Week 17 Fantasy Football Start'em, Sit'em: Wide Receivers

If you're reading this, congratulations!

With most fantasy football leagues concluding after Week 17, there is no reason for you to be reading this if you weren't playing in your league's Championship 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

Jauan Jennings, WR, San Francisco 49ers (vs. CHI)

Jennings has performed as a top-24 fantasy receiver and scored in four consecutive games and in six of his past seven. The Bears have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this season and the 49ers have a top-five implied total this week. Jennings is a high-end WR2 this week.

Michael Wilson, WR, Arizona Cardinals (at CIN)

Yes, Marvin Harrison Jr. has returned and Wilson had only three targets in Week 16, but he still managed to finish with 52 yards and a score. Double-digit targets shouldn't be expected any more for Wilson, who has averaged 17.6 fantasy points per game since Week 11, but I'd still trust Wilson over his much more ballyhooed teammate in Week 17.

Adonai Mitchell, WR, New York Jets (vs. NE)

I admit it would be difficult to trust any Jets player this week, and Mitchell certainly isn't a must-start. That said, he's a widely available waiver wire option (18% rostered in Yahoo!) as a viable WR3 based on his top-36 spot inside my fantasy wide receiver rankings this week. Mitchell has a minimum of six targets (and average of 7.7 per game) over his past six games and he has scored 14-plus fantasy points in two of his past four contests.

Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Commanders (vs. DAL)

Since returning in Week 13, McLaurin has 16 catches for 259 yards and two touchdowns over four games. Three of those matchups were against teams that rank among the eight stingiest defenses to opposing wide receivers. This week, McLaurin gets the most generous fantasy defense to the position on Christmas Day. Even if the Commanders are down to their third-string quarterback (Josh Johnson), McLaurin remains a strong play.

Week 17 Fantasy Football Sit'em

Emeka Egbuka, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at MIA)

Five weeks into the season, Egbuka seemed like the runaway favorite for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and a sure-fire WR1. Only Puka Nacua (588), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (534), and Justin Jefferson (449) had more receiving yards in their first five games this season than Egbuka (445, five TDs), who also trailed only Amon-Ra St. Brown (six) in receiving touchdowns during that span. Over his past six games, however, the rookie has a 44.2% catch rate, 42 or fewer yards in five of those games, and no touchdowns. With the team's receiving corps back at full strength, he set career lows in targets (two) and catches (one) in Week 16.

Xavier Worthy, WR, Kansas City Chiefs (vs. DEN)

Without Patrick Mahomes or (likely) Gardner Minshew under center, it's nearly impossible to trust any Chiefs pass catcher in Week 17. Chris Oladokun will likely start assuming Minshew is unable to play this week, and Worthy finished with only two catches for 41 yards last week. Given the difficult matchup against an elite Denver Broncos defense, it's better to keep Worthy on your bench.

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Week 17 Fantasy Football Start'em, Sit'em: Running Backs

If you're reading this, congratulations!

With most fantasy football leagues concluding after Week 17, there is no reason for you to be reading this if you weren't playing in your league's Championship 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

Travis Etienne, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars (at IND)

Etienne has scored 14-plus fantasy points in all but one game since Week 9. During that eight-game stretch, he has averaged the seventh-most fantasy points per game and has scored 10 total touchdowns (five rushing and five receiving). In fact, he's tied with Christian McCaffrey and Jahmyr Gibbs for the most touchdowns since that point. Nearly touchdown favorites over the Indianapolis Colts, the Jaguars have a top-six implied total this week.

Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots (at NYJ)

Currently in the league's concussion protocol, TreVeyon Henderson is very likely going to sit in Week 17. That opens the door for Stevenson, who had eight carries for 51 yards and a touchdown and two catches for 27 yards last week against the Baltimore Ravens. As 12.5-point favorites over the New York Jets, it's likely that the Patriots have many more than the 13 running back carries they had last week.

Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers (at CLE)

Jaylen Warren vs. Kaleb Johnson? (Many fantasy managers made the wrong decision based on ADP — Johnson was RB27, Warren was RB29.) While the Steelers have had two productive backs this season, it's been Warren and Gainwell (not Johnson).

Gainwell has already been heavily involved as a receiver, and DK Metcalf has been suspended for the final two regular-season games. In fact, the running back leads the team in receptions (62) and trails only Metcalf (99) in targets (72). Over his past six games, Gainwell has averaged 8.3 carries, 6.3 targets, 5.5 receptions and 94.6 YFS per game.

