Yahoo DFS Football: Week 17 Picks

Yahoo DFS Football: Week 17 Picks

This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Football series.

The Week 17 NFL main slate begins Sunday at 1:00 PM and features all 32 teams. Many season-long leagues finished up last week, but DFS players have one more opportunity to create a winning regular-season lineup before we hit postseason play. With some top teams likely to rest players in preparation for the postseason, it's especially important to target players from teams with something to play for. Some of the options that stand out include a running back playing the best football of his career, a rookie No. 1 receiver for a team looking to clinch a playoff berth and a tight end ready to shine in a bigger role.

TOURNAMENTS (GPP – GUARANTEED PRIZE POOL)

QB: Tom Brady, NE vs. MIA ($31): The Patriots need a win or Chiefs loss to clinch a first-round bye, so New England won't be taking its foot off the gas at home against the 4-11 Dolphins. Brady delivered one of his seven multi-touchdown performances this season when these teams met in Miami back in Week 2, and he should have no trouble exploiting a Dolphins defense that's giving up a league-high 31.3 points to go with 265.4 passing yards (fifth-most) per game.

RB: Latavius Murray, NO at CAR ($17): While the Saints could still earn a bye if things break right, the most likely scenario has New Orleans playing on Wild Card Weekend as the No. 3 seed in the NFC. Given the team's situation, there's a good chance New Orleans plays for the win but opts to give Alvin Kamara a lighter workload than usual to make sure he's fresh for the playoffs. Such a scenario would set Murray up perfectly to take advantage of a porous Carolina run defense that's surrendered league highs in both rushing yards (1,909) and rushing touchdowns (25) to the running back position.

WR: Robby Anderson, NYJ at BUF ($14): The Bills are locked into the No. 5 seed, so they'll likely treat this game as if it was a preseason contest, prioritizing their top players' health over anything else. Meanwhile, the Jets are looking to build some momentum heading into next season and Anderson's looking to submit another strong performance before he hits free agency. The lanky speedster is enjoying a late-season surge that has seen him score four touchdowns in the past six games while topping 100 yards twice in the last four. Likely working against a secondary composed of backups, New York's premier vertical threat should get plenty of deep balls thrown his way in this one.

Other Against-the-Grainers

QB: Russell Wilson (SEA, $32), Daniel Jones (NYG, $28)

RB: Saquon Barkley (NYG, $31), Ronald Jones (TB, $15), Justice Hill (BAL, $10)

WR: DeVante Parker (MIA, $22), Tyler Boyd (CIN, $20), Courtland Sutton (DEN, $21)

TE: O.J. Howard (TB, $13), Darren Waller (OAK, $19)

DST: Baltimore Ravens (vs. PIT, $19), Indianapolis Colts (at JAX, $14)

CASH GAMES (H2H, 50/50s and DOUBLE UPS)

QUARTERBACK

Jared Goff, LAR vs. ARI ($33): This game doesn't mean much for the Rams, but Goff is still primed to exploit an Arizona pass defense that's allowing 279.9 yards per game, which is second most in the league after Detroit. He has rounded into form over the past four weeks, averaging 331 passing yards per game and tossing multiple touchdowns in each contest. Throw in Los Angeles' lack of weather concerns at a time of year when other regions have gotten colder, and everything points to a strong finish to the 2019 campaign for the 25-year-old quarterback.

RUNNING BACK

Kenyan Drake, ARI at LAR ($25): Drake is a free agent at season's end, and he's doing all he can to maximize his next contract with a spectacular finish to the season. He has set a new career high in rushing yards in each of the past two weeks, totaling 303 yards and six touchdowns on the ground over that stretch. The Rams' run defense has been slightly more generous than average with 115.9 yards allowed per game, and Drake is a strong option regardless of opponent given his recent form.

Ezekiel Elliott, DAL vs. WAS ($34): Dallas needs a win here and an Eagles loss to the Giants to secure an improbable playoff berth. Expect Elliott to do everything in his power to help accomplish the first half of that equation against a Washington defense that just got torched for 279 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns by Saquon Barkley. Overall, this is one of four front sevens in the league allowing over 140 rushing yards per game.

