DFS Alerts
Thomas Rawls practices Wednesday, expected to play Sunday
Rawls was forced out of Seattle’s Week 16 game after injuring his shoulder. It doesn’t seem like a serious injury though; Pete Carroll said Rawls will be fine for Sunday. Seattle has a shot at a first-round bye if they win this week, so they’ll definitely want their best back out on the field. Fortunately, they play the 49ers, who have firmly established themselves as the worst rushing defense in the league. He projects as our RB5 on FanDuel and RB7 on DraftKings, but plenty of guys ahead of him – such as Ezekiel Elliot, David Johnson, and LeSean McCoy – are playing in meaningless games. Assuming he has a good week of practice without setbacks, he’ll be a very interesting fantasy play this weekend.
As reported by: Bob Condotta
Austin Seferian-Jenkins will not play Sunday
He was barely used by the dysfunctional Jets offense. They never work tight ends into their game plan so his backup, Brandon Bostick, isn’t a viable option. Outside of Bilal Powell, it’ll be best to avoid this offense.
As reported by: Manish Mehta Other tagged players: Brandon Bostick Theo Riddick sits out practice Wednesday
Riddick (wrist) hasn’t practiced in a few weeks. The Lions went with Zach Zenner or the ineffective Dwayne Washington last game and they’ll probably do so again if Riddick can’t return. Zenner went for 92 total yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Cowboys. Over the past four games, he’s averaged 5.0 yards per carry. Detroit is playing for their division title this weekend, which means they’re one of the limited number of teams we can confidently depend on to play all out in Week 17. It also puts Zenner on the tournament radar. Green Bay has allowed the 5th-most receiving yards to running backs (49.5) over the past four games, so he’ll be an interesting option on full PPR sites.
As reported by: Dave Birkett Other tagged players: Zach Zenner Charles Sims to IR; Doug Martin expected to be inactive for Tampa Bay this week
The Bucs have placed Charles Sims on the IR and Doug Martin is also expected to be unavailable this week. Jacquizz Rodgers should get the bulk of the RB work with Peyton Barber spelling him some. Tampa Bay still has something to play for with an outside (albeit very slim) shot at the playoffs so Rodgers is a viable DFS option despite a relatively tough match up against a top 10 ranked run defense in the Panthers.
As reported by: Greg Auman on Twitter Other tagged players: Doug Martin, Jacquizz Rodgers, Peyton Barber
Steelers Big 3 officially confirmed out this week
This only confirms what has been expected all week as Pittsburgh Head Coach Mike Tomlin confirmed that Bell, Brown, and Big Ben would all be out this week. Landry Jones, Fitzgerald Toussaint, and Eli Rogers (along with Cobi Hamilton) all provide sources of value this weekend as the Steelers have a plus match up against the Browns.
As reported by: Nate Ulrich on Twitter Other tagged players: Antonio Brown, Ben Roethlisberger, Landry Jones, Eli Rogers, Fitzgerald Toussaint Melvin Gordon returns to practice
No word yet on what this means but the Chargers are thin at RB and Gordon is only three yards removed from a 1,000 yard season. That said, it’s hard to believe that the Chargers would risk their star RB in a meaningless game. We’ll continue to monitor Gordon’s status throughout the week and provide updates as they come in.
As reported by: Ricky Henne on Twitter Donte Moncrief not expected to play this week
After leaving last week due to a shoulder injury, the Colts #2 WR is not expected to play in Week 17 against Jacksonville. Phillip Dorsett would likely get the start in his absence, but T.Y. Hilton is really the only Colts receiving threat worth targeting for DFS purposes.
As reported by: Stephen Holder on Twitter Robert Griffin III does not practice; in concussion protocol
RGIII is dealing with a concussion and has not practiced yet this week. If he can’t play, the Browns will return to utilizing Cody Kessler as their starting QB. The Browns will be facing a non-motivated Steelers team and whichever QB is starting could be a sneaky GPP play due to this.
As reported by: Mary Kay Cabot on Twitter Other tagged players: Cody Kessler A.J. Green will not play this week
The Bengals star WR’s season is done as the team has announced he will not play this week. This was anticipated as Cincy has nothing to play for and don’t want to risk further injury to Green.
