Squirrel Patrol’s Week 17 NFL Main Slate DFS GPP Picks
Week 17 brings a 9-game slate, with three games already taking place on Thursday, two games on Saturday, and a standard Monday and Thursday night schedule. While the playoff races are close to being finalized in both conferences, teams will still be battling for positioning and home-field advantage in the playoffs. Both FanDuel and DraftKings continue to roll out massive prize pools, with DraftKings once again offering two Millionaire Maker tournaments.
Only one game on the slate has a total over 50.0 points, with the ARI/CIN game sitting with a total at 53.5 points. The JAX/IND game has the next-highest total at 48.5 points, while PHI/BUF and TB/MIA tied for the third-highest total at 44.5 points. Injury situations continue to pile up late in the season, with Brock Bowers going on IR this week, and TreVeyon Henderson listed as Questionable.
Let’s break down the positions, spotlight some of the best DFS options, and map out a path to the top of the leaderboards this Sunday.
QBs
Our ownership projections currently have Joe Burrow as the highest-owned QB on DraftKings, with Trevor Lawrence right behind him. On FanDuel, the order is reversed with Lawrence projected as the highest-owned QB, by a narrow margin over Burrow. Burrow and Lawrence are my top two QBs this week as well, and my Featured Pick on both FanDuel and DraftKings is Joe Burrow.
Burrow gets the nod as my Featured Pick due to the Bengals having the highest implied point total on the slate, favored by 7.5-points in the game with the highest total of the week. Arizona has allowed the fourth-most points in the NFL this season, and the 10th-most passing yards per game. Burrow should have both of his talented WRs in the lineup this week, with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins both healthy, and he is coming off a 309-passing-yard, 4-touchdown performance against the Dolphins last week.
I’ll give an Honorable Mention on both sites to Trevor Lawrence, with the Jaguars favored by 5.5 points playing indoors against the Colts in the game with the second-highest total of the week (48.5). Indianapolis has allowed the second-most passing yards per game this season, and Lawrence has thrown for eight passing touchdowns over the past two games, with two rushing touchdowns as well in that stretch.
My second Honorable Mention on both sites goes to Jacoby Brissett, playing in the same game as Joe Burrow on the opposite sideline. Brissett is coming off his first down game as a starter, but is still averaging 291.1 passing yards and 1.9 passing touchdowns across his ten starts. Arizona is playing in the game with the highest total of the week against a Bengals defense that has allowed the most points per game in the NFL.
For my Off-The-Radar play, on both sites I’ll look to Geno Smith, playing indoors at home against a Giants defense that allows the fifth-most points per game in the NFL. Smith should see very low ownership, but he is extremely cheap, facing a poor defense, has cheap stacking partners in Tre Tucker and Michael Mayer, and could act as leverage off Ashton Jeanty, expected to be a popular pick at running back.
FanDuel: Featured Pick – Joe Burrow; Honorable mentions – Trevor Lawrence, Jacoby Brissett; Off-The-Radar – Geno Smith
DraftKings: Featured Pick – Jacoby Brissett; Honorable mentions – Jared Goff, Bo Nix; Off-The-Radar – Geno Smith
RBs
The RB position this week is difficult to decipher, with some of the top options at the position off the main slate, and the remaining spend-up options carrying difficult matchups. On both FanDuel and DraftKings, my Featured Pick is Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty is coming off a monster game with 188 total yards and two touchdowns against Houston last week, and now faces a Giants rush defense allowing the most yards per carry in the NFL. He’ll be a very popular choice at the position this week, but for good reason. The Raiders have nothing left to play for besides making their first-round pick from this past draft look as good as possible, and Jeanty is priced too cheaply for one of the best matchups a running back can have this season.
Travis Etienne draws an Honorable Mention on both FanDuel and DraftKings, with the Jaguars carrying the third-highest implied team total on the slate (27.0). Etienne has six touchdowns in his last three games as the Jags have now won six games in a row. Jaguars backup RB Bhayshul Tuten is out again for this game, which should clear the path for Etienne to see increased usage, and Etienne contributes in the passing game as well as the ground game.
I’ll give the other Honorable Mention on both sites to the Patriots’ starter at running back, but with TreVeyon Henderson listed as Questionable with a concussion, that nod could go to Rhamondre Stevenson. Either New England running back is in a good position with the Patriots, 13.5-point favorites against a Jets defense allowing the third-most points per game this season.
