Finding Paydirt: Week 17
Touchdowns, while extremely variant, make or break daily fantasy success and swing thousands of dollars every Sunday. Every weekend, players wait anxiously for the players on their roster to find paydirt. The purpose of the contest is to provide an opportunity for the RotoGrinders community to come together and have fun as we spend much of our time during the week stressing over the construction of our weekly lineups. Did I mention there will be prizes? Let’s have some fun!
Merry Christmas, Grinders! Happy Holidays, Grinders! Soon… Happy New Year, Grinders! Amidst all the celebration, the NFL season is winding down. As we reach Week 17, I owe you a results update because the holidays kept me from writing my typical Tuesday article. So, today’s article will be a bit of a combo piece. I will start with the leaderboard and a quick synopsis and close with my typical three touchdown picks for this week — my final picks for 2019. It is truly hard to believe that the NFL season is nearing an end.
I want to thank all of you that continue to read this article and participate in the contests. The end of this season marks the close of my second year writing Home Run Derby and Finding Paydirt. While writing for the site keeps me busy, I still enjoy the interaction with the community each week. I will be on a bit of a hiatus until baseball season starts but will still write articles on the Sports Betting side of the website. Catch me there or on Twitter until April.
Here is a leaderboard update from Week 16.
Leaderboard (sortable by column)
| Player | Total | Weeks 13 – 17 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| joeycis | 25 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Gillik9486 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| bdub02 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| hautalak | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| KenFolk1269 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| shanekern03 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| IrishCarBomb9 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Drew1up | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| markymark13 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PRBill1 | 31 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| schmidtty88 | 31 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 1010mg | 37 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| BroLantis | 23 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| yisman | 26 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Copper2121 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SportsLover37 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| boomanfoo | 6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Teamster817 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Newt58 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DJESQUIRE | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| reidjones1915 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| raschara | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MrBaseballWorld9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bud_Grant | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| deliverance | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| scascimento | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
PRBill1 hopped into the top spot of our leaderboard with seven touchdowns after he managed to find a touchdown in Week 16. That one touchdown is all that separates him from schmidtty88, BroLantis, and boomanfoo and their second-place tie with six touchdowns.
Edit: schmidtty88 actually scored three touchdowns in Week 16 and is tied for first with seven touchdowns.
1010mg was not able to find any touchdowns in Week 16 but still carries a six-touchdown lead into the final week of the season. PRBill1 is the closest competitor after a stellar December. That said, PRBill1 would need to pull off an absolute miracle to usurp 1010mg’s lead.
Now, let’s get back to the traditional portion of the article. We will start with this week’s cut list and then I will make my three picks for touchdowns.
The Cut List
Simply put, to compete in this contest you must pick a running back, wide receiver, and tight end to score a touchdown on Sunday. The player must be on the DraftKings Main Slate and cannot be any of the players below. These players are the top five at both RB and WR and the top three at TE — I nix them hoping to make the contest more interesting.
| Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End |
| Christian McCaffrey | Michael Thomas | Travis Kelce |
| Saquon Barkley | Julio Jones | Mark Andrews |
| Derrick Henry | Davante Adams | Zach Ertz |
| Aaron Jones | DeAndre Hopkins | |
| Ezekiel Elliott | Tyreek Hill |
I am not sure how meaningful the cut list will be this week as many of these players might be limited. We only lose Seahawks and 49ers as they were flexed into an important Sunday night contest. Parsing through the player pool and finding players that should be a full go will be pretty important this week. Which players will get four quarters of football on Sunday?
For the last time in 2019, let’s make my touchdown picks for this week.
Mike Boone – RB – $5,300
I call this my flop lag pick of the week. Boone let America down on Monday night with a complete stinker for Fantasy Football Championship week. Boone only saw one carry in the second half as Ameer Abdullah saw a greater role. The Vikings were behind and finished that way as the Packers locked up the NFC North and move on to fight for a first-round bye.
The theory behind this play is that, well, why not? The Vikings are playing in a completely meaningless game against the Bears and know that both Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison should be ready for Wild Card Weekend. Even if Mike Zimmer is displeased with Boone’s efforts, he will certainly want to shorten this game and keep his team healthy with nothing to play for. Boone received 11 touches on Monday night and should see more work as the Vikings try to pound the rock at home.
The Bears are not typically a defense I want to challenge but also have nothing to play for. This will probably be a very quick game as both teams look to move past Week 17. Boone will score when it does not matter.
DraftKings Sportsbook Touchdown Odds — (posted soon)
A.J. Brown – WR – $7,000
In Week 17, give me players that have something to play for. The Titans need to win their final game to hold off the Steelers and Raiders from sneaking into their sixth seed. A.J. Brown has been on an absolute tear over the last few weeks and figures to be highly involved in this must-win game against the Texans. Brown has scored four touchdowns over the past three weeks — one on the ground.
The matchup with the Texans is just fine for wide receivers. Does that even matter in Week 17? The Texans cannot really improve their playoff standing and will look to keep their team healthy ahead of Wild Card Weekend. The only helpful part of a matchup with the Texans is that the game will take place in Houston. Indoor games make for better scoring in December.
The Titans need to win. The Texans won’t care much. The Texans will give up points. A.J. Brown has been the predominant points scorer for the Titans down the stretch. A double-touchdown performance would not shock me in Week 17.
DraftKings Sportsbook Touchdown Odds — (posted soon)
Austin Hooper – TE – $5,800
Did someone say flop lag? Hooper certainly did not disappoint daily fantasy players in Week 16 but was unable to score a touchdown. This week, Hooper plays 2019’s ultimate funnel defense — the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Bucs do not allow anything on the ground. Tampa Bay leads the NFL with a 3.3 rushing yards per attempt for opposing backs. Over the past three weeks, that number is down to 2.7 as Tampa Bay continues to suffocate opposing ground games. Unsurprisingly, the Bucs’ funnel gets beat up through the air — allowing 269.9 passing yards per game to quarterbacks. The Falcons are going to throw the football.
Hooper saw nine targets in Week 16 and still leads the Falcons with nine total endzone targets — despite missing games. Hooper will be the beneficiary from several Matt Ryan passes as the Falcons look to finish the season on a high note with four straight wins. Book Hooper for a score.
DraftKings Sportsbook Touchdown Odds — (posted soon)
Thanks for checking out this week’s article. Leave your touchdown picks in the comments for a chance at winning monthly and seasonal prizes.
Image Credit: USA Today Sports Images