Happy New Year!
I want to take this moment to thank each one of you for reading this all season long. I hope you found my article helpful.
Also, I run a fantasy playoff challenge for charity with Ride Hard Breath Easy. It is a charity dedicated to helping people suffering from lung cancer.
If you would like to play please reach out to me on X @MikeReedyFF
Thank you again and good luck in Week 17,
It’s time to dive into Money Makers and Heart Breakers for the Week 17 NFL DFS Main Slate. And don’t forget, you can also use these insights as sit/start advice for your weekly lineups.
Here is a brief definition of each of my terms for anyone that might be new:
💰 Money Maker – This player will perform better than expectations
💔 Heart Breaker – This player will perform lower than expectations
Week 17 NFL DFS
💰 Money Makers
Quarterback
Brock Purdy – Some of you are panicking just reading this name after if a breakdown last week in a tough match-up. Well, in Week 17 he gets the easiest match-up for a quarterback in fantasy. The Niners are playing the Commanders. The Commanders give up the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. Quarterbacks average 272 yards and 2.2 touchdowns passing per week against the Commanders. Play Purdy and the Niners pass catchers this week. That one sure does have a Purdy mouth, I mean match up.
$7,000 on DraftKings
$8,500 on FanDuel
Bryce Young – The Panthers are playing the Jaguars in Week 17. Yes, that fully explains why I have listed Young here. Even Will Levis passed for 2 touchdowns against this defense. In Week 16 Young came alive with 312 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Packers. The matchup is much easier this week. He looks like a good tournament play in DFS. Yes, I mean this.
$4,900 on DraftKings
$6,600 on FanDuel
Kyler Murray – The Cardinals play the Eagles in Week 17. On paper, it looks like the Eagles defense has figured out how to stop the pass the last 2 games. Neither quarterback in those games passed for more than 208 yards or 1 touchdown. When you look one level deeper you see that the quarterbacks were Drew Lock and Tyrod Taylor. Yuck. Murray should get going both through the air and with his legs to try and keep the Cardinals in this game.
$6,300 on DraftKings
$7,800 on FanDuel
Other Quarterback DFS Picks for Week 17
Jarrett Stidham
$4,800 on DraftKings
$6,100 on FanDuel
Derek Carr
$5,500 on DraftKings
$7,000 on FanDuel
Jalen Hurts
$8,300 on DraftKings
$9,200 on FanDuel
Running Backs
DeAndre Swift – As you saw above the Eagles and Cardinals play in Week 17. This game has a 48-point over under so there will be scoring. The Cardinals also happen to give up the most fantasy points to opposing teams running backs. Swift had 92 yards and a touchdown in Week 16. If he can somehow get a goal-line carry away from Jalen Hurts, he could have a HUGE game in Week 17. Oh Yeah, you gotta get Swifty in here!
$6,500 on DraftKings
$7,600 on FanDuel
Zamir White – I am writing this thinking Josh Jacobs doesn’t play. If Jacobs plays you can switch this to him. In the two games White has started he has been excellent. In Week 15 White ran for 69 yards and a touchdown and caught 3 passes for another 16 yards. He followed that up in Week 16 with 145 yards rushing. This week the Raiders play the Colts, and the Colts give up the third most fantasy points to opposing running backs. White could be an amazing play this weekend in DFS and Fantasy championship games.
$5,100 on DraftKings
$6,100 on FanDuel
Christian McCaffrey – The Niners play the Commanders, the Commanders can’t stop the run or the pass. The Commanders give up the 5th most fantasy points to opposing teams running backs. McCaffrey meanwhile has over 100 yards and/or a touchdown in every single game this season. He will have a huge day in Week 17. We will be asking people if they got CMCed next week.
