The NFL DFS Week 17 D/ST Coach is live and ready to go for one of the weakest NFL DFS main slates we’ve seen all season. When you account for the weird holiday scheduling and some unfortunate injuries that have occurred in the last few weeks, this slate seems to be lacking in terms of quality and quantity.

We only have nine games to consider for the player pool, and we only have two games in the afternoon window, so that slate is largely unplayable. A smaller slate really consolidates ownership, and the chalk seemingly carries more weight than usual. Let’s dig in and break down the penultimate NFL DFS main slate for the 2025 regular season!

NFL DFS Week 17 D/ST Coach for FanDuel & DraftKings Fantasy

This slate is an odd one for sure. I’m normally on board with playing a variety of slates on any NFL Sunday. But with nine games, we’re going to see the chalk plays draw more ownership. And as I just mentioned at the top of the article, the two-game afternoon slate isn’t incredibly appealing.

A good strategy for this week may just be to split your weekly entry fee allocation to both the main slate and the early slate. The early window offers seven games, and you don’t have to worry about late swapping ahead of the afternoon games, and every player is on a level playing field.

With 18 D/ST’s to choose from for the main slate, we have fewer options than normal. Three games on the main slate feature implied game totals at or under 41.5 points, and the game in Cleveland has one of the lowest totals we’ve seen all season. We also have two games on this slate with implied totals at or above 48.5 points, and I actually like one of those D/ST’s for tournaments.

So with such a small slate on our hands for Week 17, we do need to get a little weird if we want to strike big in our contests on DraftKings or FanDuel. Let’s dive into the latest NFL DFS Week 17 D/ST Coach to help you finalize your lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel.

 

 


 

NFL DFS D/ST Top Tier Picks for Week 17

New England Patriots – DraftKings: $3,900 | FanDuel: $5,000

The Patriots are the most expensive D/ST on both DraftKings and FanDuel this week and for good reason. Despite going on the road, they’ll go head-to-head with arguably the worst starting quarterback on the NFL DFS main slate for Week 17.

Brady Cook has been a spectacle through three starts for the Jets. In those games, Cook has completed just 59.2% of his pass attempts with just one touchdown pass to six interceptions. He’s also fumbled three times, and he hasn’t eclipsed 200 passing yards in any of his starts.

The Patriots are a bit beat up on the defensive side of the ball and monitoring Friday’s practice reports will be huge for our NFL DFS Week 17 D/ST Coach because Wednesday’s report was littered with too many names, but if the Patriots can get Milton Williams back this week that’ll be huge in their effort to stop the run and show no respect to the passing game. As of Thursday morning, the Patriots are 13.5-point favorites on the road, and the Jets have an implied team total of just 14.5 points.

New Orleans Saints – DraftKings: $3,500 | FanDuel: $4,200

The New Orleans Saints were hilariously mispriced on FanDuel in Week 16, and we jumped all over that pricing error while they returned 19 fantasy points for our NFL DFS lineups. While they are priced up this week, they’re still a better value on FanDuel than DraftKings, but this unit is certainly playable on both sites for the NFL DFS Week 17 D/ST Coach.

We’ve been utilizing D/ST’s against the Tennessee Titans all season, so why would that change in Week 17 for a slate featuring a more limited player pool? Well, maybe we should be mindful that the Titans are playing a bit better over their last three games. Cam Ward has two touchdown passes in three straight performances, and he has just one interception in his last seven games.

Perhaps we tread a bit carefully with this D/ST recommendation, but I do like that New Orleans has been very active with their pass rush, and offenses have struggled to throw on this defense all season long. There’s potential for a spike week here, so let’s limit exposure here to just tournaments while using the Patriots or the next D/ST for cash games.

 

 


 

NFL DFS D/ST Mid-Tier Pick for Week 17

Pittsburgh Steelers – DraftKings: $3,300 | FanDuel: $4,400

The Steelers have a couple of things working in their favor for this matchup. While this game isn’t at home, they’re no stranger to the elements of the Midwest, especially playing in Cleveland during the winter. Sunday’s weather forecast calls for a high of 52 degrees and a low of 35. Moreover, there’s basically a 90-100% chance of rain in the forecast for this game, so the field conditions could be less than ideal.

The Steelers have been brutal to run on lately, and that’s unfortunate for the Cleveland Browns, who lost Quinshon Judkins to a brutal knee injury last week. T.J. Watt also returned to practice on Wednesday, and he would be a great addition to this defense because the Steelers still don’t have the AFC North division title wrapped up.

The Steelers are only favored by a field goal on the road. However, the game total is the lowest on the main slate at 34.5 points, and the Browns have an implied team total of just under 16 points.

Now, because of the low total and projected weather for this game, the Steelers have an implied team total under 19 points, and Myles Garrett is chasing the sack record. If you wanted to punt to the Cleveland Browns D/ST to open up some salary, you wouldn’t get much of an argument from me.

