Daily Fantasy Football Picks for Week 17 - DraftKings

DFSR is excited to bring you Bryce McVay. Dude knows his stuff and he'll be bringing you picks specifically for DraftKings with an emphasis on that site's scoring system and value. We are pumped to have a great new voice in the DFS landscape.

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It truly is the best time of the year in so many ways. Food. Family. Presents. Booze. Laughter. Vacation. The appreciation of the upcoming New Year and what lies ahead. Tweet me your resolutions @brycemcvay, I’m looking for additional ideas. So far my favorite came from my British girlfriend, “I’m giving up desserts, except chocolate…that doesn’t count.” (You really have to read that out loud in a British accent to get the full appreciation).

But sentimentalities aside, it begins the best time of the year for Sports. It’s the last week of the NFL regular season and the last week of true DFS competition (of course, the addicts will be partaking in playoffs leagues). With the NFL playoffs comes bowl season including the inaugural college football four team playoffs; ESPN you can no longer ask the question “who’s in?” I must say I do think the committee chose the most entertaining matchups from a neutral fan standpoint and I haven’t been this excited since the 2001 Miami Hurricanes. (Love the new 30 for 30 The U: Part 2).

The finale of the football seasons is like having dessert before dinner, but the NHL and the NBA still appease our needs until my single most favorite sporting event, March Madness, kicks in only a couple months into the New Year.

Yea, it’s good to be a sports fan and even better when you can make some dollhairs while watching. So let’s end this DFS NFL season properly by clean sweeping every double up we enter. I saw a sea of green last week as I cashed in every league I entered and if you followed my guidance, especially my Saturday tweets, then you too cashed handsomely.

An important side note, I will be aiming at players that actually have something to play for. I also haven’t seen all that much value open up due to injuries, other than S-Jax. I don’t mind flipping a coin on Devonta Freeman or Jacquizz Rodgers both priced at DK $3,600, only if S-Jax is in fact out; however, I really don’t know which one is the better play and without question I will be experimenting without either in my lineups.

 

Quarterback

Peyton Manning DK $8,600
Peyton and Rodgers are the exact same price this week, but I really don’t think you could make a case for Rodgers over Manning this week. I’m not worried about Peyton’s health as long as his throwing arm and his mind are intact. He absolutely torches the Raiders every time out including his best statistical game of the season in Oakland earlier this year. The QB position in general is rather cheap this week and I think 8.6K for Manning is plenty reasonable.

Matt Ryan DK $7,700 / Cam Newton DK $7,500
Matt Ryan has been a quiet QB1 all season and somehow managed to put his team in a favorable position to make the playoffs. Very little scoring comes from the running back position in this offense and if S-Jax is inactive that will only give Ryan more touchdown opportunities in the red zone.

Cam Newton has carried the ball 9, 12, 12 the last three weeks and showed no signs of injury in last week’s win. He seems to be playing with an even bigger smile on his face after surviving that horrific looking car accident and I could see him being the number 1 overall QB this week, especially if Carolina has to play from behind forcing Newton to put the team on his back…seriously no pun intended.

I list the two QB’s together because again I think it’s a coin flip to which have a better game so if you need $200 more for that better defense feel free to use Newton over Ryan.

Teddy Bridgewater DK $5,900
He’s not competing for a playoff spot, I know. But he is a first year quarterback trying to solidify his starting spot for the 2016 season and knowing how competitive Teddy is as a player he’ll want to go out with a bang. By the way, he gets the Bear at home, literally can’t ask for a better matchup. I also can’t ignore the fact that Bridgewater has achieved well over 3.0 value four the last five games. As much as I love the higher priced QB’s this week, if I can’t find value at other positions I am completely fine with saving cap space with this pick.

 

Running Back

Initially, Jamaal Charles DK $7,600 was my favorite RB play of the week but with Alex Smith out for the rest of the year I am fearful of JC’s production. More importantly to me is the matchup. It looks great on paper but for some reason San Diego loves to play big in spots like this. I see San Diego winning this game and I’m just not sure I believe in Jamaal after not showing me much for the past few weeks.

