Fantasy Football Start'Em, Sit'Em: Week 17
BY KEVIN HANSON (@EDSFootball)
Updated: Tuesday, December 24th
Most fantasy football leagues declare their champions in Week 17, so if you're reading this, congratulations on reaching your league's championship round and good luck in the upcoming week.
Below you will find some players that could be starts or sits in your league, but my fantasy football rankings will better help you determine if I would start Player X over Player Y.
Week 17 Fantasy Football Start'em
Sam Darnold, QB, Minnesota Vikings (vs. GB)
It may not be a great matchup against the Packers, who have allowed the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, but Darnold is the QB8 heading into the fantasy finale and scored 21.5 fantasy points (QB9) against them in Week 4. Darnold has been extremely consistent with at least 19 fantasy points in five of his past six games and only two quarterbacks — Joe Burrow and Jared Goff — have more games with 300-plus yards and two-plus touchdowns this season.
Bo Nix, QB, Denver Broncos (at CIN)
Like Darnold, Nix has vastly exceeded preseason expectations (low-end QB2 ADP). Interestly enough, Darnold (QB8) and Nix (QB9) rank just ahead of Patrick Mahomes (QB10) and Kyler Murray (QB11) in scoring. While Nix hasn't run as much recently (three or fewer rush attempts in five of his last six games), he ranks ninth among QBs in rushing yards (352) this season. His Championship Week matchup is favorable as the Bengals have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season.
Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. CAR)
The Buccaneers are big favorites (-8.5) and currently have the largest implied total of the week. While injuries limited him to 10 snaps in Week 14, he has 16-plus touches in his other five most recent outings. In those games, he has finished as fantasy's RB6, RB3, RB1, RB17, and RB16, respectively, and the RB1 performance was against the Panthers. In that matchup, he finished with 25 carries for 152 yards and a touchdown along with three catches for 33 yards.
Chase Brown, RB, Cincinnati Bengals (vs. DEN)
Since the Zack Moss injury, Brown has completely dominated the workload for Cincinnati's backfield. Since Week 9, he has 20-plus touches in all but one game and has averaged 23.6 per contest. During that seven-game span, he has averaged 19.3 fantasy points with six top-10 weekly finishes. The Bengals have a top-five implied total this week.
Chuba Hubbard, RB, Carolina Panthers (at TB)
Hubbard is coming off a 30.5-point fantasy performance (25/152/2 with 4/13 receiving). Last week's RB2 has three of the league's 21 games with 29 or more touches this season. While the Panthers are big underdogs, they have been competitive with a 3-4 record over their last seven games and only one of their losses during that span was by more than a touchdown.
Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars (vs. TEN)
Thomas has double-digit targets in each of his past four games. Coincidentally, those are all of his double-digit target games. The only receiver with more targets than Thomas (49) during that span is his former LSU Tigers teammate Malik Nabers (51). One of Jacksonville's few bright spots, the rookie has averaged the fifth-most fantasy points per game over that span and his 31/399/4 stat line ranks top six among WRs in all categories.
Jordan Addison, WR, Minnesota Vikings (vs. GB)
In his first matchup against the Packers this season, Addison had three catches for 72 yards and a score in Week 4. The second-year receiver has been much more involved and productive recently:
- Weeks 1-10: Only one game with a 20% target share (Week 5, 28.57%)
- Weeks 11-16: Six (all) games with a 20% target share — 27.1% target share over span
Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos (at CIN)
Over his past eight games, Sutton has been one of the most productive receivers in the league. During that span, he has a total of 50 catches (11th amongst WRs) for 651 yards (12th) and four touchdowns on 72 targets (13th). This game should be a shootout with one of the three highest over-unders of the week.