 

 


 

NFL Week 17 DFS D/ST Value Picks

New York Giants – DraftKings: $2,900 | FanDuel: $3,700

The G-Men caught a bit of a break ahead of their Week 17 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders because it was announced on Wednesday that Vegas was effectively shutting Brock Bowers down for the season by placing him on injured reserve. For this reason, it certainly feels like the Giants can just sell out to stop the run and force Geno Smith to beat them through the air.

And while Myles Garrett has dominated the talks of breaking the NFL sack record, Brian Burns is still having an outstanding season with 15 sacks on the year. On the year, the Raiders have allowed the second-most sacks (57), just one behind the New York Jets.

Stopping Ashton Jeanty is going to be a tall task, and he’s due for heavy volume after he touched the ball 25 times last week against the Houston Texans. And he still has a chance to reach 1,000 rushing yards in his rookie campaign. But again, with no Bowers, the G-Men can stack the box and force Geno to beat them with his arm.

Tennessee Titans – DraftKings: $2,800 | FanDuel: $3,600

The Titans aren’t the greatest option in the NFL DFS Week 17 D/ST Coach, but we can squeeze some points out this unit. The Titans rank 11th out of 32 teams in total sacks (38), and the Saints have given up the eighth-most sacks (43). We also have a very low implied total for this game at 39.5 points, and the Titans are just 2.5-point underdogs at home.

Tyler Shough has definitely impressed over the last handful of games, and he has rushing upside. And the Saints obviously have certain weapons the Titans will need to account for. But since Tennessee’s Bye week, they’re allowing just 84.8 rushing yards per game, so they may force a rookie quarterback to beat them through the air on the road.

Philadelphia Eagles – DraftKings: $2,600

The Eagles aren’t a value on FanDuel, but I am okay paying down to this group on DraftKings at this cheap tag. Even if this team delivers more of a “floor” performance of five or six fantasy points on DK, you’re still saving salary that allows you to spend up elsewhere for skill position players with a higher ceiling. Since the team’s Bye week, the Eagles have held three opponents to under 10 points, and they have 11 takeaways in their last seven games.

It’s hard to imagine Josh Allen having two dud performances in consecutive weeks, and Allen has plenty of rushing upside as well. But this game also only has an implied total of just 43.5 points, and the Eagles are slight underdogs at just 1.5 points, so this could be a low-scoring, sluggish game script. For tournaments, I think we can pay down to this D/ST because there could be a reasonable return if this game doesn’t shoot out. We also have a good chance of rain in the forecast, so field conditions could be somewhat messy.

 

 


 

NFL DFS D/ST Fade for Week 17

Seattle Seahawks – DraftKings: $3,700 | FanDuel: $4,700

I do like the Seahawks, and I’m not deterred from utilizing them in season-long fantasy football championships this week. However, this is a classic case of spending up for the Patriots or going with a cheaper option for our NFL DFS Week 17 lineups.

It is incredibly difficult to put the Seahawks in this section because they have a great ceiling. They have five defensive/special teams touchdowns since Week 10, and seven total on the season. But they also have only two sacks in their last three games. And while they are certainly rested after playing on Thursday Night Football in Week 16, we do have to account for the cross-country travel required to play the Carolina Panthers in Week 17.

This game is still very meaningful for the Queen City Kitties. They have control of the NFC South, and Bryce Young has done better with protecting the ball over the last few weeks, and he really doesn’t get sacked all that much. The Seahawks are favored by seven points on the road, but I do have concerns with the matchup. Given how the Panthers have been trending on their road to the playoffs, it’s possible the Seattle D/ST delivers more of a floor performance for the NFL DFS Week 17 main slate.
 

 

 

NFL DFS Week 17 D/ST Play of the Week

Jacksonville Jaguars – DraftKings: $3,400 | FanDuel: $4,900

The legend of Philip Rivers may scare people off this play. There is some leverage here, but I should also note we don’t typically want to get too cute/contrarian with D/ST’s. I’m mostly putting my faith in the Jaguars D/ST with this recommendation because this whole team is peaking ahead of the playoffs next month.

Jacksonville’s sack totals aren’t elite, but they are flirting with some big DFS performances. They’re incredibly disruptive on the defensive side of the ball. In their last four games, they may only have eight sacks, but they have multiple defensive takeaways in each game.

This week, they go on the road to Indianapolis, and while Philip Rivers certainly gives the Colts the best chance to win at the moment, he’s not mobile and has thrown an interception in each of his two starts for Indianapolis. This defense has flirted with some slate-breaking performances, and with the Colts playing on a short week, I do want some exposure to the Jags, specifically in tournaments, to see if they can break through for the NFL DFS Week 17 D/ST Coach.