The battle for the top receiver in fantasy football will commence in week 17 between Antonio Brown and Julio Jones. For the season, Jones holds a .70 edge in fantasy points over Brown, who turned in a below-average day last week against the Baltimore Ravens.
While they battle it out for the best receiver, we’re looking at our daily fantasy roster for wide receivers. With one week remaining, we’re giving our best and worst DFS options, including a sleeper pick.
DFS Boom
DeAndre Hopkins vs. Jacksonville
With Brian Hoyer back as quarterback and the Texans needing a victory, we can’t imagine the offensive gameplan will avoid Hopkins.
Hopkins has already had a breakout year and that should continue against the Jaguars. Jacksonville has been atrocious lately against the pass, and is fourth-worst among other NFL teams against the pass. Jacksonville allows 269.9 yards per game, and teams have been able to do about anything against the Jaguars defense in the last few weeks.
And while Hopkins hasn’t quite been the target monster as he was in the beginning of the season, we like his matchup this week. With Hoyer back, we anticipate him to want to get some early completions, thus going for his best receiver.
The last time Hopkins faced Jacksonville, he went for two touchdowns and 148 yards receiving. Those numbers should provide solid DFS value, especially since he’s the seventh-most expensive wide receiver on the Yahoo DFS site.
DFS Sleeper
Golden Tate vs. Chicago
Don’t worry about last week. Tate was held to only four catches without a touchdown at home, but we’re still hopeful for this week.
Tate is going off as the 18th most expensive option at wide receiver and he will likely get plenty of top-option targets. Calvin Johnson hasn’t practiced this week, and although he says he will play, we can’t trust him in the final week of the season. If Johnson doesn’t play, Tate’s value only increases.
However, even if Johnson lines up for the Lions, Tate is still a quality play. He’s gone for double-digit points in three of the last five games and that should continue against a Bears defense that has struggled at times at home against the pass.
The last time Tate squared off against Chicago, Tate scored a touchdown. We anticipate another touchdown for Tate this week and at that price, that would be a good return.
DFS Bust
Doug Baldwin vs. Arizona
Nobody has been hotter in fantasy football than Baldwin during the past few weeks. And we finally turned the corner on Baldwin recently, and started him regularly in season-long fantasy.
However, with the second-most expensive price, we’re not going with him against the Cardinals. Baldwin has been unstoppable as of late, but he’s been highly touchdown dependent. And if we’re going to spend that high of a price on a receiver, we have to see more than just touchdowns.
And we’d like that receiver to be facing a little less quality of a team.
The Cardinals are a top-10 team against the pass and showed last week that they can rush the passer. If they get that kind of pressure on quarterback Russell Wilson, the Seahawks will have a tough time moving the football. With the Cardinals having something to play for, Seattle will be in trouble this week. That means we’re giving up on Baldwin in DFS this week.
