2020 Daily Fantasy Football: DraftKings NFL Week 17 Picks, Sleepers

We missed tons of games on the main slate. Alvin Kamara, Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs and Mike Evans all went berserk during their prime time games, but we still managed to put together a solid lineup with what was left over. We have one week left to leave our mark on the 2020 regular season, so with 15 games lined up it’s time to roll up those sleeves and cash those checks.

Check out our NFL Week 17 Primer to learn which teams are resting starters and playoff implications from a fantasy/DFS perspective.

Anyways, onto the DraftKings NFL Week 17 Picks, Sleepers.

Let’s ride.

QUARTERBACKS

• Ryan Tannehill ($7,000)
  • The Titans find themselves in a must-win game in order to clinch the division title and make the playoffs. Luckily a date with the Texans in Week 17 is a great sign for the Tennessee offense. Houston has been so bad and was just torn apart by Brandon Allen and the Bengals. Tannehill in a controlled dome environment against a bad defense is music to our ears.
• Kirk Cousins ($6,300)
  • Cousins has scored over 20 DK points in five of his last six games and should easily continue that stretch this week against the Lions defense. Tom Brady just tore that secondary apart and now it’s Cousins’ turn to work Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen to big days to close off the year.
• Sam Darnold ($4,900)
  • Darnold missed the last game against the Patriots, but with New England’s defense being pretty bad over the last few games, he could be a value QB if you’re looking to spend down at the position. Stephon Gilmore is OUT for this game, and JC Jackson has struggled to perform as the CB1 for the Patriots. The season is lost for New England while the Jets are somehow riding a two-game winning streak. New England is also dealing with a handful of injuries on the defensive side making them even weaker.

RUNNING BACKS

• Derrick Henry ($9,400)
  • King Henry is 223 yards away from 2,000 rushing yards, but it’s not out of the question for him to hit that mark this week. We mentioned how bad the Texans defense is, and if you need more proof, just look at Semaje Perine’s 95 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and Gio Bernard’s 16 carries for 65 yards and 66 yards on seven receptions. December Henry should FEAST on this team.
• Jonathan Taylor ($7,400)
  • It took way too long, but Jonathan Taylor is the true feature back in Indianapolis. The rookie is getting the goal line carries and has scored 5 rushing touchdowns over his last three games. Now with a home game against the Jaguars, Taylor has smash spot potential as a huge home favorite against one of the league’s worst defenses.
• David Johnson ($6,800)
  • As the Texans’ lead and lone back the past two weeks, Johnson has scored 27.3 and 31.9 DK points. The absence of Duke Johnson has been a wonder for David Johnson as he’s been able to run wild in the backfield. The Titans defense hasn’t been stellar either, as AJ Dillon ran through them like a bulldozer last week. Should Duke remain inactive once again, then David Johnson is lined up nicely yet again.
• Alexander Mattison ($6,100)
  • Dalvin Cook has been ruled OUT for Week 16, meaning the bulk of the carries should end up with Mattison in Week 17. He’ll have a great matchup with the Lions this week, we just have to hope that the combination of Mike Boone and Ameer Abdullah don’t take too many touches away from Mattison.
• Melvin Gordon ($5,700)
  • While Ronald Jones is working his way back from injury and the COVID list, Gordon is a RB under 6k I’ll consider targeting. With Philip Lindsay on IR, that means Gordon will get all the carries as Denver’s bell cow back. The Raiders haven’t been a great defense as evidenced by Myles Gaskin’s huge Saturday night performance.
• Ty Johnson ($4,300)
  • With La’Mical Perine (COVID-19) and Frank Gore (IR) done for the season, Ty Johnson will be the top ball carrier in the Jets offense. He’s shown he can handle starting duties, notching 104 yards on 22 carries against the Raiders earlier this month, and gets a Patriots’ front-seven that’s been crushed by injuries. Johnson is one of the top value plays on the slate.

WIDE RECEIVERS

• Calvin Ridley ($8,500)
  • Even in a “down” game, Ridley managed to go for 130 yards and five receptions, totalling 20 fantasy points against the Chiefs. As we’ve seen, the absence of Julio Jones has been big for Ridley, who has become an even bigger target hog in Atlanta’s offense. He’s been one of the most consistent and dependable receivers this year.
• Adam Thielen ($7,400)
  • Both Vikings receivers have been great this season, and while both are viable plays here I lean slightly towards Thielen for the extra $200 and with the better WR/CB matchup per PFF. He’s got 14 touchdowns on the year and just has a serious knack for the end zone. It’s hard to imagine anyone on Detroit slowing down Thielen, or anybody on Minnesota’s offense this week.
• Sterling Shepard ($5,200)
  • While the Cowboys defense continues to struggle, Sterling Shepard continues to get WR1 targets for the Giants. This lines up nicely here for Shepard who finally broke the 20 point threshold against the Ravens last week. Shepard has been good for 6 to 8 targets each game.
• Mike Williams ($5,000)
  • Keenan Allen is trending toward being inactive again for the Chargers, leaving Mike Williams as the WR1 in LA. The Chiefs should be resting majority of their key players allowing Williams to take advantage of weaker competition. He had 10 targets last week against the Broncos, and if he sees that volume again we can expect much better results than Week 16.
• Jerry Jeudy ($4,200)
  • Despite only 12 points in Week 16, Jeudy recorded 15 targets in the game. Those are crazy numbers, and if these target numbers keep up then he should have a big game against the Raiders defense. Jeudy has the chance to end his 2020 rookie season on a high note.
• Richie James ($3,100)
  • Between the injuries to Brandon Aiyuk and Kendrick Bourne, San Francisco is really desperate at the WR spot. George Kittle should garner a high-number of targets, but the last time the Niners were missing a ton of WRs, Richie James showed up with a 9-184-1 line in a prime time game.

TIGHT ENDS

• Mark Andrews ($5,800)
  • Andrews is finally playing like the TE1 we all expected entering 2020. He’s scored over 10 points in five straight games now and the Ravens are in a must win game against the Bengals this week. His 11 targets last week were a season high as Andrews is playing his best ball of the entire season.
• Noah Fant ($4,400)
  • After his absence in Week 14, Fant has been trending up in Denver’s offense. 20 targets over the last two games, and he sports the third best TE matchup per PFF.
• Irv Smith Jr ($3,900)
  • The one week that Irv is off the main slate and without Kyle Rudolph, he exploded for 23 DK points. I’m willing to roll with Irv once again having Rudolph shelved and facing the Lions defense. Irv is the Vikings TE of the future and should be the third receiving option this week for Minnesota.

DST

• • Indianapolis Colts ($3,900)
    • The Colts are at home in a must-win game against the Jags for the playoffs. Everything lines up nicely for one of the league’s best defenses against the tanking Jags. Expect a handful of sacks and turnovers.
  • Los Angeles Rams ($3,300)
    • With this game likely to feature John Wolford vs Chris Streveler, points may be at a premium here. The Rams have Aaron Donald and a scary defense so this Streveler kid might be in serious trouble.
  • Cleveland Browns ($2,500)
    • The Browns need to win to ensure their playoff lives. The Steelers are resting Ben Roethlisberger and starting Mason Rudolph in his place. Myles Garrett tried to murder Rudolph last year by smashing Rudolph’s own helmet against his bare skull. With the Steelers offense playing so poorly over the last month, I can’t imagine Rudolph will bring them to new heights. And I expect Garret to play out of his mind on Sunday.