Welcome to the bar! The Week 17 DFS Cocktail Hour is here to satisfy your thirst for DFS football strategies. We’ll be looking at useful ingredients that you can use as part of your weekly DFS plays. Additionally, we’ll mix up my cocktail from this week’s Operation: Domination program.
A reminder that we’re usually looking at cash games on the DraftKings Classic mode, using the Sunday through Monday games. This week, I’m including some Saturday slate plays I like (as a sort of aperitif, if you will.) Scroll past the drink recipe to find those. Of course, you’re welcome to pour one out in a GPP tournament using this column’s advice as well. All player scores mentioned use DraftKings scoring as displayed by FantasyData.com.
Week 17 DFS Cocktail Hour: Base Spirits
The base spirits for our Week 17 DFS Cocktail lineup has a west coast flavor to it. Think cable cars, streets on rolling hills, and the Golden Gate Bridge. No, it’s not Rice-a-Roni. It’s the San Francisco 49ers, specifically their quarterback Brock Purdy ($6,200) in a big matchup with the Chicago Bears. Purdy hasn’t always been available this season, having missed eight games with a variant of turf toe. But when he’s been on the field, he’s generally been spectacular. Purdy’s 17 touchdowns in seven games extrapolates out to over 41 scores in a full season. He’s averaging the most passes per game of his career, leading to his best fantasy season to date on a per-game basis. He’s been outstanding the past two weeks, with eight passing touchdowns and a pair of top-five DraftKings scoring finishes.
Now, interestingly enough, he’s been able to do this while averaging the fewest yards per attempt of his career, which makes some sense if you consider who his main targets have been. The ‘Niners have basically played with no real deep threat in the receiving corps. Kendrick Bourne isn’t taking the top off the defense with any regularity. Ricky Pearsall has only played about half the year. And Brandon Aiyuk doesn’t really warrant mentioning in fantasy articles anymore. Purdy doesn’t care, and neither should you. He has Christian McCaffrey and (hopefully) George Kittle at his disposal, as well as our next base spirit player…
“Old” Reliable
Jauan Jennings ($5,600) is the only wide receiver on the 49ers who’s been with the team for the entirety of Purdy’s career. The familiarity is paying off. Jennings leads the team in receiving touchdowns and trails only McCaffrey in targets. (CMC, by the way, is the only one of Purdy’s regular targets to have played in all 15 games this season.) Jennings is averaging 11.9 DraftKings points per game. At first glance, that would seem to make him more of a WR3-type player. But he’s scored higher than that in six of his last seven games. Incidentally, he has also scored at least one touchdown in each of those six games as well, including in four straight entering Week 17.
Jennings is coming off his second-highest yardage total of the season. He’s also quite literally the only San Francisco wide receiver who sees regular red zone targets. Since Week 7, there have been 18 red zone targets to 49er wideouts. Jennings has 14 of them. (Demarcus Robinson and Ricky Pearsall have seen two each, but those four targets have been spread over four separate games.) This game has big implications for the NFC playoff picture, as both teams are still alive for the top overall seed (and the bye week that comes with it.) Chicago gives up the tenth most points to opposing passers, and the third most to wide receivers. Jennings is an affordable option this week. Furthermore, if Kittle misses with an ankle injury from Week 16, Jennings could see his red zone targets increase. That’s a nice start to the Week 17 DFS Cocktail.
Souring Agent
If you felt like playing back against that 49er base, you could do worse than DJ Moore ($5,500) or the returning Luther Burden ($4,800). And I have, in fact, built lineups for the week including one or the other. But for this week’s souring agent, I’m looking at a player that has, indeed, left a sour taste in fantasy managers’ mouths. Ashton Jeanty ($6,100) has not lived up to his first round fantasy draft capital. But it’s not for lack of effort or ability on his part. He’s shown the skillset we all coveted on the rare occasion he’s not getting blown up in the backfield due to the Raiders’ porous offensive line. And when he’s been allowed workhorse-level volume, he’s delivered. When he’s seen at least 18 total opportunities in a game, he’s averaged 21.0 DraftKings points, good for an average finish in the top 12.
It may seem like point-chasing to recommend Jeanty coming off his second-best fantasy score of the season. But this week, he faces a New York Giants defense that has surrendered the third most fantasy points to opposing backs. They’re third in total rush yards and rushing touchdowns allowed, and are giving up a league-worst 5.5 yards per carry. Jeanty is a stud. He’s fifth among running backs in missed tackles forced. Among backs with more than 50 carries, he ranks fourth in PFF’s “Elusive” rating. I realize the Raiders as an organization have already punted on the remaining season (see: Crosby, Maxx). But Jeanty is in a good matchup and the players on the field for Vegas still have their pride. I’m willing to roll the dice on Jeanty, who’s just the RB13 in DraftKings salary despite being a top-ten ECR play.
