Week 17, this is it, the last week of a full player pool. The key to this week will be staying on top of the news, like which teams have motivation or a lack thereof for postseason purposes.
There will undoubtedly be some studs that are liable to sit this week for one reason or another, creating some opportunity for other players. There is also a good chance that we’ll see some younger players getting a shot to put some good football on tape as they audition for future work.
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Quarterback
Russell Wilson (SEA) vs. ARI
Once an MVP candidate, he’s fallen off recently. Over the last month, he’s been reduced to just 183 yards per game and a miserable 6.5 YPA. In that same span, his 57% comp is the lowest in any four-game stint of his career.
Add to it that Arizona has only allowed just above 15 fantasy points to opposing QBs and you have a player who’s not worth his ADP. Avoid the highest ranked player in the QB pool and wait a couple rounds to get yours. Any QB on a team that’s been eliminated from the playoffs.
This may seem vague, but considering Week 17 is exclusively divisional matchups, and those matchups typically produce lower-scoring games than the first matchup between the same teams. So many players are playing hurt and are banged up in general from the long season. This may limit the passing options of a lot of signal callers, so targeting QBs from playoff teams or teams that are still “in the hunt” and have something to play for as they’ll be better equipped to win and more probable to get you a solid performance.
Running Back
Ezekiel Elliott (DAL) @ PHI
Zeke has fresh legs, but the Cowboys season is over, and I doubt he gets a full workload against the best rush defense in the league. To emphasize how stellar Philly’s run D is, they’ve given up 12 yards less per game than the second-ranked Vikings. I expect Dallas to give Rod Smith a lot of run in a matchup that saw them get bludgeoned by five scores on national TV just six weeks ago.
Carlos Hyde (SF) @ LAR
The Rams have improved on run defense in the last month, and Hyde has shown signs of wearing down late in the season as evidenced by his pathetic 2.1 YPC average in the last two weeks. His pedestrian rushing efforts of late have been discouraging, and he’s not given you a 100-yard game since Week 2. “Hyde” him from your draft queue!
Jordan Howard (CHI) @ MIN
Howard is a road underdog RB, so I already don’t like him. Considering he’ll get the Vikings top-three run defense this week, I’m avoiding him completely. The Bears do run a lot, but I think a negative game script will keep his chances limited and get Chicago’s pair of passing backs much more involved. There is no reason to draft him this week.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Mike Evans (TB) vs. NO
Every time I watch the Saints play, I’m convinced CB Marshon Lattimore is the best rookie from the 2017 draft class. He smothered Evans in their only previous meeting (Week 9).
In that contest, Evans was targeted six times and came away with only one grab for 13 yards. There is no reason to draft Evans in this spot.
Michael Crabtree (OAK) @ LAC
After another sad performance from Derek Carr on Christmas directly affected “King Crab” who looked more like a frog, pre-princess kiss. He posted a big, fat zero and killed many fantasy owners. This week, he’s likely drawing coverage from Casey Hayward and the Chargers top-three passing D that’s allowing less than 195 pass yards a game.
Dez Bryant (DAL) @ PHI
Every week, the Eagles defense is collectively playing better as a cohesive unit. Attacking the secondary is arguably the way you “beat” them, but considering Dallas tried that last time (Week 11) and failed, I’m not touching him. His 14 targets in that game resulted in just 63 yards, and he’s yet to hit triple digits in the yardage column all year.
Robby Anderson (NYJ) @ NE
Anderson has balled out this year as his breakout late last season proved not to be a fluke. He’s genuinely the Jets’ best player on offense.
Unfortunately, that means that the Patriots will more than likely scheme to take him out of the game. Against New England in Week 6, he was mostly inefficient, only catching a third of his 12 targets.
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Josh Dalley is a correspondent at FantasyPros. His username on DRAFT is DFSDad. For more from Josh, follow him @JoshDalley72.
