We may be in the midst of the holiday season, but football doesn’t stop. There will be no rest for the weary, as we’ve got two massive games this year on Christmas Day.
The Kansas City Chiefs will travel to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers, while the Baltimore Ravens will head south to take on the Houston Texans. You know the drill — down the chimney, we go!
Week 17 Christmas Day DFS Picks
- QB: Lamar Jackson
- RB: Jaylen Warren
- RB: Kareem Hunt
- WR: Hollywood Brown
- WR: George Pickens
- WR: Nico Collins
- TE: Pat Freiermuth
- FLEX: Mark Andrews
- DEF: Ravens
More Lamar Jackson, Less Problems
When we talk DFS or fantasy (which we obviously are), there are two quarterback kings in the castle, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen.
This Christmas, we see Jackson as a tier above all starters, including Patrick Mahomes and C.J. Stroud. Last week, the Ravens faced off against the Steelers, who have had Jackson’s number historically, but he outperformed projections by going well over 20 fantasy points in that matchup.
Well, that’s child’s play for Jackson. We saw the Texans lose several key defensive players on top of young star WR Tank Dell in their game last Saturday vs. the Chiefs, and we expect Jackson to have his choice of air or ground yards against Houston.
The reigning MVP has completed 67.9% of his passes for 3,787 yards and 37 touchdowns compared to four interceptions while rushing for 765 yards and three scores this season, and he’s thrown eight TD passes in his last two games.
Don’t mess around with this one; let Jackson lead you to the promised land.
Nico Collins
Another player we simply can’t ignore this week is the last remaining starting wide receiver on the Texans, Nico Collins.
No matter what type of adversity the Texans have faced this season, Collins has absolutely balled out. He’s the WR4 in fantasy on a points-per-game basis and boasts a streak of either 60 yards or multiple touchdowns in nine of his last 10 games.
Despite missing five games this season due to injury, Collins still leads Houston in targets with 88. That’s 8.8 targets per game!
Collins has been the key to the Texans’ offense for what feels like several seasons now, and he should play an even more pivotal role this Christmas, with Dell and Stefon Diggs out for the rest of the season with injuries.
So you’re saying Collins should see MORE targets without Dell in the lineup? Against a Ravens team that has no issue putting points on the board? Done and done.
George Pickens
We’re going to admit that this one scares us a bit. However, we’ve been told by several people that sometimes you have to risk it for the biscuit, and that’s what we’re doing here with George Pickens.
Yes, Pickens has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury. Yes, Pickens has proven himself to be a bit of a head case on the field, but he’s also an absolute stud. Not only is he a stud, but he’s the only downfield threat the Steelers’ offense has, which means one thing and one thing only: targets.
This season, Pickens is averaging 13 fantasy points per game, but he’s topped 16+ in three of his last four games. The matchup against KC isn’t ideal, but the Steelers will need to push the ball to Pickens if they want to keep up with the Chiefs.
As you know, here at PFN, we target targets, and this Christmas, we’re targeting Pickens.
The Muth Is Loose
Prior to Week 16, Pat Freiermuth was on a pretty good run with three straight games of at least 11 fantasy points. Of course, it helped that he scored in all three.
Ultimately, though, that’s what we’re chasing with the non-elite tight ends, and that’s the objective this week.
The Chiefs don’t necessarily have a bad pass defense, but they’re elite against the run, so I would call them a pass-funnel defense. More specifically, they’ve really struggled against tight ends.
A league-high 33% of Kansas City’s total passing yards allowed have gone to the TE position. They’ve allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to the position.
Russell Wilson is playing well, and, for what it’s worth, Freiermuth has at least three receptions in five consecutive games. You can take a shot that he finds the end zone in a game where the Steelers should end up throwing more than they want to.