$9,600 on DraftKings
$11,000 on FanDuel
Other Running Back DFS Picks for Week 17
Najee Harris
$5,000 on DraftKings
$6,200 on FanDuel
Rachaad White
$7,600 on DraftKings
$7,900 on FanDuel
Austin Ekeler
$6,700 on DraftKings
$6,900 on FanDuel
Wide Receivers
Deebo Samuels – Look at that another Niners player. Can you believe it? Play them all if you can. Deebo had a down week in Week 16. The matchup is super easy in Week 17 as the Commanders give up the second most fantasy points to opposing teams’ wide receivers. The wide receiver position averages 13 receptions, 191 yards, and 1.5 touchdowns per week against the Commanders. You know what play Brandon Aiyuk too. The over-under for this game is 49.5, the highest on the slate and that will be all Niners.
$7,700 on DraftKings
$8,800 on FanDuel
Demarcus Robinson – I am also for playing all three of the Rams wide receivers this week. Why? Because the Rams play the Giants, and the Giants cannot defend wide receivers. Robinson is the least expensive to play in DFS so I will write about him. In the last 4 games, Robinson has 24 targets, 15 receptions, 227 yards and 4 touchdowns. He has a touchdown in each of the past 4 games. When a defense has to pay attention to Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp you tend to get open as the third receiver. Matthew Stafford appears to trust him in the red zone and those are good enough reasons for me to want to play him.
$4,600 on DraftKings
$6,400 on FanDuel
Chris Olave – The Saints finally have at least two healthy wide receivers. The Saints also play the Buccaneers in Week 17. The Buccaneers give up the fourth most fantasy points to opposing teams’ wide receivers. Olave has a stranglehold on this receiving game for the Saints too. He has a 26% target share and 41% of the air yards. The match-up is right and the volume is right. Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Olave!
$6,800 on DraftKings
$7,400 on FanDuel
Other Wide Receiver DFS Picks for Week 14
Cooper Kupp
$8,100 on DraftKings
$8,000 on FanDuel
Nico Collins
$7,200 on DraftKings
$7,300 on FanDuel
Rashee Rice
$6,900 on DraftKings
$7,400 on FanDuel
Tight Ends
Gerald Everett – The Broncos are the worst team in the league at defending the tight end position. Everett has seen 8 targets in each of the last 3 games. He will see this volume in Week 17 in the best match-up possible. Everett is a floor play. But who doesn’t like good floor play?
$3,500 on DraftKings
$5,300 on FanDuel
Trey McBride – The passing game of the Cardinals literally passes through McBride. McBride averages 9 targets per game since taking over the starting role in Arizona. The Eagles don’t defend tight ends well and are literally the worst at defending wide receivers. McBride will produce big in Week 17. In McBride we trust.
$5,900 on DraftKings
$6,800 on FanDuel
Travis Kelce – People have been disappointed in Travis Kelce this season. Not because he has been bad for a tight end, he just has not been producing like they expected Travis Kelce to produce. This tells you how good he usually is because he is still the best tight end in the game. Well, the cure for what ails you is up this week. The Chiefs play the Bengals in Week 17 and Bengals give up the second most fantasy points to tight ends. Kelce should have a big game.
$7,000 on DraftKings
$7,800 on FanDuel
Other Tight Ends DFS Picks for Week 17
Darren Waller
$4,500 on DraftKings
$5,900 on FanDuel
Juwan Johnson
$3,400 on DraftKings
$5,200 on FanDuel
Cole Kmet
$4,700 on DraftKings
$6,500 on FanDuel
Defense
Rams – The Rams defense is ok. They get to play the Giants in Week 17. The Giants give up the second most fantasy points to defenses. Teams average 5 sacks a week against the Giants. That is the most in the league. This is a floor play in DFS where the Rams could get you 4 or 5 sacks once they get up on the Giants.
$3,500 on DraftKings
$4,500 on FanDuel
Raiders – My favorite play for a defense this week. The Raiders play the Colts who are middle of the pack at allowing defenses to score fantasy points. The Raiders defense has been just so good lately you can’t ignore them. In the last 3 games this defense has 12 sacks, 2 interceptions, 5 fumble recoveries, and 4 touchdowns. They are going after it.
