DFS Alerts

Randall Cobb officially INACTIVE for Packers

Cobb was expected to be very limited if he suited up tonight, so this news doesn’t change much. Aaron Rodgers should primarily target Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams. Detroit’s best corner, Darius Slay (hamstring), is active tonight, which makes the matchup a little tougher for Green Bay’s receivers. He’s still a bit banged up though and Jordy Nelson projected as our WR2 heading into the slate with the expectation that Slay would give it a go. Tight end Jared Cook could also get some extra looks, he’s averaged 6.5 over the past two weeks. Detroit ranks 29th in TE DVOA.

Taylor Gabriel and Austin Hooper inactive Sunday, as expected

Vegas currently has the Falcons-Saints game total at a massive 59 points. Atlanta, favored by 7.5 points, has an implied team total of 33.25. Julio Jones (toe), who is not expected to have a snap count, and Mohamed Sanu should get plenty of targets from Matt Ryan. Jones projects as our top receiver on the 4pm slate. Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman should also be involved in the passing game. The running back duo combined for 296 yards and four touchdowns the last time these two teams met. Freeman should lead the backfield in touches and projects as our RB2 on the afternoon slate.

Travis Benjamin INACTIVE Sunday

Benjamin has been dealing with a knee injury for several weeks and the team decided to rest him for their final game of the season. Tyrell Williams and Dontrelle Inman will be the primary receivers and Rivers should also target Antonio Gates quite a bit. Gates had a season-high 13 targets last week against the Browns, which he converted into an 8/94/1 line. He projects as our TE4 on the afternoon slate.

Kenny Britt officially inactive, as expected

Tavon Austin and Brian Quick will be Jared Goff’s primary passing options, but neither are great fantasy plays against Arizona’s 7th-ranked pass defense. Rather, it may be a good spot to target the Cardinals DST. Goff has thrown multiple interceptions in three of his six games this season and he’s been sacked at least three times in all but one.

Jordan Reed and Robert Kelley active, as expected

Reed (shoulder) and Kelley (knee) are both going to play through their questionable tags on Sunday in a must-win game against the Giants. Kelley has only averaged 49.4 rushing yards per game over his last five. He’ll have to deal with a tough Giants defense that ranks 4th in rush DVOA, which makes him a risky option. Reed has been severely limited since injuring his shoulder (two targets total over two games), but he had last week off to rehab. Reports have indicated he’s made good progress, but there definitely remains some uncertainty surrounding his health. While the Giants have an excellent pass defense, their weak spot seems to be the tight end position; they rank 25th in TE DVOA. Of course, that makes it tempting to roster him in such an important matchup, but his injury makes him risky. He currently projects as our TE3 on the 4pm slate.

Spencer Ware INACTIVE Sunday

The Chiefs will roll with Charcandrick West and Knile Davis in the backfield. West should lead the backfield but he’s been pretty ineffective this season, averaging 3.3 yards per carry. In the three games he’s received more than six carries, he’s rushed for 3.1 ypc. Although he’ll have a favorable game flow (Kansas City is favored by 5 points) against a mediocre rush defense (Chargers are 14th in rush DVOA), it’ll be hard to trust him to post big fantasy numbers. However, given his price, he is a potential value option on the afternoon slate. He projects as our RB2 on FanDuel and RB3 on DraftKings in terms of points-per-dollar.

Week 17 NFL Player Props are posted

Player props are a very valuable tool for making last minute decisions. In Week 17, where projecting snaps is important the Vegas props are a quick resource to determine who is expected to see a full workload. At QB, Matt Ryan checks in with the highest yardage prop of the week at 315 yards. The other popular options are just behind at: Brees (300.5), Stafford (287.5),Kirk Cousins (280.5) and Aaron Rodgers (270.5). If you are trying to fit an expensive QB along with other top options such as David Johnson, Julio Jones and Jordy Nelson, you’ll need some value at RB. Vegas likes Jacquizz Rodgers with a rushing yardage prop of 64.5. Thomas Rawls and Marc Ingram also have very interesting yardage props at 60.5.

