Fantasy
12/29/22
6 min read
Fantasy Football Defenses and Kickers to Stream for Week 17
If you need kickers or defenses to stream in Week 17, good luck. It’s a weird week as teams begin to rest players for the playoffs. So it makes some of these matchups tough to evaluate, especially since we’ll continue to get injury updates up until Sunday.
My kicker advice stays relatively the same, but my advice with D/STs gets tricky. I’d simply target bad quarterbacks and bad offenses, which means you’ll have to pay extra-close attention to who’s playing in Week 17.
As a reminder, eligible kickers and defenses for this column must not be rostered in more than 50% of leagues, per FantasyPros’ rostership data. All stats are credited to TruMedia unless stated otherwise.
This will also be the last streaming article of the season from me, so thanks for following along! Luckily for you, fantasy and betting content isn't stopping anytime soon as we prepare season recaps, 2023 previews and playoff fantasy games.
Top Streaming Kickers for Week 17
Riley Patterson is a red-hot kicker to stream.
- Patterson is rostered in 3.9% of leagues and plays at Houston in Week 17.
- He has 7+ fantasy points in each of the past five games, and 11+ fantasy points in the past three games.
- Patterson is 9 of 10 on field goals during the previous three games.
- The Jaguars have averaged the third-most points per game over the last three games.
- They’re also tied for the fourth-most red zone scoring attempts in that time.
- While Houston has only allowed a combined five fantasy points to kickers over the past two weeks, they allowed 11-13 points in each of the four games prior.
- The Texans played one-possession games against their past three opponents - the Cowboys, Chiefs and Titans.
- I expect this to either be a blowout in favor of Jacksonville or a close game, both of which favor Patterson.
- The latter seems more likely since the Jaguars could rest some starters in preparation for their division title game in Week 18.
Cameron Dicker has a good matchup, too.
- He’s rostered in 35.6% of leagues and plays the Rams in Week 17.
- Dicker has the fourth-most fantasy points and the sixth-most fantasy points per game among kickers since Week 9.
- He’s 16 of 17 in field goals in that span.
- The Chargers are tied for the fourth-most field goal attempts since Week 9 and since Week 13.
- The Rams have allowed 9+ fantasy points to kickers in every game since Week 9, excluding Week 15.
- Teams have attempted at least two field goals against Los Angeles in each of those matchups except in Week 15.
- Regardless of which Rams defense shows up, I expect the Chargers to use Dicker quite a bit.
Mason Crosby has the best matchup imaginable.
- He’s rostered in 3.8% of leagues and plays Minnesota in Week 17.
- Crosby scored 15 fantasy points against Miami last week.
- It was his first game of 10+ fantasy points since Week 5.
- He’s scored the 27th-most fantasy points this season.
- However, Minnesota has allowed kickers to score 11+ fantasy points in seven consecutive games.
- I’ve consistently included kickers who play the Vikings as a top stream of the week.
- The Packers have averaged the seventh-most points scored since Week 13.
- They’ve also averaged the third-most red zone trips in that time.
- Crosby’s potential usage in this juicy matchup makes him a good kicker to stream.
Top Streaming D/STs for Week 17
Giants D/ST is the only D/ST I strongly recommend.
- They’re rostered in 20% of leagues and play the Colts in New York.
- New York's D/ST hasn’t been great, though they scored 15 fantasy points against Washington two weeks ago.
- This is purely a matchup-based stream.
- No team has allowed more fantasy points to D/STs than Indianapolis.
- That includes these performances by opposing D/STs over the past four games: 12, 19, 4 and 20 fantasy points.
- The Colts reportedly will start Nick Foles again after his three-turnover game Monday night.
- This is a high-upside, potentially league-winning D/ST to stream in Week 17.
Dolphins D/ST has a better matchup, but Jets D/ST is a better defense.
- Miami travels to New England and is rostered in 24.9% of leagues.
- New York travels to Seattle and is rostered in 45.9% of leagues.
- The Dolphins’ defense is not so good, but neither is the Patriots’ offense.
- The Patriots’ offense has allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to D/STs this season, including 10+ fantasy points in their previous two games.
- There’s serious potential for tons of points from Miami D/ST, though its floor is pretty low, too.
- Meanwhile, the Jets D/ST has the seventh-most fantasy points among D/STs this season.
- But they’ve scored a total of -1 points during the last two weeks against Detroit and Jacksonville.
- Seattle’s offense has allowed 7-10 fantasy points in each of its past three games.
- Kenneth Walker and Tyler Lockett did not practice all week and are questionable for Sunday afternoon’s game.
- Walker didn’t practice last week either but still suited up.
- If both play, I’d roll with Miami.
- If both sit, I’d roll with New York.
- If only Walker plays, I’d pair the Jets D/ST with a higher-upside, lower-floor fantasy lineup and the Dolphins D/ST with a safer lineup.
Jaguars D/ST is not a must-stream defense.
- They’re rostered in 20.3% of leagues and play at Houston.
- Jacksonville D/ST and Houston’s offense have been surprisingly solid lately.
- Jaguars D/ST has 11 or 13 fantasy points in their past three games.
- Despite inflated stats in Weeks 14-15, I had Jacksonville as one of my top D/STs to stream in Week 16.
- I say “inflated stats” because they had a huge pick-six in Week 15.
- After allowing 20+ fantasy points in three consecutive games, the Texans have allowed just 4 or 5 fantasy points to D/STs in their previous three games.
- That includes games against Kansas City and Dallas.
- This is also a meaningless game, so the Jaguars might not play their starters the entire game.
- Still, the Texans’ offense isn’t too good, which provides a moderate floor for the Jaguars D/ST.
- They’re a last-gasp fallback if the above options aren’t available to stream.
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