Happy New Year!!!!! Hopefully 2022 was a good year for your fantasy teams and I wish you the best of luck in 2023. I will be right here to help you navigate your Fantasy NASCAR, Fantasy Golf and Fantasy Football leagues to your league championships.
Before I get into the DFS NFL picks, I want to let you know that the DFS Golf picks will be posted next week and will continue for the rest of the 2023 season. The Fantasy NASCAR Driver Preview articles will start to be posted around January 18th. I will post two drivers a day until the No. 1 driver in my rankings is revealed. Also, the cost of my web hosting and other products I use to run this site have increased so I have to increase the prices a few dollars in 2023. You can still get the 2022 prices before the end of the year.
Here are my picks for the Week 17….
UPDATED DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST PICKS
I did some more research and made a few changes to the Cash Contest lineup. The Jaguars essentially have nothing to play for Sunday and their coach talked about getting some players to rest Sunday. I changed Travis Etienne Jr. to CHRISTIAN MCCAFREY (Nice upgrade their 😊). The top rated RB for the week according to Pro Football Focus is RHAMNDRE STEVENSON so I will use him over James Conner. JAKOBI MEYERS will get a lot of targets with DeVante Parker out of the lineup. I love Amon-Ra St. Brown this week, but I rather use the money for McCaffrey so I will change St. Brown to Meyers. Anotnio Gibson is out Sunday so BRIAN ROBINSON will likely have 25 carries vs. the Browns 25th ranked run defense.. Giddy Up!!! I have some extra salary so I will use the S.F. 49ERS DEFENSE/ST vs. Jarrett Stidham and the (I surrender) Raiders.
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST
* I still like this lineup, but I like the one posted above a bit more.
QUARTERBACK: I went with GARDNER MINSHEW II on Christmas Eve and he rewarded me with 28.7 DK Points. Minshew is a bargain again this week for $5,500. Obviously, I will have to update these picks if Jalen Hurts plays, but I left $200 on the table to pivot to Jared Goff if Hurt plays.
RUNINGBACKS: The top RB for my Cash Contest lineup will be JAMES CONNER. He has been the offense for the Cardinals over the last month and I doubt it will change Sunday. You can pivot to the red hot Jerrick McKinnon if you need a bit more salary, but I will roll with Conners in Week 17… The Jaguars offense has been red hot over the last month and I want a piece of it vs. the Texans. I know the Texans have been playing well lately, but their run defense still has some holes. TRAVIS ETIENNE JR. has a great matchup this week and he is a bargain for only $6,400.
WIDE RECEIVERS: We have reached the time of the NFL Season when we can look at how teams performed in their previous matchups vs. their divisional foes. AMON-RA ST.BROWN torched the Bears defense for 25.1 DK Points in Week 10. The Lions always play better at home, so he will have a good chance to score over 25 DK Points Sunday… I do not know much, but I do know QB Justin Herbert loves KEENAN ALLEN. Herbert has averaged 13 passes to Allen per game over the last month and it has resulted in Allen averaging 21 DK Points per game. CB Jalen Ramsey will likely cover WR Mike Williams, so Allen should once again be busy from the slot position…. I need a good value play at WR and thank goodness Mike White came back to save the day. GARRETT WILSON was a beast with White at QB. Wilson and he should return to form Sunday.
TIGHT END: I have had a lot of success punting the TE position in my Cash Contests lineups this year and why stop now. I will take a chance with TYLER CONKLIN Sunday. He has not done much recently, but he did perform well with Mike White at QB for the Jets. The Seahawks rank dead last in the NFL at covering the TE position. Conklin does not need to do much to return value at $2,900.
FLEX POSITION: There is no secret what the strategy will be for the Washington Commanders Sunday. They want to run the football and play good defense. That was their secret to success in their winning streak and it should work vs. the Browns 25th ranked run defense. For that reason, I will take my chances with BRIAN ROBINSON. He is a hard runner and it also helps that Antonio Gibson is unlikely to play. That means more carries for Robinson.