WIDE RECEIVER

A.J. Brown, TEN at HOU ($23): Brown is the top option in Tennessee's passing attack, and the rookie wide receiver is primed to close out his first regular season on a high note against the struggling Texans secondary. Houston has allowed three of the last four quarterbacks it has faced to top 300 passing yards. The only one who failed to reach that mark was Tennessee's Ryan Tannehill, who still managed to feed Brown for 114 yards and a touchdown on eight catches in the Week 15 meeting between these teams. With Houston already having clinched the division and Tennessee needing a win to grab the second wild-card spot, the disparity in motivation could lead to an even stronger performance from Brown in this rematch.

Breshad Perriman, TB vs. ATL ($25): Perriman should remain the top receiver for the Buccaneers with Mike Evans (hamstring) on injured reserve and Chris Godwin (hamstring) unlikely to be rushed back for a meaningless game. The 2015 first-round pick of the Ravens has proven more than capable of thriving in his larger role — Perriman has 12 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns in the past two games and 20 catches for 372 yards and four touchdowns if you stretch it to the last four. Considering quarterback Jameis Winston has topped 300 yards in nine of his last 10 games, his top target should rack up plenty of yardage while being a threat to score against a Falcons defense that's giving up 25.1 points per game.

Davante Adams, GB at DET ($31): This game against Detroit's league-worst secondary (282.6 passing yards allowed per game) holds significant meaning for the Packers. A win would secure a bye and keep the team in the hunt for the NFC's top seed pending the 49ers' result on Sunday Night Football, while a loss would open the door for the Saints to leapfrog Green Bay and force the Packers to play on Wild Card Weekend. Given this contest's importance and the favorable matchup, you can expect a boatload of targets for the only consistent weapon in Green Bay's passing game. Adams has seen double-digit targets in seven of his last eight games played, totaling 61 catches for 706 yards and four touchdowns over that span.

TIGHT END

Dallas Goedert, PHI at NYG ($18): Goedert was able to shine as Philadelphia's No. 1 tight end in last week's win over Dallas after Zach Ertz suffered a fractured rib. Ertz missed most of the first half and operated at less than 100 percent after making his return, while Goedert racked up nine catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Thanks to his efforts, a win over the Giants is all the Eagles need to punch their ticket to the postseason. They got such a result in overtime in Week 14, led by Ertz's nine catches for 91 yards and two touchdowns. With the team's receiving corps decimated by injuries and Ertz either out or limited, Goedert is primed to post a similar line as Carson Wentz's go-to guy against a generous Giants defense that's allowing 27.8 points (fourth most) and 263.1 passing yards (seventh most) per game this season.

DEFENSE

Pittsburgh Steelers (PIT at BAL, $17): Tied with the Titans at 8-7 but on the outside of the playoff picture on a tiebreaker, the Steelers find themselves facing a rival Ravens team that will be resting its top players, including likely MVP Lamar Jackson, after locking up the No. 1 seed in the AFC last week. A Steelers offense led by Devlin Hodges is likely to struggle even against Baltimore's backups given his 1:6 TD:INT in the past two games, so it will be up to Pittsburgh's defense to make enough plays to propel the team to victory in this must-win scenario. This unit has been up to the task more often than not this season, scoring 11 or more fantasy points in 10 of the past 13 games.

Honorable Mentions

QB: Dak Prescott (DAL, $34), Patrick Mahomes (KC, $35)

RB: Nick Chubb (CLE, $31), Marlon Mack (IND, $28), DeAndre Washington (OAK, $15)

WR: Julio Jones (ATL, $40), Michael Gallup (DAL, $22), Julian Edelman (NE, $27)

TE: Tyler Higbee (LAR, $24), Jared Cook (NO, $17)

DST: Los Angeles Rams (vs. ARI, $17), New York Jets (at BUF, $15)

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Sasha Yodashkin plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: Youngsash, DraftKings: Yashdogg,Yahoo: Sasha, Fanball: Yashdogg.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sasha Yodashkin
Sasha has been contributing NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and Tennis content to RotoWire since 2015, with an emphasis on DFS. He is a huge New York sports fan who has been playing fantasy sports since middle school.
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