$3,000 on DraftKings
$3,900 on FanDuel
Niner – Looky here, more Niners. The Commanders give up the third most fantasy points to opposing teams’ defenses. The Niners are a great real-life defense. If you are looking to pay up, which I hardly ever do with a defense, this is the one. They will get you 10 fantasy points or more this week.
$4,200 on DraftKings
$4,000 on FanDuel
Week 17 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End | Half-PPR by Position | Flex Rankings | Positional Ranks w/ K & DST | Dynasty | Superflex Dynasty
💔Heart Breakers
Quarter Backs
Joe Flacco – Flacco has been amazing since taking the helm for the Browns. He has huge volume every week, averaging 44 pass attempts per game. The problem is this week the Browns play the Jets, and the Jets give up the fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. If you have to play him in season-long, he will probably hurt your chances of winning it all this week.
Tua Tagovailoa – The Ravens give up the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing teams’ quarterbacks. In Week 16 they gave the Niners high powered offense all sorts of trouble. The Dolphins also have a high-powered offense but will most likely be missing Jalen Waddle. I don’t like this at all for Tua. I’ll tell you what I am not going to Tua, I am not going to play Tagovailoa.
Trevor Lawrence – The Panthers defend the pass well. They also do not defend the run well. So teams with good running backs like Travis Etienne tend to pound them on the ground. This is 200 yards passing and maybe 1 touchdown game for Lawrence type of game.
Running Backs
Saquon Barkley – The Rams give up the second fewest amount of fantasy points to running backs. You aren’t sitting Barkley in season long, because he is Barkley. In DFS though the matchup is bad. Barkley has been a complete roller coaster the past 7 games literally up one week and down the next. This is the down week.
Kahlil Herbert – The Bears play the Falcons in Week 17. The Falcons give up the third-fewest fantasy points to opposing teams running backs. I am going to make this one short. Do you trust any Bears running back to score fantasy points for you? If you answered yes, you are delusional. Bad match-up, unknown touch count. Yuck, I literally threw up in my mouth knowing some people like me might be rolling this guy out in fantasy championship games. Really, I have to play him in one. Yuck. I need to go brush my teeth.
James Conner – The Eagles are the opponent, and the Eagles give up the fourth-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs. But guess what? In the past 5 games, the Eagles have given up six double-digit fantasy scores to running backs. Conner is heavily involved in the offense for the Cardinals and I am playing him everywhere I have him in season long. I will also slide him in DFS, tournament plays. Even though the matchup sucks, I like him. I did this to see if you read this far into my articles.
Wide Receivers
Amari Cooper – Cooper exploded and scored over 50 fantasy points in Week 16. How can he possibly be a heartbreaker for Week 17? The Jets. The Jets are why. This Jets defense is great against the pass. If you need him in season long play him. Do not, and I repeat, do not play him in DFS this week.
DJ Moore – You know who else defends the pass well? The Falcons do. Wide receivers do not score a lot of fantasy points against the Falcons. I expect Cole Kmet to have a big day this week and Moore to be a little less than more.
Garrett Wilson – The Browns/Jets game is a great defensive match-up. The Browns also defend the pass well. The Browns give up the third-fewest fantasy points to opposing teams’ wide receivers. I am avoiding most of the guys playing in this game. You should too. So easy to make this call.
Tight Ends
Dalton Schultz – Schultz was a nice story this season. This week the Texans play the Titans. The Titans give up the fewest fantasy points to tight ends. If he can get the volume, he might be a nice floor play in a tough matchup. I am not looking to plug him into any DFS lineups, even with CJ Stroud playing this week.
Dalton Kincaid – You probably have realized since the offense changed Kincaid is not as useful in fantasy. This week he also goes against a Patriots defense that gives up the second fewest fantasy points to tight ends. I easily say no to Kincaid this week.
Tyler Conklin – You weren’t playing him anyway but I am here to tell you the obvious. If I need a punt play at the end of this article Conklin is it. Bad match-up against the Browns and really not useful anywhere. Sometimes I need an easy one to close it out.
Thanks for checking out Money Maker and Heart Breakers. For more great content from Fantrax, follow us on X and @MikeReedyFF for more great content