Week 17 of the NFL season is here and Howard Bender is handing the keys to this week's NFL DFS Playbook over to me. But fear not, I promise you are in good hands this week as we break down this 13 game main slate. It has already been a wild week in the NFL with injuries and QB changes that will have an impact on how we go about building lineups for this week's slate.  We are also now starting to pay attention to what teams are still in contention for playoff spots and top seeds which may put more or less value on certain matchups.

Now, before we get to the Playbook players, allow me to remind you what you should be doing leading up this step in your research.

Step 1: Check out the DFS Position Coaches

QB Coach – Jon Impemba (@jimpemba777)

RB Coach -- Justin Vreeland (@JustinVreeland)

WR Coach -- Colby Conway (@colbyrconway)

TE Coach -- Andrew Cooper (@CoopAFiasco)

D/ST Coach -- Dan Malin (@RealDANlanta)

Step 2: Check out the rest of the relevant DFS content

In addition to the positional coaching pieces, you also have things like the DFS Watch List, where I provide you with a list of players I am looking at throughout the week. We have the NFL DFS Podcast with me and James Grande, who also does the Contrarian Corner video and check out the DFS Bargains from Tera Roberts (@ItsTeraTime).

Also, our Master of Tools, Matt Selz (@theselzman), supplies you data junkies with the Weekly Match-Up Report and everyone should also be checking out the WR/CB Match-Up Report from Ryan Hallam (@fightingchance).

Speaking of tools, we have also done some major enhancements with our NFL tools. We continue to crunch the numbers and tweak our algorithms so that our daily fantasy football projections are the best in the industry and that, in turn, has improved things like our Lineup Generator/DFS Optimizer, our DFS Compare tool and even our NFL DFS Ownership Projections. Again, all right here on one site for your convenience.

Step 3: Check the Weather

At this time of year, weather is going to play a very important factor, so always check the weather reports as they can help guide you through which players to use and which ones to avoid. Now, checking in on the NFL Weather Report is a helpful tool, but try not to overreact. Light rain can make the field slick but is unlikely to affect the passing game enough to completely discount quarterbacks and wide receivers. Your biggest concern should come when you see heavy rain/snow and winds blowing in excess of 20 mph. When they say there are 12-15 mph gusts, you can be a little wary of the kicking games and maybe some deep passing, but again, you don't want to totally overreact and you definitely want to check the weather right up until game-time when finalizing your lineups.

Step 4: Make your own list of players

It's real easy to just sit and wait for the Playbook, but as you are doing your research throughout the week, it is important to make notes and list the players who interest you the most. Maybe they end up in the Playbook and maybe they don't. If they're there, then great, it should mean we are honing in on the same things that make him a strong play. If not, maybe you're onto something else that someone overlooked. We aren't perfect and if you uncover something different, maybe you're right. I would be careful of routine groupthink and hype from beat writers, but often times someone will tell me something they saw about their local team that I missed and I am always looking to investigate more if its there. If you do, then say something in our Fantasy Alarm Discord Chat, Talk it out and see what the rest of the #FAmily thinks. That's why the chat is there, isn't it?

**Also be on the lookout for potential late-adds to the Playbook. As we move closer to the start of the slate and get more NFL injury news on Friday, we could see some additional value open up.

With those four steps complete and discussions are in progress, you are ready to look at the Playbook players, make comparisons and finalize your list for lineups, so let's get to it.

 

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