C.J. Anderson DK $7,000
I’m going to start calling this dude Fergie because where’s the love?? Seriously, he’s been an RB1 for seven straight weeks and still hasn’t seen a major price jump. Don’t get me wrong, his price tag is gravy for my turkey. I listed Manning above because I think the Broncos absolutely route the Raiders in this game and if C.J. steals just one of the first three scores then he will for sure see value. The 20+ carries and 3-4 receptions will be there no matter what.

Matt Asiata DK $5,000
Basically, he’s everything I said about Teddy Bridgewater at the running back position. Playing both of them in the same lineup is a great idea. They cost 10.9K (yea I can do addition) which means 32.7 points get us to 3.0 value (yea I can also do multiplication). That seems very reasonable against the aforementioned Bears defense.

Daniel Herron DK$4,200
Boom "goes the dynamite" Herron has a fantastic matchup and sees 4-5 targets a game, what’s not to like? He is a perfect value play and against the Titans and he actually has quite a bit of upside. Broken record; the value is limited this week so unless some injuries occur there aren’t very many punt plays.

Brandon Oliver DK $3,500
This play is completely contingent on Ryan Matthews being inactive, which seems more likely to be the case than not. This is also completely a value play. If I could get 70 total yards and 4 receptions at this price, I’m pleased.

 

Wide Receiver

I tried to ignore him last week and he yet again was the best WR in the NFL. I’m talking about Odell Beckham Jr. Considering my emphasis on value, I refuse to recommend the most expensive guy of the week but he has another plus matchup in the Giants so this is my obligatory mention of ODB so I don’t feel cheated when he has another 2+ score game.

Randall Cobb DK $7,300
I’m not really sure why I think he’s going to score a touchdown this week, I just do ok! His price is very reasonable unlike the weeks before he is actually substantially cheaper than Nelson ($1,100). He has 10 touchdowns on the year but hasn’t scored since week 10 so maybe I just feel he is due.

Kelvin Benjamin DK $6,200
This dude sure can put up some duds, so I can’t possibly claim that he is my favorite play of the week, but at his price he’s close. The matchup is definitely a plus and I do think the Panthers will be forced to throw. Regardless of how the game plays out, he’s a target hog and a big playmaker.

Albert Wilson DK $3,800
Here’s another reach value play for you. I was on the Bowe wagon last week and he didn’t necessarily crap the bed but he also didn’t score the touchdown I wanted. Wilson actually led the team in receptions and receiving yards and played a full complement of snaps. I liked this play better when Smith was still available but at 3.8K you aren’t risking much. In general, WR punts are better for value than RB punts because of the PPR DK setting.

 

Tight End

Jermaine Gresham DK $3,200
I was actually shocked to see his price this week. He’s scored each of the last two weeks and had 11 targets last week converting 9 of them for 62 yards. Frankly, he and Rivera are my favorite plays of the week and I will certainly experiment with playing both in the same lineup.

Mychal Rivera DK $3,300
Another fantastic value play at his price. He was very quiet last week but also had a very tough matchup in Buffalo. Oakland and Carr may throw the ball 50 times week considering the lopsided score of this game and I like Rivera to capitalize. He went for 6-64-1 in the first game against Denver.

Zach Ertz DK $5,100
I am not going to ignore a 15-catch performance. Seems silly to call that an aberration. We all loved Ertz to breakout this season and we only had to wait 16 weeks!?

 

Defense

Houston Texans DK $3,200
Bortles gets sacked more than a bushel of Idaho potatoes and the Texans still have a slim shot to make the playoffs. JJ Watt will probably be the first player to have 10 sacks in a single game…Ok how about 7 in a single game tying the record held by Derrick Thomas.

Baltimore Ravens DK $3,100 (CLE @ BAL)
The Ravens are playing to keep their playoff hopes alive and they get a practice squad QB to tee off on. It’s not even fair really.

Follow me on Twitter @brycemcvay and look for updates come Sunday. I normally try and keep my readers informed on who I end up playing. It’s been one heck of a year and I’ve enjoyed it more than any because I was able to share my thoughts with my readers. See ya next year and look for me in the 2015 WSOP Main Event, that’s my resolution….