The best lineups in GPPs are not won with the most popular players on the slate. It takes some high-level roster construction to separate yourself from the rest of the pack. The goal of this article isn’t to name the best players on Sunday. It’s to find high-upside talent to add to your GPP rosters. Some top-tier players will be included, but lineups need to be balanced out with some hidden gems, too.
Remember, in most cases, the person who finishes in 10,000th place and the person who finishes in 1,269th place receive the same amount of money in many of these larger field contests, so there is no reason to simply follow the crowd to feel comfortable.
Let’s dive into Week 17 of the 2025 NFL season.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $2.25M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]
Top DFS Contrarian Stack
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Indianapolis Colts
Trevor Lawrence ($6,100) – Travis Etienne ($7,100) – Alec Pierce ($4,700) – Jakobi Meyers ($5,300)
The Jaguars vs. Colts matchup has a solid 48.0 point total and will be played inside a dome in Indianapolis, making it a solid DFS target for game stacking in Week 17. The Jaguars are currently six-point favorites and taking on a defense that allowed 48 points to the 49ers last week (although there was a defensive score in there), so this is setting up as a generally massive spot for Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence has struggled at points this season, but comes in rolling. He’s completed over 62% of his passes over the last two games, with eight touchdown passes, two rushing touchdowns and zero interceptions.
I’m generally prone to fading average quarterbacks when they get on a hot streak like this, but the Jaguars have done a great job of surrounding Lawrence with weapons like Jakobi Meyers. He only managed four catches for 39 yards on 10 targets in Week 14, but did manage to find the end zone in that game. While Parker Washington emerged as the primary target for Lawrence against Denver last week, I would expect that Meyers, who is playing on nearly every snap, will end up getting more of the bulk of the work against this weaker secondary.
Using Meyers over the more expensive Brian Thomas Jr. also clears us up to include Travis Etienne in this spot, who has six touchdowns in his last three games and has emerged as a legit receiving threat. He’ll face a Colts team that allowed two receiving touchdowns to Christian McCaffrey last week and looks like it’s fading badly in rush defense down the stretch, Overall, getting Lawrence and Etienne together not only gives us a more unique stack for this game, but will also give us a great shot at getting exposure to all of the Jaguars’ touchdowns in what could be a very high-scoring game.
Quarterback
Jaxson Dart ($5,400)
There are plenty of intriguing cheap quarterbacks in play this week for GPP roster building, but to me, paying up a little extra to get to the Giants’ play-caller makes the most sense. Dart has a crazy good matchup with the Raiders, who rank 26th in EPA per dropback and success rate per dropback. While they did contain C.J. Stroud last week, they’ll have a tougher time containing the more mobile Dart, who topped 63 rushing yards and added a score with his legs two weeks ago.
While the passing efficiency with Dart has dropped of late, this is a spot where I would expect that to pick up a bit as well. Las Vegas has allowed the seventh-most touchdowns to opposing wideouts this season, so a big splash play or score to Wan’Dale Robinson ($5,700) in this spot should almost be expected. Overall, if you’re looking for a cheap stack, Dart-Robinson is a great way to start builds and leave yourself plenty of room leftover for an elite comeback play from this game or another.
Running Back
Ashton Jeanty ($6,100)
The Giants are dead last in EPA per rush and success rate against the rush. Overall, they come into this game having now allowed the third-most fantasy points per game and third-most rushing yards to opposing running backs. Jeanty, for his part, comes into this game off what was likely the best game of his short career. He averaged 5.3 yards per carry against a stout Texans defense and ran for 128 yards and a touchdown, while also scoring a long receiving touchdown.
You don’t want to chase big days in this fantasy, but with Jeanty’s price barely moving over $6K, the value seems undeniable with the Raiders rookie in this spot. I’ll also just add that with his big day against the Texans, Jeanty is now also only 172 rushing yards away from 1,000 on the season, so there is some added incentive for him and the Raiders to keep giving him work. A big day and a massive payoff here seems likely again in DFS for Week 17.
Wide Receiver
Ja’Marr Chase (8,300)
The top end of the wide receiver player pool is tricky this week. Jaxon Smith–Njigba has a bit of a tougher matchup, while Chris Olave has a cake setup with the Titans, but has been priced up. Overall, I just feel best about going with Chase in this spot, who is reasonably priced at $8.3K for someone of his talents and will be going up against a battered Cardinals defense that is in play-out-the-string mode.
Overall, the Cardinals have 2.66 passing touchdowns over their last three games and have had trouble stopping elite wideouts, with Puka Nacua and Nico Collins both scoring twice in Weeks 14 and 15, respectively. I expect that with Joe Burrow’s time in Cincinnati potentially ending soon, we may see Chase/Burrow go out with a bang and put up some video game numbers in this spot or the next. Either way, with all of the value out there, I want some exposure to this Bengals offense, and getting to Chase as my core wide receiver is the best way to do that this week.
Rashid Shaheed ($4,300)
I’ll continue to take shots with Rashid Shaheed at this price range, who again looks like the best upside play for GPPs under $4.5K this week at wide receiver. While the Panthers do have a solid coverage unit, they’re not without flaws. They enter this week just 24th in EPA per dropback and have given up plenty of big games to opposing wideouts this season.
The Hawks have also shown more willingness to get Shaheed involved of late, as he has averaged 4.5 receptions and 70 yards in Week 14/15 against Atlanta and Indianapolis, and also managed a 31-yard rush last week against the Rams. Add in the increased touchdown equity with his special teams involvement, and Shaheed is too good to ignore for those in need of a cheaper wide receiver to round out lineups.
Tight End
Juwan Johnson ($4,200)
The Saints take on the Titans this week in a game that features two middling to below-average defenses. The Titans remain one of the weakest coverage units in football, having allowed multiple passing touchdowns in three of their last four games, and are particularly terrible in guarding against elite tight ends, who have really chewed up this defense at times this season. In Week 14, Harold Fannin Jr. went for eight receptions, 114 yards and a touchdown, and George Kittle had a monster day against the Titans in Week 15, with eight receptions, 88 yards and a touchdown.
Overall, this is a killer spot for any competent tight end and could very easily lead to a career day for the athletic Juwan Johnson, who comes in as the clear number two target in the Saints’ passing game after DeVaughn Vele was put on Injured Reserve and Brandin Cooks was traded. Johnson is coming off a big game where he went for eight receptions and 89 yards on nine targets, and trailed only Chris Olave, who went off for a couple of big plays near the end of last week’s Saints’ win. Johnson could easily be the leader for the Saints this week in a very winnable matchup and is certainly one of my favorite upside plays this week at the very fickle tight end position at just $4.2K.
Defense/Special Teams
Eagles ($2,600)
I generally like to target poor quarterbacks with defenses whenever possible, but I do think the Eagles warrant an exception this week. First of all, we are talking about a generally-elite unit capable of getting multiple turnovers against any team. Overall, the Eagles have scored 10+ DraftKings fantasy points six times this season and are now available at what is easily their lowest price point of the year. They’ve also played quite well of late, getting solid pressure in their most recent matchups, with an average of 4.33 sacks per game over their last three starts.
With Josh Allen coming off a leg injury and playing at less than 100%, there is a shot the Eagles rack up an abnormal number of sacks in this spot or even chase Allen from this game. Run stuffer Jalen Carter is also due back in the lineup for the Eagles, and his presence will certainly only make it harder for the Bills to keep moving the ball. Overall, this is just a great spot to buy into on an elite defense that is well underpriced in a potentially underrated spot for upside.
