Lineup Breakdown: Analysis of Week 17 Winning Lineups

After a week without it, DraftKings brought back the Millionaire Maker for the final week of the regular season. It was a tight race in that contest for the $1 million top prize with just a tick over five fantasy points separating first from 10th. The margin of victory was larger in FanDuel's NFL Sunday Million with first place clearing second by nearly six fantasy points, and the winner took home $175,000. Without further ado, let's look at the winners from the final week of the NFL regular season.

No one team dominated the roster construction for the team "rahuld76" built, but he did have a few teammates and accurately identify the right chalk plays. In addition to picking the right chalk plays, this roster featured a few diamonds in the rough who panned out. Overall, there were five players with ownership rates north of 18%, but there were also four players owned on under 10% of rosters.

QB - Eli Manning ($7,500) vs Philadelphia Eagles (18% owned) - The NFC East showdown projected to be one of the highest scoring games of Week 17, and it delivered with a total of 65 points between the two teams. Manning didn't have a monster game scoring 18.08 fantasy points, but that was a strong effort. Manning passed for 302 yards and a pair of touchdowns while losing a fumble. Thankfully for "rahuld76," there was no stack with Odell Beckham Jr., but more on that to come.

RB - Rashad Jennings ($5,800) vs Philadelphia Eagles (9.6% owned) - Usually stacking a QB with his team's RB isn't a great move due to the potential for cannibalization of production, but Jennings' salary was a bargain, and he provided a hearty 24.6 fantasy points. Jennings rumbled for 170 yards rushing and a touchdown and caught two passes for six receiving yards. You can't beat that type of production at under $6,000.

RB - Tim Hightower ($7,000) at Atlanta Falcons (18.7% owned) - Hightower's remarkable NFL comeback story was capped with 107 yards from scimmage (66 rushing and 41 receiving) with a touchdown rush and five receptions. The NFC South showdown didn't provide the fireworks oddsmakers and many gamers expected, but Hightower did his part in terms of fantasy scoring.

WR - Julio Jones ($9,300) vs New Orleans Saints (34.1% owned) - There was a great debate at wide receiver entering Week 17 as to which studs should rank at the top of the heap. Jones was in that mix, and the most expensive wide out in FanDuel games wasn't the highest scorer at the position, but his nine receptions for 149 yards for 19.4 fantasy points were nothing to sneeze at. Comparatively, one of the other contenders for top receiving honors entering the week was OBJ, and he totaled five receptions for 54 yards. Suffice to say, Jones was a better producer.

WR - Antonio Brown ($9,100) at Cleveland Browns (34.7% owned) - The Steelers needed help reaching the playoffs, but they also had to handle their own business with a win. Gamers recognized the Steelers would be unlikely to mail it in, and even after a rough week against the Ravens, the previous run of success of the Steelers was hard to ignore. Much of the offensive success for the Steelers this year was the result of the Ben Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown connection, and they made sweet music again in Week 17. Brown tallied a 13-187-1 line with a fumble lost. The fumble knocked him under 30 fantasy points, but barely. The chalky duo of Jones and Brown proved worth budgeting for, and the debate as to who's the best receiver in the NFL will wage on into 2016 and feature Brown and Jones spearheading the discussion.

WR - Pierre Garcon ($6,000) at Dallas Cowboys (1.2% owned) - It was unclear how much the starters for the Redskins would play in Week 17, and that likely partially contributed to Garcon's low ownership rate. Kirk Cousins carved up the Cowboys in his time on the field, and that included a touchdown toss to Garcon. In all, Garcon caught three passes for 49 yards and the aforementioned touchdown. With double-digit fantasy points and a small salary, Garcon was a nice glue guy who did his part.

TE - Zach Ertz ($5,700) at New York Giants (28.1% owned) - Ertz's late-season surge and salary that lagged behind his production jump helped make him a very chalky play, as his ownership rate indicates. Ertz continued his heater, though, catching nine passes for 152 yards receiving and narrowly missing a pair of touchdowns. Even without the touchdowns, his production easily provided value at his salary.

K - Nick Novak ($4,600) vs Jacksonville Jaguars (3.2% owned) - Novak reached double-digit fantasy points, and thanks to two of his three field goals being made beyond 50 yards, he netted a whopping 16 fantasy points on just three field goals and three successful PATs.