For an Off-The Radar play on both FanDuel and DraftKings, I’ll look to Michael Carter, expected to start again for Arizona. We are projecting Carter to draw single-digit ownership on both sites, but Carter has now put up 55+ rushing yards with double-digit carries each of the past two weeks. He is a cheap way to get a piece of the high-total ARI/CIN game and contributes in the passing game with 28 receptions in 11 games this season.
FanDuel: Featured Pick – Ashton Jeanty; Honorable mentions – Travis Etienne, TreVeyon Henderson (or Rhamondre Stevenson); Off-The-Radar – Michael Carter
DraftKings: Ashton Jeanty; Honorable mentions – Travis Etienne, TreVeyon Henderson (or Rhamondre Stevenson); Off-The-Radar – Michael Carter
WRs
As always, my lineups will prioritize pairing receivers from the same game with my quarterback, with most rosters featuring two or more pass-catchers from the same game as my QB.
On both FanDuel and DraftKings, my Featured Pick this week is Ja'Marr Chase. Chase has 19 receptions for 241 yards in his past two games and is in an excellent spot against a Cardinals’ pass defense that allows the fourth-most points per game in the NFL. He is a part of the high-total ARI/CIN game, and although he should see high ownership, he ranks second in the league in receptions and fifth in receiving yards despite missing a game due to suspension this season. With limited options on this smaller nine-game slate, I’ll eat the chalk and use Chase at a high rate in my DFS lineups on Sunday.
Jakobi Meyers gets an Honorable Mention on both FanDuel and DraftKings, with the Jaguars playing indoors against the Colts in the game with the second-highest total of the slate. Meyers has seen 6+ targets in each of his past six games with the Jaguars, averaging 59.8 receiving yards with three touchdowns in that stretch.
On FanDuel, Wan’dale Robinson draws an Honorable Mention, underpriced at just $6,100. The Giants are favored by 1.5 points playing indoors against the Raiders, and Robinson leads the Giants with 81 receptions and 901 receiving yards. On DraftKings, I’ll give the second Honorable Mention to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who could see lower ownership than he normally would on such a small slate due to the popularity of Ja’Marr Chase in the same price range. Smith-Njigba leads the league in receiving yards and ranks fifth in receptions, but is projected for nearly half the ownership of Chase.
If I’m looking for an off-the-radar play, on both FanDuel and DraftKings, I’ll look to Michael Pittman in the high-total JAX/IND game. The Colts are playing at home against a pass-funnel Jacksonville defense, and Pittman leads Indy in receptions and receiving touchdowns. Philip Rivers has looked better than expected with 277 passing yards last week against San Francisco, and Indianapolis will likely look to pass often against a Jacksonville defense that allows the fewest rushing yards in the league.
FanDuel: Featured Pick – Ja'Marr Chase; Honorable mentions – Jakobi Meyers, Wan’Dale Robinson; Off-The- Radar – Michael Pittman
DraftKings: Featured Pick – Ja'Marr Chase; Honorable mentions – Jakobi Meyers, Jaxon Smith-Njigba; Off-The- Radar – Michael Pittman
TEs
At tight end, my Featured Pick on both FanDuel and DraftKings is Trey McBride. McBride is in a prime spot playing against a Bengals defense that has allowed the most points per game in the NFL and has been carved up by tight ends all season, allowing the most fantasy points per game to the tight end position. McBride has nine receiving touchdowns in his last ten games, coinciding with Jacoby Brissett taking over as the starting QB for Arizona. Michael Mayer draws an Honorable Mention on both sites, taking over for the starter in Las Vegas with Brock Bowers going on IR. Mayer is near-minimum price on both sites, and has proven to be a capable receiver at the tight end position with 23 receptions for 192 receiving yards on the season in a role behind Bowers.
If I’m looking for an Off-The-Radar pick for a tight end, on both FanDuel and DraftKings, I’ll look to Saints utilityman Taysom Hill. With the Saints now down their top three running backs, they could look to give more carries to Hill, who saw 12 carries and caught four passes last week.
FanDuel: Featured pick – Trey McBride; Honorable mention – Michael Mayer; Off-the-radar: Taysom Hill
DraftKings: Featured pick – Trey McBride; Honorable mention – Michael Mayer; Off-the-radar: Taysom Hill
