Week 17 DFS Picks: Core Players and Best Plays

Every week, I will go through the players I am targeting to play in DFS for all games, tournaments, and game stacks.

The idea is that this will paint a clearer picture of framing lineups.

Our core players are the ones we will have the most exposure to at their respective positions.

They can be played in cash games and tournaments.

I will analyze the player selections and game writeups, but please refer to the Week 17 Worksheet for a detailed breakdown of the players and games.

Quarterback

Joe Burrow ($8,700/$6,500)

Burrow has been a QB1 scorer in each of his past two games with Tee Higgins active, something we always call out.

Since the start of last season, Burrow has completed 71.9% of his passes for 8.1 Y/A and a 7.3% touchdown rate with Higgins on the field compared to a 64.9% completion rate, 6.3 Y/A, and a 5.4% touchdown rate without Higgins.

Burrow also took advantage of a great matchup against Miami.

He gets an even better matchup here against a depleted Arizona defense with the highest team total of the week.

The Cardinals were already a defense that had struggled with health to close the season, but they had another lousy run of fortune on Sunday, losing Garrett Williams and Walter Nolen for the rest of the season.

Josh Sweat and Budda Baker are also expected to miss Week 17.

All of those are significant injuries for a defense that has been brutal to end the year.

Over their past six games, Arizona has allowed a 108.9 rating (31st), a 67% completion rate (26th), 7.8 Y/A (25th), and a league-high 8.4% touchdown rate.

Trevor Lawrence ($8,000/$6,100)

Lawrence has been a top-10 scorer in six straight games, with multiple passing touchdowns in all of them.

That includes a start in the rain against the Colts in Week 14.

Lawrence was the QB10 (19.4 points) in that game.

Brock Purdy just dissected the Colts on Monday night for 30.9 fantasy points.

Over the past five games, the Colts have allowed 7.9 yards per pass attempt (27th), with at least 7.5 yards per pass attempt to all five passers they faced.

Tyler Shough ($7,300/$5,200)

Shough has delivered at least 17 fantasy points in four consecutive games and in five of his past six.

With the status of the New Orleans running back room, the Saints were pass-heavy on Sunday, using the short passing game as their run game.

They threw the ball 13% over expectations and 16% over expectations on first downs.

Tennessee is the top pass funnel in the league, with offenses throwing the ball 6.3% over expectations against them, the highest rate in the league.

The Titans had a reprieve against the pass last weekend with Gardner Minshew going down early on and Chris Oladokun making his first career appearance, but this has been a team we have targeted for passing production over the past half of the season.

Before Sunday’s game, the Titans had allowed eight straight QB1 scoring weeks.

Tennessee is 29th in passing points allowed per attempt (0.511), allowing a 67.9% completion rate (27th), 7.9 yards per attempt (29th), and a 5.5% touchdown rate (25th).

Since Week 10, Shough has completed 68.9% of his passes (2nd) for 7.1 yards per pass attempt (16th).

Running Back