Top-ranked daily fantasy sports pro Jason Mezrahi, founder and CEO of WinDailySports.com, breaks down his favorite DFS plays at various salary ranges for Week 17 of the NFL season.
Even though we have had great results in picking top DFS plays in this article every week, I’m going to let you in on a little secret: Our projection model at WinDailySports.com has been firing on all cylinders this season so what I will do in this article is list some of our highest projected players based off raw points and our highest point per dollar plays based on DraftKings.com pricing.
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These are some of the players Jason will be locking in his lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel for this weekend’s slate.
QUARTERBACKS
LAMAR JACKSON, BAL
$8,000 DRAFTKINGS, $9,000 FANDUEL
The easiest way for the Ravens to lock in a playoff spot is to win and get in. The easiest way to get the W is to run Lamar and break down the porous Cincinnati defense. Lamar has run the ball well in the last four games, with 4 rushing touchdowns along with 333 rushing yards. The Ravens need this win to not only get into the playoffs, but they need to get this offense clicking to carry some momentum into the first round. In Week 17 we need to find motivated players who are looking to put up big weeks and I believe we get that safety with Jackson. He is having a down season overall compared to last year, but with a 26, 37, 30 and 22 point weeks in the last four we can expect a nice floor of 20 with a ceiling of 40 to finish off the regular season.
RYAN TANNEHILL
$7,000 DRAFTKINGS, $8,200 FANDUEL
The Titans are in a “win and clinch” scenario and that’s what we want out of the Quarterbacks we are rostering in the last week of the season. The Titans easiest path is to beat the Texans, while taking home the AFC South title and getting the number four seed. With their destiny in their own hands, this entire team is in play and I honestly believe a Titans stack is one of the most appealing plays on this slate. The majority of people will lock in Derrick Henry which I will have shares of as well but Tannehill will be lower owned and will come at a discount. This same matchup made our team at Win Daily a bunch of money in Week 16 with our Branden Allen, Gio Bernard, and Tee Higgins stacks and I’m going back to the well this week. Feel free to run a complete game stack of 2-3 players from both teams in tournaments and climb up the leaderboards when this game shoots out!
RUNNING BACKS
ALEXANDER MATTISON, MIN
$6,100 DRAFTKINGS, $5,000 FANDUEL
Mattison is just too cheap to pass up on with Dalvin Cook out in the last game of the season. The matchup is elite and the Vikings, while not playing for playoff contention, are playing for their jobs. Mattison has slate breaking talent and the Lions are one of the worst defenses in the league. We saw what the Buccaneers did to the Lions last week so we can only expect what Mattison and the gang will do in Week 17. The price combined with the elite matchup makes Mattison the easy square that you must lock into both cash games and tournaments this week.
WIDE RECEIVERS
AJ BROWN, TEN
$7,200 DRAFTKINGS, $8,400 FANDUEL
We love picking on Houston’s secondary and there is no better threat to do so for the Titans than A.J. Brown. Brown has been slightly inconsistent this year but is still averaging 17 DraftKings points per game and has a ceiling to break a slate. With his price in the upper tier on both sites we need a big game from Brown and I think this is the week we get it. The volume of receptions doesn’t put him into the Diggs and Adams category but the talent is there. I see lower ownership on Brown and a ceiling of 30+ points out of him this week. My prediction is Brown exceeds the 100 yard bonus on DraftKings and finds a way into the end zone as well. This game has shootout written all over it and if Brandon Allen can throw for 300+ yards I’m sure this Titans offense will blow the doors off them in the final week.
BRANDIN COOKS, HOU
$6,900 DRAFTKINGS, $7,300 FANDUEL
What makes this game so appealing in Houston is that both offenses are elite and both defenses are atrocious. These two teams continue to play in shootouts every week and we also get the added benefit of an indoor environment in January which always adds a bump. Cooks carried my teams to victory in Week 16 and I have no issues going back to him this week. He is the clear number one receiver in this offense and Watson’s favorite target on the field. Combine that with the fact he is going against the 29th ranked defense against opposing wide receivers and we have the upside we need in both cash and tournaments. Lock in Cooks in your game stacks and safe one off in Week 17.
TIGHT ENDS
DARREN WALLER, LV
$7,100 DRAFTKINGS, $7,800 FANDUEL
The main target in the Raiders passing game all season has been Waller. With Kelce most likely resting in Week 17, Waller becomes the clear top dog to pay up for at the tight end position. Waller has eclipsed the 1,000 yard marker on the season and is coming off of two consecutive 100 yard games. Averaging 17 points per game there is nobody on this slate which is safer than Waller in what should be a good game environment versus Denver. With all the value that is opening up on this slate, I will try my best to pay up for Waller and use the value at other skilled positions in Week 17.
MARK ANDREWS, BAL
$5,800 DRAFTKINGS, $7,200 FANDUEL
The perfect pairing with Lamar Jackson is Mark Andrews. I don’t trust the hands of Marquise Brown and I want the upside that Andrews brings against the 29th defense at defending the tight end position. Andrews has 5 consecutive double digit performances and that brings the safe floor you need when rostering tight ends. In a game earlier this season Andrews went for 6 catches, 56 yards and a touchdown versus the Bengals and I would be satisfied with the same performance in Week 17.
DEFENSES
BALTIMORE RAVENS
$4,200 DRAFTKINGS, $4,900 FANDUEL
The Baltimore Ravens need this win and I want to roster motivated defenses if I’m paying up in the final week of the season. The Ravens defense has been getting better as the season has progressed and I’m hoping they put on a show in the final week of the season. In four of the last five weeks they have held opposing offenses under 20 points and I think they do that again this week. They shutdown the Bengals in Week 5 scoring 26 fantasy points and if they can come close to that this week I will be more than happy.
NEW YORK JETS
$2,300 DRAFTKINGS, $3,500 FANDUEL
It’s only fitting that in the last week of the season I flip the script and instead of targeting the Jets with the opposing defense I do the opposite. I have used them the past two weeks at near minimum salary and I will go back to the well this week. The Patriots are struggling to put drives together and they truly don’t have the talent on the offensive side of the ball to compete. With the Jets defense getting stronger, the Patriots struggling, and the cheap price tag feel confident locking in the Jets defense.
Jason Mezrahi has been a professional, top-ranked Daily Fantasy Player on FanDuel and DraftKings for more than eight years. He has won FanDuel’s $155,555 King of the Diamond competition and placed second in DraftKings’ Fantasy Basketball World Championship, earning him $300,000. He owns and operates WinDailySports.com, which supports the DFS and Sports Betting community with resources such as tools, projection models, expert chat, in-depth written analysis and podcasts, plus much more.
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