Week 17 Fantasy Football Sit'em

Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets (vs. NE)

Hall has a career-high 229 carries, but he has also set or tied career lows in YPC (4.2), yards per touch (4.9), and receptions per game (2.3). It's possible that you may still need to start Hall, and the good news is he should get enough touches to give you something. That said, the outlook is bad enough for the Jets that Hall is outside my top-24 fantasy running backs for the week and certainly not a must-start. He had 64 scoreless yards in the first matchup against the Patriots this season.

Rico Dowdle, RB, Carolina Panthers (vs. SEA)

From Weeks 5 to 9, who was better than Dowdle? The free-agent addition had three top-two fantasy finishes in five weeks, and only Jonathan Taylor and Christian McCaffrey averaged more fantasy points per game over that stretch. Since then, Dowdle still has averaged 17.5 touches per game, but he has finished as the RB35 (or worse) in two of the past three games and faces the stingy Seahawks defense in Week 17.

David Montgomery, RB, Detroit Lions (at MIN)

At a minimum, he's clearly not happy with his role. He has eight or fewer carries for six weeks. During that stretch, he has averaged 6.0 carries and 1.2 receptions per game.

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Week 17 Fantasy Football Start'em, Sit'em: Quarterbacks

If you're reading this, congratulations!

With most fantasy football leagues concluding after Week 17, there is no reason for you to be reading this if you weren't playing in your league's Championship 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.

Embed from Getty Images

Week 17 Fantasy Football Start'em

Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams (at ATL)

Despite non-existent rushing stats (actually, worse than non-existent at minus two yards), Stafford leads all passers in yardage (4,179) and touchdowns (40, 7.7%), has a league-low 1.0 INT% and currently ranks as fantasy's QB3 on the year. Based on Week 17 NFL implied totals, only the Cincinnati Bengals have a higher projected total than Stafford and the Rams. Even if Davante Adams (hamstring) misses another week, Stafford remains a top-five option in Championship Week.

Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars (at IND)

Lawrence has been on a tear. Over the past five weeks, he has finished as fantasy's QB7, QB5, QB13, QB1, and QB2, respectively. Lawrence has a career-high seven rushing touchdowns this season including scores in back-to-back games. In fact, he has scored a combined 10 (TEN!) touchdowns over the past two weeks.

See the table below, but Lawrence is the only quarterback to throw for three-plus scores and rush for another in back-to-back games since 2022. And if he extends the streak, he'll become the first quarterback in league history to do so in three consecutive games.

Player	Team	Streak	Streak Started	Streak Ended	Cmp	Att	Yds	TD	Int	Att	Yds	TD
Trevor Lawrence	JAX	2	12/14/2025	12/21/2025	43	68	609	8	0	11	71	2
Joe Burrow	CIN	2	10/16/2022	10/23/2022	62	79	781	6	0	7	45	2
Lamar Jackson	BAL	2	9/18/2022	9/25/2022	39	58	536	7	1	20	226	2
Kyler Murray	ARI	2	9/12/2021	9/19/2021	50	68	689	7	3	10	51	2
Kyler Murray	ARI	2	10/25/2020	11/8/2020	55	74	643	6	1	25	173	2
Dak Prescott	DAL	2	10/8/2017	10/22/2017	41	61	485	6	1	8	63	2
Daunte Culpepper	MIN	2	12/10/2000	12/17/2000	44	71	556	6	1	11	79	2
Joe Montana	SF	2	11/6/1989	11/12/1989	38	50	572	6	0	9	30	2

[Data from Stathead]

Tyler Shough, QB, New Orleans Saints (at TEN)

Have the Saints found their long-term answer at quarterback? Probably not (or at least it's too early to tell), but Shough has played reasonably well with four consecutive 17-point fantasy performances. Given the injuries at quarterback (Patrick Mahomes, Jayden Daniels, Lamar Jackson?, etc.), Shough could be a plug-and-play option off the waiver wire for managers battling the injury bug at quarterback and still alive.

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Week 17 Fantasy Football Sit'em

Justin Herbert, QB, Los Angeles Chargers (vs. HOU)

Herbert has overcome a lot (season-ending injuries to Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, a broken non-throwing hand, etc.) to keep the train on the track. Herbert lit up the Cowboys defense (who hasn't, right?!) last week, but he scored under 15 fantasy points in each of his previous five outings. And the matchup this week gets much tougher. Only the Minnesota Vikings have allowed fewer fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season. While the Chargers are small favorites in Week 17, they play in one of only four games with an over-under below 40 points.

C.J. Stroud, QB, Houston Texans (at LAC)

Missing several games earlier this season, Stroud has since returned to start (and finish) each of Houston's past four games. During that span, he has accounted for multiple touchdowns only once. As noted above, the Chargers-Texans matchup has a low total, and the Texans have a bottom eight implied total for the week.

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