well for your Cash Contest lineups Sunday.
WIDE RECEIVERS: I really wanted to play Chris Olave as my top WR in my Cash Contest lineup, but Olave is dealing with a back injury and the Saints said they have not decided if it is worth it to play him this week. I will pivot to TEE HIGGINS. The Bengals Offense shows no signs of slowing down. The matchup vs. the Cardinals is one of the best for Higgins. He should easily score over 15 DK Points in Week 17… You can use MIKE EVANS or Tee Higgins as the second WR in this lineup. Both WRs have a great matchup and both should score well. I decided to go with Evans vs. the Dolphins. He has averaged 18.15 DK Points since he returned from his hamstring injury. Evans should receive a lot of targets and score at least one TD Sunday…. JAKOBY MEYERS has been the No. 1 WR for a red hot Jacksonville team. He had a letdown last week, but that had a lot to do with Patrick Surtian following him around the field. The matchup vs. the Colts 31st-ranked pass defense is much easier. I expect Meyers to bounce back and score will for your Cash Contest lineup.
TIGHT END: TREY MCBRIDE is the “Free Square” this week. He is the best TE in the NFL and he is matched up against one of the worst teams at covering the TE Position in the history of the NFL. I usually do not like to stack players in my Cash Contest lineup, but the Jacoby Brissett + Trey McBride stack is too good to pass up Sunday.
FLEX POSITION: I am going to take some risk in the Flex Position this week. TAYSOM HILL was a one-man show for the Saints last week. The TE ran the ball 12 times for 42 yards, he caught 4 passes for 36 yards and he threw a 38-yard TD Pass. Hill is going to be the best pick on the slate as long as he is the No. 1 RB for the Saints, No. 3 option in the passing game and they let him play QB and throw the ball. All of the RBs for the Saints are still hurt, so it looks like Hill will get the same usage in Week 17.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS: The PANTHERS DEFENSE/ST is the best “punt play” at the Defense/ST Position this week. They scored 7 DK Points vs. the 49ers, 13 DK Points vs. the Rams, 6 DK Points vs. the Saints and 5 DK Points vs. the Buccaneers over the last month. They should be able to score 8+ DK Points at home Sunday vs. the Seahawks. That is all they need to do in order to return value for your Cash Contest lineup.
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TOURNAMENT STACK: The Cardinals vs. Bengals game has the highest Over/Under at 53.5 Points. The Bengals have an implied total of 30.25 Points. That is the second highest implied total of the year and it is just too many points to ignore. I will stack JOE BURROW + TEE HIGGINS. Burrow bounced back after his dud in Baltimore by throwing for 309 yards and 4 TDs last week (32 DK Points) last week vs. the Dolphins. I would love to pair Burrow with Ja’Marr Chase, but I could not make his high price work in this lineup. Higgins has a habit of exploding too, so I will save $2K and use Higgins with Burrow…. I will run the stack back on the Cardinals side with TREY MCBRIDE. He has his best matchup of the year vs. the Bengals Defense.
RUNNINGBACKS: I have been fading all of the Raiders players this year because I have not trusted them. I am willing to take a chance Sunday in Tournament Contests with ASHTON JEANTY. He finally exploded last week for 34.8 DK Points. The Raiders finally made Jeanty the focus of their offense and gave him 26 touches in the game. Jeanty will likely get the same workload Sunday vs. the Giants 31st-ranked run defense. That should equal a lot of DK Points for Jeanty in your lineup…. What has TONY POLLARD been drinking over the last three weeks? He has three consecutive 100-yard games and they came against the 49ers, Browns and Chiefs Defenses. Those are some pretty good teams at stopping the run. Now Pollard gets to face the Saints 23rd-ranked run defense. Pollard has averaged 21.8 DK Points over his last three games. He should continue to roll Sunday.
WIDE RECEIVERS: I have JAKOBY MEYERS on my Cash Contest lineup and I will use him in my Tournament Contest lineup too. We get the top WR on one of the hottest offenses in the NFL for only $5,300. That is too good to pass up in Week 17… I will punt the last WR Position and take a chance with MARQUES VALDES-SCANTLING. I know it looks ugly to play MVS, but the Steelers do not have many options at WR with D.K. Metcalf suspended this week. I expect Aaron Rodgers to go back to his old Green Bay teammate and MVS to easily return value for his minimum price tag.
RB + DEFENSE/ST: The best RB + DEFENSE/ST stack this week should be the RHAMONDRE STEVENSON + PATRIOTS DEFENSE/ST Stack. The Patriots are a 13.5 Point favorite vs. the Jets Sunday. The Patriots should get a large lead and then pound the ball with Stevenson. This stack should score well Sunday.
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Good luck this week!
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