Week 17 FanDuel NFL Tournament Pivots

Wide Receiver

Chalk

Let's play "Who Needs A Win?" once again, shall we? Julio Jones, Michael Thomas, and Keenan Allen. All three should be heavily targeted by both their quarterbacks and DFS players this week. Their chalk case is further helped with the absence of Antonio Brown and an injury to DeAndre Hopkins, which might keep the Texans star out against the Colts this week.

Once you reach away from those high-end plays, wide receiver becomes a bit of a mess. Injuries and rested players abound. There doesn't seem to be much coalescence around other receivers. JuJu Smith-Schuster and Martavis Bryant could prove popular, but they likely lost some luster for a number of DFS players when we learned Ben Roethlisberger would be sitting against the Browns. TY Hilton could also see decent ownership (though I hope not for my lineups' sakes). Hilton has been boom-or-bust, but one of those boom weeks was against the Texans, the team he faces this week. He torched them for 175 yards and 2 scores in Week 9. In a strange week, that history could give him higher ownership than otherwise expected. He needs only 48 yards for his fifth-straight 1,000-yard receiving season. Expect him to get it and then some.

Pivot

Jamison Crowder, $7,000 (at New York Giants)

Who is going to guard Jamison Crowder? There is no Janoris Jenkins. There is no Landon Collins. There is no Eli Apple. Crowder torched the Giants for 7 catches and 141 yards in Week 12 with Jenkins and Collins on the field. Honestly, who's going to stop him?

The Giants have given up the eighth-most FanDuel points to opposing wideouts. In the past five weeks, they have given up the second most. They are injury-plagued, would have a nine-game losing streak if Andy Reid hadn't been forcing Alex Smith to throw in 30 mile-per-hour winds, and seem to just want the season to end. There may be some incentive to play for Eli Manning this week in what could be his last game in a Giants uniform, but that motivation isn't going to be enough to stop the Washington Redskins' air attack, especially when Kirk Cousins is playing for a contract.

Kirk is going to be slinging it this week, and he will have nobody to stop him. I'm not sure the 39.5-point total takes into account how much Cousins wants to earn a big payday. Expect him to look Crowder's way early and often. You should, as well, as you're building your tournament lineups.