FanDuel offers some of the biggest payouts in all of daily fantasy sports. Among them is the $1.2 million FanDuel Sunday Million contest where a $7 entry has a shot at the $250,000 first-place payout. Each week FanDuel will be running a Sunday Million GPP Contest and we will break it down here at Footballguys.com and see what the keys were to having the top lineup on the week and taking home the top prize.
Here is how Week 16 of the Sunday Million shook out:
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DFS Screen Name | Points | Prize Money |
| 1st | silviodante1 | 196.54 | $250,000 |
| 2nd | ramsrule16 | 190.64 | $125,000 |
| 3rd | skeeter07 | 190.38 | $75,000 |
| 4th | egold12 | 189.60 | $50,000 |
| 5th | thatstunna | 189.40 | $30,000 |
The winning lineup by silviodante1 was a second straight low-scoring one for the contest. It contained plenty of chalk with 5-of-9 selections with 13% or higher ownership. Even the lowest owned option, Antonio Gates, made plenty of sense with Hunter Hunter inactive, clearing the runway for Gates to have his best game of the season. Of the top-10 finishers, seven had the Todd Gurley and Dion Lewis pairing as they combined for 74 points and nearly 5x value between them.
| Position | Player | Salary | FanDuel Points | Ownership |
| QB | Cam Newton | $8,300 | 16.6 | 26% |
| RB | Todd Gurley | $9,100 | 44.6 | 19% |
| RB | Dion Lewis | $6,700 | 29.8 | 17% |
| WR | Julio Jones | $8,500 | 18.4 | 9% |
| WR | Larry Fitzgerald | $7,500 | 23.2 | 13% |
| WR | Keelan Cole | $5,300 | 13.8 | 21% |
| TE | Antonio Gates | $4,500 | 17.1 | 4% |
| K | Stephen Gostkowski | $5,200 | 14.0 | 9% |
| DST | Panthers | $4,800 | 19.0 | 8% |
| $59,900 | 196.54 |
WHAT WORKED?
*High ownership with high-value return*
Todd Gurley: Gurley was at it again this week, eschewing his high salary to still produce elite value with 276 total yards, 10 catches, and finding the end zone two more times for close to 5x value. At 19% ownership, Gurley was strongly owned yet again in Week 16.
Dion Lewis: The Patriots backfield was running on fumes with James White and Rex Burkhead out, even Mike Gillislee, previously in the doghouse, was active for duty. Lewis at 17% ownership and came through as one of the top values of the week at more than 4x with 153 total yards, two touchdowns, and five catches. Lewis nearly doubled his previous best-scoring FanDuel game of the season this week.
Keelan Cole: The Jaguars receiver's ownership continues to rise as his salary stayed low at $5,300 this week. 21% of the contest owned Cole and he came through with 6-108-0 as Jacksonville was in comeback mode late against the 49ers.
Larry Fitzgerald: While Arizona has been a trainwreck this season, Fitzgerald continues to produce FanDuel value with a 3x return on 13% ownership (9-119-1) as Arizona beat up on the also-struggling Giants.
Harrison Butker: At 18% ownership, Butker was one of the auto-plays at kicker with $4,900 salary. Butker converted five field goals, fueling more than 3x value.
Panthers DST: Tampa Bay is one of the matchups to exploit for defenses and Carolina took advantage with six sacks, three turnovers, and a touchdown for 4x value on 9% ownership.
WHAT FAILED?
*High ownership with low-value return*
Devonta Freeman: With 11% ownership, Freeman was a FanDuel dud with less than 1x value return. In addition to only 56 total yards, Freeman lost a fumble as Atlanta struggled to 13 points in New Orleans.
Christian McCaffrey: On 14% ownership, McCaffrey logged only two receptions and 58 total yards to less than 1x value against Tampa Bay.
Kenyan Drake: At 12% ownership, Drake was a dud this week with 57 rushing yards, zero touchdowns, and not adding anything in the passing game for less than 1x value.
Brandin Cooks: As Dion Lewis and Rob Gronkowski logged solid games, Cooks struggled with 2-19-0 receiving on 9% ownership against Buffalo.
