Five Facts to Know for Week 17 DFS

Five facts to help you navigate an always tricky Week 17 on the DFS landscape.

With all 32 teams on the main slate and value opening up due to certain teams resting their starters, there are a lot of possibilities in Week 17 in terms of roster construction. Here are five facts to help you narrow things down.

1. Alvin Kamara has had more touches per game than Mark Ingram over the past two weeks

4for4’s Player Touches App tells us that from Week 6 (the Saints’ first game without Adrian Peterson) to Week 13, Ingram averaged 20.3 touches per game to Kamara’s 13.9, and got a touch on 57.7% of snaps to Kamara’s 41.6%. After leaving early in Week 14 with a concussion, Kamara has returned to average 18.5 touches per game to Ingram’s 16.5, also getting more touches per snap (53.6%) than Ingram (45.2%). This recent trend makes Kamara the preferred option in the Saints backfield against Tampa Bay’s 21st-ranked defense in terms of schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed to running backs.

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2. The Panthers defense has allowed 100 yards and/or a touchdown to the last seven No. 1 wide receivers it has faced

Starting in Week 9, No. 1 wide receiver stat lines against Carolina are as follows: Julio Jones 6–118–0; Jarvis Landry 5–42–1; Robby Anderson 6–146–2; Michael Thomas 5–70–1; Adam Thielen 6–105–1; Davante Adams 5–57–1; Mike Evans 6–107–0. This bodes well for Jones, who would have had an even bigger day in the first meeting with Carolina had he not dropped a would-be 39-yard touchdown.

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3. The Oakland Raiders allow 66.1 receiving yards per game to tight ends, most in the league

Oakland’s 86 receptions allowed to tight ends is also third-most in the league. In the Chargers first game without Hunter Henry (injured reserve) last week, Antonio Gates racked up eight targets, catching six of them for 81 yards a touchdown. The Raiders’ vulnerability to the position puts a repeat performance squarely within the range of outcomes.

4. The Atlanta Falcons defense has allowed a 77.3% completion rate, 8.1 yards per attempt, and eight touchdowns compared with two interceptions over the past four weeks

Cam Newton will take aim at a Falcons defense that has allowed 21 touchdowns while intercepting a league-low five passes this season. The Falcons have also allowed 292 rushing yards to quarterbacks, third-most in the league. Newton has run more and more as the season has progressed, averaging 13.0 carries per game over his last three, with at least 11 carries in each.

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5. C.J. Anderson has at least 22 combined carries and targets in each of his last four games

After touching the football on 39.5% of his snaps from Week 1 to Week 12, Anderson has done so on 54.2% of his snaps from Week 13 on. He averages 20.8 carries and 4.8 targets per game over that span. With the Kansas City Chiefs resting starters on both sides of the ball this week, game script could set up for another massive workload for Anderson.