You know what’s better than opening up a brand new pair of socks on Christmas morning? Winning $1,000,000 playing NFL DFS on DraftKings. I mean, think about how many pairs of socks you could buy with $1,000,000. Your feet would never be chilly again.
Still, it won’t be easy. Taking down DraftKings Merry Millionaire Maker won’t just be about selecting high-scoring players, it’ll also be a matter of differentiating your lineup just enough to walk away with that solo first place. Such is the burden of a GPP on a three-game slate.
Don’t fret. As my holiday gift to you, here are my top picks at each position for Thursday’s contest.
Set your DraftKings NFL DFS lineups here: NFL $2.25M Merry Millionaire [$1M to 1st] (Thu)
Quarterback
Josh Johnson, Commanders ($4,400)
Did you know that Josh Johnson has only started nine games in his entire NFL career? That doesn’t seem like nearly enough. However, the 39-year-old is trending towards start No. 10 on Thursday, with Marcus Mariota ($4,900; hand) unable to practice on both Monday and Tuesday. Mariota left Week 16’s loss to the Eagles, necessitating Johnson to come in complete five of his nine pass attempts for 43 yards. Johnson also threw an interception in his first action of 2025. Is any of that overly encouraging? Not really. Yet Johnson’s real fantasy value is in his minuscule price tag and his matchup. The Cowboys have surrendered the most FPTS per game to opposing QBs this season, a function of Dallas ranking dead-last in defensive EPA per play. On top of all that, the Cowboys’ secondary is ravaged with injury at the moment, which helped Justin Herbert rack up 300 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns this past Sunday. Whoever starts under center for the Commanders is very viable on this teeny-tiny slate.
Running Back
Aaron Jones, Vikings ($5,700)
There’s a lot of injury uncertainty on this slate, and the Vikings’ backfield is far from the exception. Jordan Mason ($5,200; ankle) exited Week 16’s win over the Giants after only four snaps, which left Aaron Jones to be the team’s “bell cow” back. When it was all said and done, Jones finished with a 63.9% snap share — despite his own brief ankle issue — which amounted to 23 touches and 93 scrimmage yards. Not too shabby for an asset now priced below $6,000. With Mason not practicing to start the week, it’s looking like Jones will once again garner the lion’s share of Minnesota’s RB workload in Week 17. Many lineups will justifiably want to pay-up for Jahmyr Gibbs ($8,300) on the other side of this matchup, but it’s not like Detroit’s defense has been all that impressive in recent contests. In fact, since the beginning of Week 14, the Lions are surrendering an NFL-worst 477.3 opponent yards per game. Woof.
Wide Receiver
Courtland Sutton, Broncos ($6,000)
Since the beginning of Week 14, there are only three wideouts in the NFL with more targets than Courtland Sutton: Puka Nacua, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Ja’Marr Chase. Yet, Sutton is only the seventh-most expensive receiver on this Christmas Day slate. Seems like a buying opportunity to me. It’s not like all of Sutton’s volume came in a single performance, either. The veteran has been incredibly consistent, registering double-digit target totals in three straight starts and exceeding 20 FPTS in both Week 15 and Week 16. The big difference? This surplus of targets has also been happening in the red zone. Sutton has eight targets inside the 20-yard line in Denver’s past four matchups — half his total for the season as a whole. That’s a formula for upside.
Treylon Burks, Commanders ($3,300)
Did I ever envision a scenario where I’d be talking up a Josh Johnson and Treylon Burks stack? No. But isn’t that the beauty of life? Burks has shown some flashes since joining the Commanders’ roster back at the beginning of November, none more notable than this wild one-handed touchdown grab on Sunday Night Football:
Burks has yet to have a true “breakout” fantasy performance in his time in Washington, yet it’s definitely not due to a lack of opportunity. In Week 16’s loss to the Eagles, Burks set new season-highs in both targets (5) and snap share (83.3%), as the Commanders primarily operated out of 11 personnel with the former first-round pick sharing the field with Terry McLaurin ($5,800) and Deebo Samuel ($4,800). Burks isn’t anything more than a low-salary flier, but he’s worth a look against a Cowboys secondary that is conceding the most FPTS per game to opposing WRs.
Tight End
Jake Ferguson, Cowboys ($4,300)
This isn’t the strongest tight end slate, especially with Chris Oladokun ($4,500) throwing passes to Travis Kelce ($4,500). As such, I can almost guarantee that Jake Ferguson will be a popular play. Still, this is a little chalk I’m willing to eat with my Christmas milk and cookies. It may not feel like it, partially due to Ferguson only having 589 yards receiving through 15 weeks, but thanks to 80 receptions and seven touchdowns, the 26-year-old is actually TE3 in PPR scoring this season. Ferguson will look to add to those total against a Washington secondary that is almost as beat-up as Dallas’. It’s also a defense that has surrendered more touchdowns to opposing tight ends than any other unit in the NFC. Funny enough, two of those scores came at the hands of Ferguson back when these squads last met in Week 7.
Defense & Special Teams
Denver Broncos ($3,700)
Another sure-to-be popular play, yet another one that feels necessary. For as good as the Broncos’ defense has been from a fantasy perspective this season, there’s actually a case for some positive regression. Denver leads the NFL in quarterback knockdowns (72), sacks (63) and pressure rate (31.5%), yet somehow, only the Jets have a lower turnover rate among AFC teams (6.4%). This could be the week that that trend changes. The aforementioned Oladokun is a former seventh-round pick who had never thrown a pass in the NFL prior to this past Sunday’s loss to the Titans. Shockingly, the 28-year-old didn’t throw an interception versus Tennessee. However, Oladokun was sacked on 20.0% of his drop backs and he only averaged a microscopic 3.4 adjusted net yards per pass attempt. I don’t expect things to get better against the Broncos’ ferocious front seven.
