“Buy or Bye”™ – Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Week 17 2025 Cash Games

December 27, 2025

By Ha Kung Wong

In 2024, we were over 70% for cash lineups again and we’re back with more Daily Fantasy Football advice for Cash Games for Week 17 of the 2025 season!

You’re welcome.

As usual, before we get to winning you more bragging rights (and DFS cash), remember, the point of this article is not just to give you one or two lineups for each site, it’s to give you examples of a few POSSIBLE lineups. Getting exposure to a few different lineups is always a good idea, so don’t forget to mix and match additional lineups from my suggestions below. Trust me, it’s a lot more fun that way AND you’ll improve your chances of cashing!

Let’s get to winning you some CASH in Week 17 of the 2025 NFL season!

Cash Games, for those who don’t know, are essentially the lowest risk games. They include “50/50” games, in which half the entrants win about 1.8x the entry fee, and “Double Ups”, in which slightly less than half the entrants win 2x the entry fee.

Since there’s so many different sites, and I can’t cover them all, I’ve decided to cover just the most popular sites, including Fan Duel, Draft Kings and Yahoo! Daily Fantasy.

First of all, as a general rule for 50/50 Cash Games, there’s a basic target of points per salary cap spent that you’d like to look for:

For Fan Duel try to target at least 2 fantasy points per $1000 spent.
For Draft Kings, try to target at least 2.5 fantasy points per $1000 spent.
For Yahoo! Daily Fantasy, try to target at least 0.6-0.7 fantasy points per $1 spent.

Remember, this article is not focused on GPP (Tournament) Games, JUST Cash Games. Feel free to use a few of these suggested players as a base when constructing a GPP lineup, but you’ll have to take some chances on a few low cost, upside players as well.

As per usual, I’m going to provide you with a few sample lineups on each site and give you a few notes to consider. You’re welcome.

So, without further to do, here are my suggestions for the Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games and player props for Week 17 contests.

FanDuel

Draft Kings

Yahoo! DFS

Game Notes:

For those new to this column, note that I never advocate against you paying up at any particular position for DFS. We all know that the likes of Josh Allen and Jahmyr Gibbs are probably going to have the most consistent upside in terms of potential fantasy points from week to week. But remember that DFS is a salary cap game. You can feel free to sprinkle high priced players into your lineups, but you can’t pay up at every position because there’s simply not enough salary to go around. I try my best each week to provide my thoughts on how you might want to balance your cash lineups in terms of points potential and salary.
My approach to DFS in Week 16 is to anchor my lineup with at least one stud RB and a top 10 QB but then pay down for RB and TE.
No “Free Square of the Week”™ but there’s plenty of value this week, like Adam Thielen, Taysom Hill and Michael Carter.
- With DK Metcalf suspended and Calvin Austin ruled out due to injury, I’d expect Adam Thielen to take on a much bigger role. He’s shown a decent connect with the Aaron Rodgers since coming over from Minnesota with 4 receptions for 49 yards in Week 16. I’d expect this Steelers to focus on the ground game, which is why I love playing Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell after both had strong showings in Week 16, but they’ll have to throw some passes and Thielen should commend the largest target share which makes him a great cap saving play for minimum salary.
- Taysom Hill is likely retiring this season, and with Alvin Kamara unlikely to play and Devin Neal already on IR, I like his chances to again lead the backfield in touches both running and catching the ball. Throw in a passing TD like he did in Week 17 and that’s just gravy since he’s near minimum on Draft Kings and Yahoo DFS.
- a Jets defense that has allowed the 4th most rush yards per game (137.2) and 5th most rushing TDs (18) to opposing offenses. That plus his minimum pricing essentially across industry make for a solid value play.
- The Cardinals have James Connor, Trey Benson and Bam Knight out for the season, so Michael Carter is essentially the last man standing. He stepped in after Knight’s injury in Week 15 turning 18 touches into a season-high 94 scrimmage yards and got 13 touches in Week 16, so they’re keeping him pretty well involved. He gets to face a Bengals ‘ defense that’s second worst at defending the run, so he makes a decent value. Add in the fact that Arizona Cardinals @ Cincinnati Bengals has the highest over/under of the slate (53.5), and there’s plenty of potential for value. But if you want to pay up, I obviously won’t talk you out of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase or Chase Brown of the Bengals or Trey McBride of the Cardinals.
The New England Patriots have the highest implied total of the slate (27.5 – over/under of 42.5 with a -13.5 spread) playing against the New York Jets, so there’s lots of options here as well. I’m all in on Drake Maye and Stefon Diggs for the Pats, and Rhamondre Stevenson if TreVeyon Henderson doesn’t play. Maye needs no explanation with the 4th most passing yards (3,947) and 5th most passing TDs (25) of any QB this season and facing the Jets last ranked pass defense. I like Diggs because Mack Hollins and Kayshon Boutte have already been ruled out and DeMario Douglas is working through a hamstring injury, so he’s likely to garner the most targets in Week 17 after coming off a huge Week 16 where he caught 9 of 10 targets for 138 yards. Stevenson would become a steal if Henderson doesn’t suit up, but if Henderson does suit up, there’s probably going to be a time share.
Trevor Lawrence has quietly been one of the hottest QBs in the NFL in the second half of the season with 15 TDs and just 3 INTs and just under 270 passing yards per game since Week 12. He’s also had increased usage on the ground with rushing TDs in each of his last two games. He decimated the Broncos secondary and now gets to face a struggling Colts defense that just got torched by the 49ers. It’s no fluke that Jakobi Meyer‘s arrival pseudo coincides with Lawrence’s step forward, and he’s received just over 8 targets per game over his last 3, so I like him as well.
Did you know that Harold Fannin Jr. has the 3rd most targets (105), 6th most receptions (70) and 6th most yards (701) of any tight end this season? Clearly, Shedeur Sanders likes targeting Fannin, so that means I also like targeting Fannin this week against the Steelers who haven’t been as good a defense as you’d expect, especially with TJ Watt out.
On defense, I love taking value and paying down, so I’m in on the New York Giants Defense against the Las Vegas Raiders, but don’t mind paying up for the New England Patriots Defense against the New York Jets on Yahoo DFS since they’re not that expensive and are a top-2 defense this week.