Jonnu Smith, TE, Miami Dolphins (at CLE)
Since Week 11, Smith has been as good as it gets. Here are his weekly finishes since then: TE2, TE3, TE3, TE5, TE1, and TE9, respectively. Other than Taysom Hill, who has missed the past three games, no tight end has averaged more fantasy points per game than Smith (16.17). Las Vegas Raiders rookie Brock Bowers (13.78) is the next closest.
Dalton Schultz, TE, Houston Texans (vs. BAL)
Attrition has opened up the door for Schultz to get more opportunities. While Stefon Diggs tore ACL earlier this season, Tank Dell suffered a devastating knee injury this past weekend as well. There's a good chance that Schultz will earn the second-most targets behind Nico Collins in Week 17. The veteran tight end has two weekly top-seven performances in his past three games. In both of those games, he had at least five catches, seven targets and a touchdown.
Week 17 Fantasy Football Sit'em
C.J. Stroud, QB, Houston Texans (vs. BAL)
Stroud, last year's NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, has had a disappointing season. Not only is he the QB18 on the season, but his top-12 weeks have been few and far between. Since Week 5, he has finished as a top-12 fantasy quarterback only once (QB11, Week 12). During that 11-game span, he has ZERO weeks with 20 fantasy points. With a depleted receiving corps, it's unlikely that Stroud takes advantage of a relatively favorable matchup against the Ravens, who have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.
Isiah Pacheco, RB, Kansas City Chiefs (at PIT)
This will be Pacheco's fifth game since returning from injury, and he's been underwhelming in the past four outings. During that span, he has handled only 38 (52.8%) of the team's 72 running back touches. During that span, he has maxed out with 61 scoreless scrimmage yards with an average of 46 per game. In addition, the Steelers have a stingy defense, allowing the 12th-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs this season.
Najee Harris, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers (vs. KC)
Santa is putting coal in the stockings of Pacheco and Harris fantasy managers, I suppose. From Weeks 6 to 14, Harris' average weekly finish was the RB16 and he had only one week during that span with a finish outside the top 24 (Week 12, RB29). Over the past two weeks, however, he has finished as the RB55 and RB48, respectively, with a total of 63 scoreless yards. Those two weeks were his only of the season with single-digit touches. Meanwhile, no team has allowed fewer fantasy points to opposing running backs than the Chiefs, who have allowed only 3.68 YPC to opposing running backs (second fewest to the position).
Jerry Jeudy, WR, Cleveland Browns (vs. MIA)
If Dorian Thompson-Robinson starts in Week 17, Jeudy can't be trusted in fantasy lineups. With DTR under center last week, Jeudy finished with 2/20 on three targets in Week 16. Before that, he was fantasy's WR3 (17.59 PPG) from Weeks 8 to 15 as he amassed 49/786/3 on 69 targets. During that span, he had three 100-yard games and none with fewer than 64.
Michael Pittman Jr., WR, Indianapolis Colts (at NYG)
The Colts are big favorites against the Giants this week, and it's possible that we could see a similar game plan as last week. While the final score made it close, the Colts built a 38-7 lead in the third quarter and Anthony Richardson threw a total of 11 pass attempts in the game. Pittman Jr. finished with 2/19 on three targets. With the potential for low volume and a career low catch rate of 59.3%, fantasy managers should expect a modest outing from the former USC Trojan.
Amari Cooper, WR, Buffalo Bills (vs. NYJ)
In the month of December, Cooper has a 6/95 performance with 14 targets. In his other three December games combined, he has four catches, five targets and 22 yards total. While the talent is there to have a random big week, things will likely be much better (and consistent) for Cooper in 2025.
Dalton Kincaid, TE, Buffalo Bills (vs. NYJ)
On a positive note, Kincaid has seven targets in back-to-back weeks. That said, it's been an underwhelming year for a player expected to have a breakout season. Other than Josh Allen or James Cook, I wouldn't trust any of Buffalo's other offensive players this week. Meanwhile, the Jets have been solid defending opposing tight ends (11th-fewest fantasy points allowed to the position this season).