DraftKings Best Ball: Weeks 15-17 Cheat Sheet

Correlating Week 17 matchups has proven fruitful for winning best ball tournaments in recent years, but you can’t make it to the final round of a big best ball tournament without getting out of your quarterfinal or semifinal pods, so Week 15 and 16 are now something we need to pay attention to when drafting. Of course, if you’re participating in DraftKings Sit & Go leagues, it certainly can’t hurt to have a big push in scoring down the stretch, too.

DraftKings Best Ball Resources: DraftKings Best Ball Overview: Contests, Scoring & Prizes

Sit & Go prizes will depend on the size and entry fee of the leagues and there are many tournaments to enter, but a breakdown of prizes for DraftKings flagship $15M tournament is found below.

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Based on the variables outlined below, here’s a look at some of the best NFL games to target in those final weeks of the 2024 season.

Week 15 (December 12-15th, 2024)

Weather will likely be a factor in the final few weeks of the season, so here’s a list of the indoor games or ones with the ability to dome with retractable roofs in Week 15.

Dome Games

• WAS@NO
• MIA@HOU
• TB@LAC
• NE@ARI
• BUF@DET
• CHI@MIN
• ATL@LV

Possible Shootouts

Buffalo Bills @ Detroit Lions

This contest is a double whammy of fantasy goodness, as it’s both inside and has the potential to be high-scoring with the highest DK lookahead line of Week 15 (50.5).

Both of these teams are already popular in best ball, making them expensive to stack. The Bills and Lions have a whopping eight players being drafted among the top 70 in DraftKings ADP, with Detroit boasting three within the first three rounds, and Josh Allen the lone Bill in that range. Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahymr Gibbs are first-rounders so there’s very little chance of getting both players.

However, a Bills bring-back could help bolster a game stack in that contest's flow. TE Dalton Kincaid is leaving boards at the 5.02, while rookie Keon Coleman will cost you a mid-to-late sixth-round pick. Curtis Samuel and Khalil Shakir are more affordable in the ninth and 10th rounds, respectively. Anyone who misses out on an early game stack for either squad can grab Jameson Wiliams in the eighth or take a swing at rookie RB Ray Davis in the 14th.

Miami Dolphins @ Houston Texans

We get another beauty of a matchup here as the venue has a retractable roof, plus it’s projected as high scoring with an over/under of 49.5. Miami has two WRs and two RBs being selected among the top 87 picks this season, with Tyreek Hill, De'Von Achane, and Jaylen Waddle all leaving DraftKings boards in the first two rounds! The Texans feature five players with ADPs earlier than 56, with their three top WRs all being drafted in Round 4 or above.

These teams aren’t cheap to stack like they were just a few years ago, but peppering members of both throughout your rosters is easily attainable. Some of the best values you can get for Miami are Raheem Mostert at pick 87 and rookie Jaylen Wright at pick 14.01, and Houston's TE Dalton Schultz is a solid deal in the 11th round.

Other Notable High O/U Projections in Week 15

• GB@SEA - 47
• LAR@SF - 47
• KC@CLE - 46.5
• CIN@TEN - 46
• NYJ@JAX - 46
• CHI@MIN - 46

Week 16 (December 19th-23rd, 2024)

We have only five indoor contests in Week 16 as opposed to six the week before.

Dome Games

• NYG@ATL
• TEN@IND
• DEN@LAC
• JAX@LV
• TB@DAL

Possible Shootouts

San Francisco 49ers @ Miami Dolphins

This high-octane contest takes place in sunny Florida during the middle of winter. The current over/under is set at 49 points, the highest on the Week 16 slate. The Dolphins and 49ers scored the second and third most points in the NFL respectively, last season and are locked and loaded for success with not many roster changes.

While their positional players are pricey, with both teams' main WRs being drafted by pick No. 28 and their RBs within the top 87, both QBs are being drafted outside of the top 10 at their position, which helps when stacking. George Kittle is a screaming value in 2024 at pick 71.3 as TE7, while backup RBs Jaylen Wright (156.7), Elijah Mitchell (186.6), and rookie Issac Guerendo (226.3) are all viable late-round stabs in this best ball format. We also can't forget about rookie WRs Ricky Pearsall and Malik Washington, who are being drafted in the 14th and 18th rounds, respectively, as they both can get their shots at some spike week action.