As reported by: Jay Morrison on Twitter Trevor Siemian will start for Broncos but Paxton Lynch will also play
A player source has told local media that Siemian will get the start for Denver against Oakland this week but that backup QB Paxton Lynch will also play. This makes both unusable for DFS purposes unless we get more clarity on the roles they will have.
As reported by: Mike Klis on Twitter Other tagged players: Paxton Lynch Jordan Reed expected to play Sunday
If Washington wins this weekend and the Packers-Lions game doesn’t end in a tie, they’ll make the playoffs. With so much on the line, Jordan Reed will fight through his shoulder injury (again) to play the Giants. He took Week 16 off to rehab the injury and was a non-factor in the two weeks prior, catching exactly one pass in each game. It doesn’t seem like he’ll be anywhere near 100%. As a result, Reed will be a very risky fantasy play on Sunday, but we’ll keep our eyes on him throughout the week.
As reported by: Jason LaCanfora Falcons-Saints game has 56-point total in Week 17
It’s the only matchup with an over/under above 48 points. While New Orleans has been eliminated from the playoffs, Atlanta would clinch a first-round bye with a win on Sunday. Since they’re playing for something, we can expect Julio Jones to suit up, but he’ll probably be limited. He only played 62% of their snaps last week because he’s nursing a toe injury. Instead of rostering Jones, it would make sense to target Matt Ryan or the running game in fantasy. Ryan threw for 240 yards and two touchdowns the last time these two teams met, but Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman stole the show. The running back duo combined for 296 yards and four touchdowns. Freeman will lead the backfield, but Coleman should receive about 30-40% of the RB touches. New Orleans has allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to running backs this season and the Falcons are favored by 6.5 points, providing a nice expected game script for the backs. Freeman is the safest fantasy bet of the two and he currently projects as our RB5 in Week 17.
As reported by: RotoGrinders Vegas Lines Other tagged players: Julio Jones, Matt Ryan, Tevin Coleman Dak Prescott not expected to play full game on Sunday
The Cowboys plan to play all of their healthy starters on Sunday, but it doesn’t mean they’ll go the entire game. It’s already being reported that they plan to dress Mark Sanchez so he can replace Prescott at some point this weekend. Dallas isn’t playing for much as they’ve already locked up home field in the playoffs. Still, Garrett expressed his desire to keep the team in rhythm, which is why he wants to use his stars again in Week 17. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Ezekiel Elliot and Dez Bryant get pulled in the second half as well, or at least have reduced reps. Having rhythm is a great thing, but it’s meaningless if one of their big three gets injured. Dak, Dez, and Zeke are all risky options in fantasy this weekend due to these circumstances, despite a nice matchup with the Eagles.
As reported by: Brandon George Other tagged players: Ezekiel Elliott, Dez Bryant Melvin Gordon says he'll be a game-time decision Sunday
Gordon (knee, hip) added that he’s been “getting after it” and if he’s able to play, he plans on doing so. He didn’t practice earlier today, but he has been making progress with his injuries. Although the Chargers are eliminated from the playoffs, he does have some incentive to play: he’s three rushing yards shy 1,000 rushing yards on the season and 84 yards short of 1,500 total yards. If he plays, he’ll have a nice matchup with the Chiefs, who rank 25th in rush DVOA and have allowed the 7th-most fantasy points per game to running backs over the past four weeks.
As reported by: Michael Gehlken Cameron Brate placed on IR
Brate injured his back on Saturday. Brandon Myers will likely start at tight end in his place and Luke Stocker will also get some snaps. Myers was targeted six times against New Orleans in Week 16, but he only caught two of them for 21 yards. Brate had been a reliable red zone target for Jameis Winston; he’s second on the team in receiving touchdowns with eight (Adam Humphries and Russell Shepard are tied for third with two). Mike Evans is leading the team with 11 scores and should get a ton of looks inside the 20 this weekend against the Panthers, especially with Brate out. Although his target numbers have decreased over the past four weeks, Winston is simply running out of people to throw the ball to. The Panthers will make it a priority to stop Evans, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Jameis force balls to him in double or triple coverage.
As reported by: Rick Stroud Other tagged players: Mike Evans