Sweetener
Our sweetener this week lends his name to our Week 17 DFS Cocktail “The Pitts”. Kyle Pitts ($5,300) might be the hottest player in all of fantasy football at the moment. Over the last six weeks, no tight end has scored more fantasy points overall or on average than Pitts. That includes 2025 fantasy cheat code Trey McBride (still a great play himself even at $7,500 this week.) Pitts is finally looking like the paradigm-shifter we all thought he would be when he was drafted by the Falcons with the fourth overall pick in 2021. Over that same six week stretch, he leads all tight ends in yards and touchdowns (you know, where the points are scored) and is second in targets and receptions.
Pitts has already set career highs in receptions and touchdowns. He’s on pace for over 120 targets, which would also be a career high mark. He’s coming off a TE3 finish for Week 16 on the strength of seven catches on nine targets for 57 yards and a score. Both players who finished ahead of him (Kittle and Harold Fannin, Jr.) carry a questionable injury designation. We include him in the Week 17 DFS Cocktail even though the matchup with the Rams isn’t great for tight ends. Los Angeles only gives up the 19th-most fantasy points to tight ends. But they’re much weaker against wideouts, surrendering the eighth most points there. Atlanta uses Pitts as a large wide receiver much of the time. 45% of his snaps have come from the slot or split wide. I haven’t been a Pitts guy, but I’m using him this week.
Garnishes
As always, how you dress up the rest of your Week 17 DFS Cocktail is up to you. I wouldn’t argue if you wanted to substitute McBride or Kittle ($6,000) at tight end, but it’ll heavily restrict the rest of your lineup. I’ve been focusing on higher-priced running backs to pair with Jeanty and looking for bargains at receiver. Keep an eye on the TreVeyon Henderson injury situation in New England. He practiced without a red jersey on Friday. But if he can’t clear concussion protocol, Rhamondre Stevenson ($5,900) would be a smash start against the hapless Jets. He’d slot nicely in your FLEX.
Week 17 DFS Cocktail: The Pitts
It’s Championship Week in the vast majority of redraft and dynasty leagues. If you’ve made it, congratulations! If you haven’t, or if you’re trailing after the Thursday slate, you know losing is the pits. It may be “better to have loved and lost” and all that, but it’s still sheer torture to make your league’s final only to come up short. With that in mind, here’s a Week 17 DFS Cocktail recipe to help you cope.
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz. Brandy
- 1 oz. Cherry Bourbon (I use Wollersheim, a Wisconsin-local brand)
- 1 oz. Peach Nectar
- .5 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
- Ice
- Maraschino Cherries (garnish)
Directions:
Easy-peasy this week. Combine brandy, bourbon, peach nectar, and lemon juice in a shaker filled with ice. Shake until well-chilled and strain into a coupe or martini glass. Garnish with a skewer of maraschino cherries. Slàinte mhath!
A few notes:
- I gave you a reprieve last week on using the cheap cherries. No more. Get back to the good stuff- Luxardo or Amarena or the like. Woodford Reserve Bourbon Cherries would be a perfect fit here as well. (A reminder, none of the brand-name products listed in this article or their parent companies have any sponsorship or endorsement deals with me, Operation: Domination, or Fantasy Sports Advice Network. It’s just stuff I have on-hand to make drinks I think we’d all enjoy.)
- If you want to get fancy-dance, you could rim your glass with colored crystal sugar. My preferred method is to cut a slit in a lemon wedge (or other fruit, depending on the cocktail.) Tuck it over the rim of the glass and run it once around. Then tip the glass into a bowl/saucer of sugar/salt/whatever you’re using.
Week 17 DFS Cocktail Saturday Plays
Just two games on the docket for Saturday in Week 17, but there’s money to be made, and we’re here for it. The best matchup play at quarterback is also probably the chalkiest for cash games. But with Jordan Love out, Green Bay’s Malik Willis ($5,000) makes a solid play at quarterback. In the backfield, Omarion Hampton ($6,300) will be popular if Kimani Vidal sits out with a neck injury, but I’d consider using Josh Jacobs ($7,000) with no injury designation at RB1 against the Ravens in an important game for both squads. Don’t get too cute, but Rasheen Ali ($4,200) can make plays in the receiving game. Jawhar Jordan ($5,300) might be a popular play, but the Texans’ backfield still belongs to Woody Marks ($6,000) until it doesn’t.
DFS matches will likely be determined by the pass catchers on Saturday. At tight end, many will likely jump on the Ravens’ TE2 (see what I did there?) But if you want to go cheap, Cade Stover ($2,500) is the least-expensive play at the position who actually stands to see passes thrown his way. He’s quietly seen six targets in his last two games. It’s a rough slate for tight ends this week. You need at least three receivers, so look to the Green Bay-Baltimore game for the best matchups. The public will be down on Romeo Doubs ($4,900), but he still leads the Packers’ wideouts in every major receiving category. Watch the status of Christian Watson ($5,000). You can pay for Zay (Flowers, at $6,400), too. At DST, I’m playing the Chargers ($2,900) and not looking back.