Detroit Lions @ Chicago Bears

This NFC North battle is one to highlight from both fantasy and real-life football perspectives. Both teams are emerging and feature young offensive pieces. This contest’s look-ahead line is currently 47 points, with Detroit a one-point favorite.

Thanks to a new WR room full of playmakers and a crowded RB depth chart, the Bears have plenty of stacking options in 2024, with five players, including rookie QB Caleb Williams, boasting sub-107 ADPs. Detroit’s players will cost you a bit more as they have two first-rounders (St. Brown & Gibbs) and Sam LaPorta leaving boards at spot 3.06.

Some solid bring-backs on both sides are David Montgomery (69.9) and Jameson Williams (90.6), plus Roschon Johnson (199.7) and Khalil Herbert (186.4) as possible later-season RB surges.

Other Notable High O/U Projections in Week 16

• LAR@NYJ -47.5
• HOU@KC - 47
• TB@DAL - 46.5

Week 17 (December 25-30th, 2024)

One note of significance here is that the Las Vegas Raiders are the only team to play indoors in all three weeks mentioned in this article. It’s too bad they aren’t the most exciting for fantasy purposes, but Davante Adams, Brock Bowers, and Zamir White could be keys to advancing out of BBM pods.

Dome Games

• BAL@HOU
• ARI@LAR
• GB@MIN
• LV@NO

Detroit Lions @ San Francisco 49ers

Both of these teams have already been highlighted in this article in terms of specific pieces and their respective ADPs, but this Monday Night game should be fantasy gold. Santa Clara‘s average temperature is 58 degrees on December 30th which is perfect for football. Let’s just assume that the Lions and 49ers are vying for their respective playoff seeds unless they’ve already been clinched, which just adds to the high-scoring potential here.

Stacks and bring-backs have been written about above, and so has ADP, but here they are again anyway for consistency purposes. The O/U on this beauty is currently set at 49.5.

Arizona Cardinals @ Los Angeles Rams

Here’s another divisional battle that could have playoff implications. The Rams are easier to stack than some of the other teams in this piece, as their ADPs are more spread out. Puka Nacua will cost you a first-round pick (9.3), but his fellow wideout Cooper Kupp has fallen to the third, making them both attainable on the same roster if your board falls just the right way. Kyren Williams’ ADP slid to the 2/3 turn after the Rams drafted Blake Corum and Matthew Stafford is an easy add at 12.05.

The bring-back situation in Arizona is that you either have to draft rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. in the early second round, Trey McBride at 4.12, or wait to take a swing at Michael Wilson (177.5) or Zay Jones (189.9). James Conner and Trey Benson are both viable with ADPs in the seventh and 10th rounds, respectively, but the Rams defense gave up the second-fewest fantasy points to enemy RBs in 2023.

Dallas Cowboys @ Philadelphia Eagles

This NFC East matchup has an over/under of 47 and rarely disappoints, plus in Week 17, this could have major post-season implications. The Eagles are very difficult to stack; Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, and DeVonta Smith are all being drafted in the first three rounds, with Hurts right behind them at 4.04. Dallas Goedert at the end of the ninth round is a really nice option to pair with Hurts if you miss out on the WRs.

Dallas stacks are easier to pull off, with only CeeDee Lamb leaving boards before the seventh round, but you have to have the first or second pick to get him. Jake Ferguson in the seventh and Ezekiel Elliott in spot 11.08 are solid bring-back options, with Brandin Cooks and Jalen Tolbert as your late-round darts.

Other Notable High O/U Projections in Week 17

• BAL@HOU - 46.5
• ATL@WAS - 46
• TEN@JAX - 46

2024 Bye Weeks

With the NFL schedule release, we also now know every team's bye week, and this year the NFL did their best to screw with us. This is usually an overrated aspect of fantasy football, particularly in redraft formats, but it’s important to know in best ball to avoid matching up bye-week quarterbacks or tight ends in 2-QB or 2-TE builds.

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Week 15-17 TL: DR Cheat Sheet