Keenan Allen: At 23% ownership, Allen was a strong play. Despite having a few key receptions, Allen finished with 5-63-0 and 1x value. With a high salary, Allen hurt FanDuel rosters this week.
Robert Woods: With 28% ownership, Woods was a chalk pick. Todd Gurley's strong game left little production for any non-Jared Goff option to post a quality value return. Woods' 3-33-0 line was one of the most disappointing returns on ownership of the week.
Jarvis Landry: 15% ownership returned less than 1x value as Landry lost a fumble and produced 51 empty yards in the loss to Kansas City.
Greg Olsen: 23% ownership made Olsen a chalk play of the week, but 3-27-0 returned less than 1x value.
Jaguars DST: With 12% ownership, Jacksonville struggled against San Francisco as they allowed 44 points and forced a single turnover and sack en route to less than 1x value.
Rams DST: With a single sack and turnover, it was a non-descript day for the Rams against the Titans with 12% ownership and less than 1x value returned.
| Finish | QB | RB1 | RB2 | WR1 | WR2 | WR3 | TE | K | DEF |
| 1 | Newton | Gurley | Lewis | J.Jones | Fitzgerald | Cole | Gates | Gostkowski | CAR |
| 2 | Rivers | Gurley | Lewis | Allen | Fitzgerald | Benjamin | Gates | Butker | ARI |
| 3 | Goff | Gurley | Lewis | Fitzgerald | Evans | Woods | Ebron | Lutz | CAR |
| 4 | Stanton | Gurley | Howard | J.Jones | Fitzgerald | Evans | Ebron | Butker | ARI |
| 5 | Smith | Gurley | Hunt | Fitzgerald | Ginn | Cole | Kelce | Butker | ARI |
| 6 | Bortles | Gurley | Lewis | Allen | Fitzgerald | Watkins | Ebron | Lambo | ARI |
| 7 | Bortles | Gurley | Lewis | J.Jones | Westbrook | Cole | Kelce | Lutz | CAR |
| 7 | Bortles | Gurley | Lewis | J.Jones | Westbrook | Cole | Kelce | Butker | CHI |
| 9 | Stanton | Gurley | Hunt | Fitzgerald | Hill | Evans | Ebron | Bailey | ARI |
| 10 | Brady | Gurley | Lewis | J.Jones | Cole | Godwin | Kelce | Gostkowski | ARI |
MOST OWNED IN THE TOP-10 LINEUPS
- Todd Gurley (10)
- Dion Lewis (7)
- Larry Fitzgerald (6)
- Cardinals DST (6)
- Julio Jones (5)
- Keelan Cole (5)
While most rostered options in the top-10 were moderate to highly-owned across the contest, here are some of the top performers with low-ownership in this week's tournament:
SHOOTING THE NEEDLE
Jimmy Garoppolo: At 0.9% ownership, Garoppolo came through with more than 3x value in the home win over Jacksonville. Three total touchdowns and 242 passing yards fueled his impressive performance.
Kirk Cousins: Like Garoppolo, Cousins posted more than 3x value with less than 1% ownership despite a stingy matchup. Cousins surpassed 300 total yards and found the end zone three times for close to 24 FanDuel points.
C.J. Anderson: At 3.7% ownership, Anderson had 133 total yards, seven receptions, and a touchdown for 4x value.
Ted Ginn Jr Jr.: With less than 3% ownership, Ginn posted his best day in two months with 90 total yards and finding the end zone for more than 3x value.
Randy Bullock: Few were tracking Bullock on the sinking Cincinnati offense, but four field goals including one from 50+ yards turned his 0.3% ownership into more than 3x value.
Cardinals DST: At 2% ownership, Arizona shut out the Giants for a 10-point bonus and added a touchdown to their three turnovers and two sacks in a dominant 5x value performance.
Seahawks DST: With 0.3% ownership, Seattle harassed Dallas into four sacks and three turnovers, also finding the end zone once themselves for more than 4x value.
Head over to FanDuel now and catch the action for Week 17.
