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Fantasy Football Picks, Fades: DraftKings NFL DFS Salary Risers and Fallers Ahead of Week 17

Zach Thompson goes over three DraftKings NFL player salaries and how they either went up or down ahead of Week 17.

Before the curtain closes for the final time on the 2020 NFL regular season, we’ve got one more week of great fantasy football action coming this Sunday with a massive 15-game slate on DraftKings. As you look ahead and start to build your lineups, these are some of the big price changes from last week either up or down for Week 17.

Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $3M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]


Notable Salary Risers/Fallers

Name Week 16 Salary Week 17 Salary Difference
Name Week 16 Salary Week 17 Salary Difference
Alvin Kamara $7,600 $9,500 $1,900
Latavius Murray $4,100 $5,600 $1,500
Mike Evans $6,100 $7,500 $1,400
Myles Gaskin $5,300 $6,500 $1,200
Dalvin Cook $8,200 $9,200 $1,000
Jeff Wilson Jr. $5,000 $6,000 $1,000
George Kittle $5,000 $6,000 $1,000
Michael Gallup $4,100 $5,000 $900
Nick Keizer $2,500 $3,200 $700
Salvon Ahmed $5,600 $4,400 -$1,200
DeVante Parker $6,100 $5,300 -$800
Tyreek Hill $9,000 $8,300 -$700
Robert Woods $7,000 $6,300 -$700
Tyler Lockett $6,500 $5,800 -$700
Tony Pollard $6,500 $5,900 -$600
Baker Mayfield $6,100 $5,500 -$600
Breshad Perriman $3,800 $3,200 -$600

Alvin Kamara ($9,500), New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
Week 16 Salary: $7,600 ($1,900 increase)

After his Christmas Day heroics, Kamara gets an almost $2K price bump coming into the season finale against his division rivals, the Carolina Panthers. Last Friday on Christmas Day, Kamara won multiple players their season-long leagues (including Drew Brees’ son) and went off with the third-highest DKFP total in NFL history, posting 59.2 DKFP with 155 rushing yards and six touchdowns against the Vikings while adding three catches for 17 more yards. Kamara has been a fantasy beast all season and has been one of the few healthy backs all season long, playing in every game for the Saints with a closely managed workload. He ran for 83 yards on 14 carries and added 65 yards on eight catches for 22.8 DKFP in his previous meeting this season with the Panthers, and he and the Saints still have a shot at the No. 1 seed if they pick up a win this week.

With a great matchup against the Panthers, who have allowed the third-most DKFP to opposing RBs this season, Kamara definitely has a very high ceiling once again. However, Kamara’s high price makes him a risky play if the Saints get out early and don’t give him a full workload. The Saints are expected to dominate this game, though, as you can tell since Kamara’s backup, Latavius Murray ($5,600) also had a huge price jump. Murray also had a good game with 72 yards on just 12 carries against the Vikings, but he didn’t get into the end zone since Kamara got all the scores. Murray actually makes a lot of sense at his price, especially if it seems like the Saints will reduce the workload of their stars before the playoffs.


Myles Gaskin ($6,500), Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills
Week 16 Salary: $5,300 ($1,200 increase)

While the QB situation in Miami is bizarre and confusing, one thing is crystal clear after their thrilling win over the Raiders last Saturday night—Gaskin is the RB1. Coming into the game, there was talk of Gaskin sharing work with Salvon Ahmed ($4,400), but Gaskin dominated with 19 touches compared to just seven for Ahmed, whose price plummeted $1,200 in one of the biggest drops of the week.

Gaskin had 33.9 DKFP with five catches for 82 yards and a pair of receiving touchdowns to go with his 87 yards on the ground. Gaskin is likely going to be the focus of the offense again in this matchup as the Dolphins try to “win and get in” to the playoffs. The Bills won’t have much to play for and rank in the top 10 for most DKFP allowed to RBs this season. Gaskin had a solid 14.2 DFKP in his first matchup against Buffalo, catching 6-of-7 targets for 36 yards. Since he’s back to his role as the clear top option, he should get a heavy workload again this week and could be worth his elevated salary.


Tyreek Hill ($8,300), Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers
Week 16 Salary: $9,000 ($700 decrease)

Hill is representative of many players who could take the week off this week or at least get a greatly reduced workload with the end of the season looming. Hill was already battling a hamstring issue and had a very quiet week last week against the Falcons with four catches for 65 yards and 10.5 DFKP. To get him healthy and ready for the playoffs, the Chiefs will likely reduce his snaps even if he is active.

In addition, it looks like coach Andy Reid will take the chance to get Patrick Mahomes ($8,400) an extra week off before the bye week and the playoffs. Mahomes and the Chiefs secured the No. 1 seed throughout the playoffs with their win in Atlanta last week. The downgrade from Mahomes to Chad Henne ($5,100) makes this a good spot to pass on all the Chiefs this week. Other teams that could rest players or reduce workloads include the Steelers, Bills, Bucs or teams that are eliminated from the playoffs. Make sure to monitor news as it comes out leading up to kickoff for who will play and who will have reduced workloads.

Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $3M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]


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