DEFENSE /ST: I am going to punt the defense position Sunday so I have enough salary to pay up at the other position. The PACKERS DEFENSE/ST has not been very good but they have scored 11 DK Points in their last two games (vs. the Dolphins and Rams). I will take a chance with the Packers vs. the dome team playing outside.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST
Here are my top stacks for the week. The first stack listed is best for Single-Entry Tournament Contests because we do not need to be as contrarian in those types of contests and the other two are best for Multi-Entry Contests.
GAME STACK 1: The easiest team to predict this year in the NFL has been the Detroit Lions. They play really good at home in the dome and they have struggled on the road outside. They are in the dome Sunday and have a great matchup vs. the Bears so I will stack JARED GOFF + AMON RA ST. BROWN and run it back with COLE KMET. The Goff to St. Brown stack went off for 40 DK Points in Chicago in Week 10. It should be much better at home this week. Kmet also scored 23.4 DK Points in that game. He has a good matchup vs. the Lions defense Sunday…. I like TRAVIS ETIENNE JR. in my Cash Contest lineup and I will play him in the Single-Entry Tournament lineup too. The matchup vs. the Texans’ run defense is just too good to pass up… Uncle Lenny finally showed up last week. LEONARD FOURNETTE scored 25.2 DK Points vs. Arizona in Week 16. He has another good matchup vs. the Panthers 21st ranked run defense…. KEENAN ALLEN is also a player I will use in the Cash and Tournament lineup this week. He should get a lot of targets in a possible shootout vs. the Rams… JAHAN DOTSON may be the best value pick at the WR position Sunday. He has averaged 20 DK Points in his last three games. That includes his game last week vs. the 49ers tough defense. Datson should be able to score well once again vs. the Browns… GEORGE KITTLE has been a beast since Deebo Samuel went out of the lineup. Kittle is averaging 29 DK Points in his last two games. Now he gets to face the Raiders defense that ranks 28th vs. the TE position this year. Giddy Up!!!! New England has not looked good this year but it is not because of their defense. The PATRIOTS DEFENSE/ST is averaging 15 DK Points in their last three games. That includes a game last week vs. the Bengals. They should score well again Sunday vs. a Tua-less Dolphins team.
GAME STACK 2: Tua Tagovailoa is out this week so I will stack TEDDY BRIDGEWATER + TYREEK HILL vs. the Patriots. Bridgewater played well when he filled in for Tua earlier this season. His price is too cheap to pass up Sunday…. CAM AKERS went off last week for 37.7 DK Points. Am I chasing last week’s points? Maybe, but the Chargers have the 22nd ranked run defense. The Rams should run the ball a lot with Akers Sunday… The best RB over the last month in DFS contests has been JERRICK MCKINNON. He scored 35.4 DK Points vs. the Broncos three weeks ago. I will play McKinnon Sunday and hope he can do it again…. GARRETT WILSON and ZAY JONES are the two best value plays this week. They should be able to get back to scoring 20+ DK Points in their matchups Sunday… I’ll pay up for GEORGE KITTLE at the TE position against a Raiders team that is waiving the white flag for the 2022 season… JOHAN DATSON will be my play in the flex. The rookie WR has been on fire the last couple of weeks and I see no reason why he will not stay hot in Week 17… I typically punt the defense position, but the 49ERS DEFENSE/ST vs. Jarrett Stidham is too good to pass up.
DRAFTKINGS SNF SHOWDOWN CONTEST
DRAFTKINGS MNF SHOWDOWN CONTEST
DRAFTKINGS SNF-MNF PRIMETIME CONTEST
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST
SURVIVOR PICK: Philadelphia Eagles
Teams used so far: Tennessee Titans, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Washington, Baltimore, N.Y. Giants, Miami, Dallas, New England L.A. Rams, Minnesota, L.A. Chargers, S.F. 49ers, Green Bay Packers, K.C. Chiefs
BEST BETS (SEASON RECORD: 27-18)
CAROLINA PANTHER +3 vs. TAMPA BAY BUCS
MIAMI DOLPHINS +3 vs. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
CINCINNATI BENGALS +1.5 vs. BUFFALO BILLS
* I will also be playing these games in a three-team parlay where I tease each game (move the line by 6 points)…. Panthers +9, Dolphins +9 and Bengals +7.5
* Check back Sunday morning for my updated DFS picks based on the updated injury report.
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