There are several other props that really stand out. You can check them yourself here: https://rotogrinders.com/grids/nfl-player-props-week-17-1480894

Bilal Powell active for Jets

Powell (knee) was questionable heading into Sunday, but he’s going to start at running back against the Bills. It’s a great matchup for him, the Bills allowed Jay Ajayi to rack up over 200 rushing yards twice this season and they rank dead last in rush DVOA. Over the past three weeks, he’s averaged 4.8 yards per carry on 60 attempts. He projects as our RB4 on DraftKings.

Rex Burkhead will be bellcow for Bengals

Burkhead will start in place of Jeremy Hill and he’ll be plenty motivated to prove himself a worthy NFL back. Last week against the Texans, he managed 67 yards on 16 touches, including four receptions. He has some serious tournament appeal, especially on full PPR sites. The primary drawback is his opponent, Baltimore ranks 1st in rush DVOA. Still, he projects as our top points-per-dollar running back today.

Denard Robinson will start at running back for Jaguars

In his last game, which was in Week 13 against the Broncos, he rushed for 53 yards on 17 carries. He isn’t a very effective back in general. Jacksonville plays Indianapolis today, who rank 30th in rush DVOA, but it’ll still be hard to trust Robinson. There are better value options available at running back today.

Paul Turner listed as starter for Jordan Matthews

He had eight targets the last time Matthews sat, but he’s spent the last two weeks in street clothes. As Matthews does, Turner will run most of his routes out of the slot. Dallas has struggled to defend slot receivers this year – Matthews posted an 11/65/1 on them earlier this year – but Turner is only a tournament flier. Tight end Zach Ertz is the safest bet on the Eagles’ offense.

Roethlisberger, Bell, and Brown all inactive Sunday, as expected

Landry Jones will start under center and his primary target will be Eli Rogers. DeAngelo Williams will split time with Fitzgerald Touissant in place of Le’Veon Bell. Williams is expected to get a good amount of work in order to get ready for the playoffs, but it’s his first game since early November, so he will probably be somewhat limited. Pittsburgh has a good matchup against the Browns, but it’s still hard to trust Jones to do well, which puts a damper on Rogers’ fantasy value, and the backfield timeshare makes Williams and Touissant risky options as well.

Jay Ajayi officially active Sunday, as expected

Ajayi is dealing with an AC sprain in his shoulder. Miami has already clinched a wild card spot in the playoffs, a win could move them up to the five seed, but that’s not a huge prize. Should Ajayi feel soreness, or if the Patriots (or Dolphins) get up big, he may be taken out of the game. That means he should only be used in tournaments. He had 206 rushing yards last week but that was against a Buffalo defense that ranks dead last in rush DVOA. New England ranks 5th, so it’ll be a much tougher matchup this time around.

Brandon Marshall INACTIVE Sunday

Charone Peake will start in his place but Quincy Enunwa will be Fitzpatrick’s primary target. Robby Anderson is active and Devin Smith is expected to get some run as well. Enunwa garners the highest projection among the receivers, although he won’t be much more than a tournament flier. The Jets are a mess and they’re not a great team to target this week, outside of possibly Bilal Powell.

Malcolm Mitchell officially inactive Sunday

Michael Floyd will be New England’s third receiver behind Julian Edelman and Chris Hogan on Sunday. Beat writers have speculated Floyd could get decent usage, but he’s a risky bet. Edelman had five straight weeks with more than ten targets prior to receiving eight in a blowout victory over the Jets last weekend. He should return to double-digits today. He’s only scored two touchdowns on the season, but he leads the team in red zone targets. With popular red zone target Martellus Bennett possibly limited, Edelman has better touchdown expectation than normal. Although he’s only had one game with more than 100 yards, he’s 7th in the league in total receptions (90). Fortunately, the Patriots can clinch home-field advantage with a win, so we can expect them to play hard in Week 17.