Fantasy Football Week 17 DFS Optimal Lineup

Congrats to those of you who won the fantasy championship game. If you didn’t, well, you are now a part of a select few who are known as the “The Best Loser.” I am one of the members in this group so don’t take this as me throwing shade on you fellow coaches.

Maybe we can make a group chat together and hate on all the players who killed out fantasy lineups. I very much dislike you, Amari Cooper and D.J. Moore. More so Cooper because D.J. Moore was taken out for a concussion but 2 points between 2 players REALLY hurt.

Before I get all excited with veins bulging out of my neck, let’s get on with the show. This article is, of course, our DFS Optimal Lineup, coming off of the DraftKings App. I am using the Sunday selection for the games since it is the only selection.

Fantasy Football Week 17 DFS Optimal Lineup

Quarterback

(PHI) Carson Wentz @ New York Giants – $6,100

Both Wentz and the Giants defense have me wanting to play Carson this week. Wentz brought home the victory against the Cowboys throwing over 300 yards and a TD. He even sprinkled in 22 rushing yards on six attempts.

The Giants D, on the other hand, collectively gave up 291 passing yards and 3 TDs to Dwayne Haskins and Case Keenum. The fact that both QBs, on a not so competitive team, came into the game and handled the Giants secondary is very appealing to me. If the rookie and Keenum can break down New York’s defense, imagine what Carson Wentz could do when his team needs the victory.

Alternative QBs: Josh Allen vs New York Jets, Baker Mayfield @ Cincinnati Bengals – $5,700

Running Back

(NO) Alvin Kamara @ Carolina Panthers – $7,800

As always on these DFS articles, we want to pair our players with games that have a favorable matchup. This is one of those. Kamara finally came to life on Sunday against the Titans. Now he gets the juicy matchup of the Carolina Panthers who have been giving up a league-high 32.0 fantasy points a week to the RB. Tag Alvin Kamara in and go to your next selection.

Alternative RBs: Kenyan Drake @ Los Angeles Rams – $7,100, Marlon Mack @ Jacksonville Jaguars – $6,900

(KC) Damien Williams vs Los Angeles Chargers – $4,700

The man who has toyed with your season-long fantasy football team emotions is now on the DFS article. He’s played with my heart for too long so I dropped him mid-season. This week, however, Williams goes against the Chargers, who made DeAndre Washington look like an RB1. Sunday night Williams was being played like his draft status projected him to be. If Andy Reid continues that kind of play calling, Damien Williams could be the sleeper of the week.

Alternative RB: Rex Burkhead vs Miami Dolphins – $4,500

Wide Receiver

(GB) Devante Adams @ Detroit Lions – $8,000

Alright, I admit it. I’m writing this before the Monday night showdown between the Packers and the Vikings. So I can’t really tell you how well Devante Adams will do or not do tonight but against the Lions I think he’ll do pretty well. The Lions are 4^th when it comes to points given up to the WR. The last time these two teams played, Aaron Rodgers didn’t have his deadly weapon, Devante Adams. Now that he does I expect some major destruction.

Alternative WR: Julian Edelman vs Miami Dolphins – $7,300

(LAR) Robert Woods vs Arizona Cardinals – $7,000

Ooh, Roberto, the first half of the season you were mainly on the lower end side of the WR tiers but since Week 12 you have been coming through. In 4 of the 5 games since Week 12, Woods has gotten more than 96 receiving yards and has been targeted at least 9 times a game. I also really like Woods because of the lack of play that Cooper Kupp has been receiving. The Rams are clearly a lost cause but don’t tell Jared Goff and the Rams offense. Right now they’re helping many fans clinch championship wins and DFS cash.

Alternative WR: Tyler Boyd vs Cleveland Browns – $6,700

(WAS) Steven Sims Jr. @ Dallas Cowboys – $4,700

Very quietly Steven Sims has been creeping his way into fantasy relevance. Sims has recorded targets and receptions all throughout the Redskins NFL season but Week 14 is when we started to see his progress in Washington’s offense. In Week 14, he had 7 targets for 4 receptions and 40 yards, not that big of an outing but the targets sparked my attention. The following 2 weeks he then recorded 21 targets; 11 targets Week 15 and 10 in Week 16. Sims might have the hot hand in the Washington WR corps.

Alternative WR: Greg Ward @ New York Giants – $4,700

Tight End

(CIN) Tyler Eifert vs Cleveland Browns – $3,400

This Sunday against the Dolphins marks 3 weeks in a row where Tyler Eifert gets himself over 40 yards receiving, along with 4 targets or more. Andy Dalton is just ramping up stats for the resume he’s going to submit to teams across the league but he has been doing a damn good job of it. Hopefully he can keep his streak going with Eifert and finish the season strong for both players.

Alternative TE: Cameron Brate vs Atlanta Falcons – $3,200

FLEX

(NYG) Golden Tate vs Philadelphia Eagles – $5,100

Which New York Giant WR will be Daniel Jones‘s favorite this week? I don’t know either but if we were going off of last Sunday’s stats, Tate might be considered the favorite. He recorded the most targets from the rookie. He also had the most receiving yards of all the WRs who lined up. Sure some guy named Cody Latimer and Sterling Shepard took the scores, but Golden Tate was there going through the grind.

Alternative FLEX: Mike Williams @ Kansas City – $5,000, Adrian Peterson @ Dallas Cowboys – $4,900

D/ST

Los Angeles Rams @ Arizona Cardinals – $3,200

So this week I tried to save a little chedda for my D. I thought the Rams might be the best matchup this week because of the injury that Kyler Murray might sustain through the week. It’s a divisional matchup and last Saturday, against the 49ers, the Rams held their own. They recorded 6 sacks with a pair of picks. That’s against a solid Frisco team.

Alternative D/ST: Baltimore Ravens vs Pittsburgh Steelers – $3,100

I have to say, spending the extra coin on the defense kind of leaves a weird taste in my mouth. If you went with the Vikings D/ST for $2,900, you could use the extra $300 to spend up a little on wherever you think might need extra help. Let’s say you don’t like Williams, well deselect him and grab AP. You would still have $100 remaining.

Maybe you like the Jaguars against the Colts, taking the Jags D would save you $600. That would easily turn Tyler Eifert into Mike Gesicki. Or it could take you from Steven Sims to Robby Anderson, maybe even Golden Tate into Odell Beckham Jr. or Cole Beasley.