Sunday Week 17 NFL DFS bargains for the main roster

Welcome to Week 17 of the NFL season. At this point, many injuries end the season, especially to starters on long-term contracts on teams eliminated from the playoffs. This can sometimes lead to strong fantasy backup options – but it can also mess up the whole situation.

There are only eight games this Sunday because the NFL has decided it owns the holiday crowd. I didn’t think I could get tired of NFL football, but they’re testing me this week 16-17. NFL players shouldn’t be asked to play three games in 11 days. But here we are and we need to understand the end times. . . the NFL season.

Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receiver
Tight ends

Bryce Young, Panthers at Buccaneers ($5.6K)

Young has changed things dramatically since being substituted at the start of the season. He still doesn’t have any great passing performances, but he added rushing numbers to his fantasy results that helped a lot. He has now scored three rushing touchdowns in his last four games and the Buccaneers have had trouble keeping quarterbacks out of the end zone. The Buccaneers have allowed the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season, and Young had one of his best games against them in Week 13 when he rushed for a touchdown and had his highest passing yardage game of the season.

Mason Rudolph, Titans at Jaguars ($5,000)

Rudolph may have saved Christmas, but he probably won’t take you to any major fantasy points. The good news is that he is very cheap and has thrown multiple touchdowns in his two starts. He’s proving to be an effective backup quarterback and at this time of year that can come in handy in a good matchup like this week against the Jaguars.

Kenny Pickett, Eagles vs. Cowboys ($5.5K)

Overall, there aren’t a lot of great, cheap plays at quarterback this week, but there aren’t a lot of great, expensive plays either. It looks like Jalen Hurts will be out with a concussion, giving Kenny Pickett a chance against a weak Cowboys defense. The good news is that Saquon Barkley should be able to do the heavy lifting while Pickett can pick his shots and hopefully put together a useful fantasy game with AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith as his primary targets.

Tyjae Spears, Titans at Jaguars ($5.4K)

Spears has put up strong numbers over the last two weeks as he has found the end zone four times. We can’t expect that to happen again this week, but Tony Pollard continues to play through injuries and that seems to have continued to take a toll on Spears. I expect that to happen again as long as Pollard is available. If Pollard doesn’t end up playing, Spears is a must, but don’t rule him out even if Pollard can leave.

Kendre Miller, Saints vs. Raiders ($5.5K)

Miller didn’t have much of a chance at all in his first start last week as the Packers completely overwhelmed the Spencer Rattler-led Saints. However, there is hope for a better offensive performance this week at home against the Raiders defense without Maxx Crosby. And Alvin Kamara is out again with his knee injury. The Raiders have allowed eight running backs to total over 100 yards rushing this season and rank 25th in run defense DVOA.

Jalen McMillan, Buccaneers vs. Panthers ($4.6K)

McMillan has found the end zone in three straight games and both Cade Otton and Sterling Shepard appear to be out this week. That would be 14 targets from the last game in Week 13. Of course, Mike Evans, who had a big game in Week 13, should be in line for another, but McMillan has a good chance of putting up good numbers this week as the hands-down No. 2 target.

Josh Downs, Colts at Giants ($4.8K)

Downs had a good game last week but needed a long touchdown to score on just three receptions. The hope for those with Downs this week is that Anthony Richardson will be out due to injury, which would give Joe Flacco the starting spot and likely a lot more targets for Downs. However, when Richardson plays, the margin for error early on downs is much smaller.

Adam Thielen, Panthers at Buccaneers ($5.7K)

Thielen is Bryce Young’s main target and he has helped him catch 27 of 34 targets for 295 yards and two touchdowns over the last four games. His best game during that time came against the same Buccaneers pass defense, catching 8 of 10 targets for 99 yards and a touchdown.

Calvin Ridley, Titans at Jaguars ($5.5K)

Ridley hasn’t been good this year, but he continues to see plenty of targets, giving him decent opportunities every week. This week he faces his old team and should reach double figures again. He’s risky, but I’d definitely take targets over no targets, and the Jaguars are just a bad defense all around.

Chig Okonkwo, Titans at Jaguars ($3.6K)

Mason Rudolph has really given Okonkwo a second life this season. In the last two games, Rudolph has targeted him 10 and 11 times, respectively. Although he didn’t manage to reach the end zone, he still finished as TE2 and TE6 in the PPR leagues. The Jaguars have also been weak against tight ends, allowing the eighth-most fantasy points to the position this season.

Payne Durham, Buccaneers vs. Panthers ($2.9K)

We’re scraping the bottom of the barrel here (sorry, Payne), but when we punt at tight end, Durham looks about right. He posted a 92% snap share last week with Cade Otton out and caught five of seven targets. Unfortunately, those receptions were for a measly 29 yards, but the Panthers have allowed the most touchdowns to tight ends this season and it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see Durham score one this week.