DST - Houston Texans ($4,800) vs Jacksonville Jaguars (4.1% owned) - Blake Bortles has been a fantasy darling, but he's been a messy real-life quarterback who's shown his greenness at times. One of those times was laying an egg against the stout defense of the Texans in the regular season finale. Houston recorded eight sacks, two fumble recoveries, two interceptions and scored a defensive touchdown while allowing only six points. The Houston defense fell just two-tenths of a point shy of matching Brown for the highest scorer on this team. Wow, that's a hell of an effort and a great pick at under 5% ownership.

There were a whopping five players on the DraftKings Millionaire Maker roster built by "Pickle45" who were also on the FanDuel NFL Sunday Million, so you'll notice those same players featured below. There were three super chalky player who were on over 32% of Millionaire Maker rosters, but that trio delivered over 90 fantasy points between them. There were a couple more chalky plays with ownership rates north of 19%, but there were also a trio of players rostered on under 8% of Millionaire Maker teams. It was an interesting mix of talent that consisted of superstars doing what they were expected to do and glu guys stepping up and scoring big as well.

QB - Ben Roethlisberger ($6,900) at Cleveland Browns (19.4% owned) - There was some bad in Big Ben's line (two interceptions and negative-two yards rushing), but there was plenty of good to offset it (349 yards passing, three touchdown passes and a two-point conversion) to offset it. He hit the 300+ yards passing bonus, and flirted with 30 fantasy points. With DeAngelo Williams hurting his ankle during the game, the onus was put on Roethlisberger to carry the offense, and he did just that.

RB - Devonta Freeman ($7,600) vs New Orleans Saints (19.5% owned) - Freeman didn't have the huge game many fantasy pundits expected, but is's hard to call 99 yards from scrimmage with a touchdown and two receptions a clunker. He did lose a fumble, too, but there was enough here to be content with effort.

RB - Rashad Jennings ($3,700) vs Philadelphia Eagles (13.0% owned) - Jennings is one of five carryovers from the other GPP winning roster, and his scoring got a boost at DraftKings with a 100+ yards rushing bonus. He was a steal at his salary, yet his ownership rate wasn't as chalky as I would have guessed.

WR - Antonio Brown ($9,300) at Cleveland Browns (32.3% owned) - Brown's the second of five carryovers, and like Jennings, he benefited from the yardage bonus awarded at DraftKings. He also benefited from the full-point PPR scoring at DraftKings with 13 grabs.

WR - Julio Jones ($8,500) vs New Orleans Saints (41.9% owned) - Jones makes it three carryovers, and three who hit the yardage bonus. Like Brown, his big reception total (nine) got a shot in the arm from the full-point PPR scoring.

WR - Terrance Williams ($3,300) vs Washington Redskins (1.2% owned) - Interestingly, the third receiver on the Millionaire Maker winning roster had an identical ownership rate to the third wide out from the FanDuel NFL Sunday Million. He also came from the same game. That's where the similarities end, though, as Williams was more than the glue guy Pierre Garcon was. Williams erupted for 173 yards receiving on eight grabs. Kellen Moore isn't a good quarterback, but he racked up a huge yardage total over the weekend, and Williams was the primary beneficiary. "Pickle45" hit a home run on this bargain pick, and for $7,000 worth of salary spent on Jennings and Williams, he was rewarded with 56.9 fantasy points. That's called hitting on your bargain picks, folks.

TE - Zach Ertz ($3,600) at New York Giants (41.3% owned) - Ertz's chalkiness on FanDuel paled in comparison to his Tums like quality on DraftKings. His ownership rate was staggering, but he delivered. He made it four carryover players who were worth more on DraftKings than FanDuel thanks to the yardage bonus.

FLEX - James Jones ($3,800) vs Minnesota Vikings (7.1% owned) - The Packers laid an egg in their quest to win the NFC North at Lambeau Field on Sunday Night Football, but Jones played hard and ripped off four receptions for 102 yards receiving. Usually his value is tied to reaching the end zone, but even in a game he didn't score a touchdown, he was fantasy relevant scoring 17.2 fantasy points.

DST - Houston Texans ($3,300) vs Jacksonville Jaguars (4.0% owned) - The defense of the Texans turned in 29 fantasy points at DraftKings like they did at FanDuel, and the ownership rate in the Millionaire Maker was nearly identical to the ownership rate in the FanDuel NFL Sunday Million. In other words, they were low owned and blew up for a fantasy scoring output befitting a stud skill position player.