| | | | Thursday, December 30, 2021 | | Matthew Stafford has had a way of bouncing back this season. From Weeks 9 through 12, he threw five touchdowns in three games, including a pick-six in each game. He followed that up with a three-game stretch with eight touchdowns and just one interception. So, no, you shouldn't be worried about his three-interception game in Week 16. | | In fact, you should probably be starting Matthew Stafford over just about every other quarterback in the league in Week 17. After all, he's going against a Ravens defense that is incredibly shallow in the secondary and just let up four touchdowns and the third-most passing yards in NFL history to Joe Burrow last week. I'm not expecting a repeat of that from Stafford, but a big game is definitely possible, which is why he's Jamey Eisenberg's Start of the Week for Week 17. | | That's one easy call. It might be your last, given that we're still dealing with players being put on and taken off the COVID list along with our usual slew of injuries. In the rest of today's newsletter, we're going to take a look at more of Jamey's Week 17 picks from his Start 'Em & Sit 'Em column, plus some of the players Dave Richard is highlighting in his <em>Starts, Sits, Sleepers & Busts</em> column . Remember, there's no games tonight or Saturday, so we should have a much better idea than normal of who is going to be available this week, which is good news. But we've still got all of the injury news you need to know about from Wednesday's first practice reports, too. | | Here's what else you need to be prepared for Week 17: | Week 17 Start 'Em & Sit 'Em: QB | RB | WRStarts, Sits, Sleepers and BustsWeek 17 Position Previews: QB | RB | WR | TE
My Week 17 Rankings: Flex Top 150 | QB | RB | WR | TE | | Keep an eye out for tomorrow's newsletter, where I'll have all of the latest injury news plus your biggest questions -- send them my way at Chris.Towers@ViacomCBS.com for answers. Here's what else today's newsletter will cover: | | 👍Start 'Em & Sit 'Em👎 1️⃣7️⃣ Dave Richard's Week 17 Preview🚑Week 17 Injury Watch | | | | 👍Start 'Em & Sit 'Em👎 | | | | Quarterbacks | | Start 'Em: Jalen Hurts and Joe Burrow | | "Hurts went for 28 Fantasy points against Washington in Week 15, and hopefully he has a similar performance in the rematch. The Football Team defense is reeling after allowing 39 Fantasy points against Dak Prescott in Week 16, and for the season, Washington gives up an average of 26.7 Fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks." | | Sit 'Em: Tua Tagovailoa and Ryan Tannehill | | "The Titans have allowed one quarterback to score more than 18 Fantasy points since Week 10, and their past three opposing quarterbacks (Trevor Lawrence, Ben Roethlisberger and Jimmy Garoppolo) have combined for just 25 points. Tagovailoa also has only one game with more than 16 Fantasy points in his past four outings." | | Running Backs | | Start 'Em: Chase Edmonds and Ronald Jones | | "If James Conner is out again then Edmonds is a must-start running back in all leagues against the Cowboys. There have now been five games since Week 10 where either Conner or Edmonds have been out, and the healthy running back has scored at least 14 PPR points in those outings with an average of 22.2 PPR points per game." | | Sit 'Em: D'Onta Foreman and Devonta Freeman | | "Jeremy McNichols and Dontrell Hilliard will share touches with Foreman, and this is a brutal matchup against Miami. The Dolphins haven't allowed a running back to score a touchdown since Week 7, including matchups with Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Alvin Kamara and Michael Carter twice. And Barkley in Week 13 is the lone running back with more than nine PPR points against Miami in the past seven games. Foreman is a questionable flex option in this matchup." | | | | Wide Receivers | | Start 'Em: Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyler Lockett | | "I'm still starting St. Brown with confidence, and hopefully, Jared Goff (knee) returns as well. In Week 16 with Tim Boyle under center at Atlanta, St. Brown had nine catches for 91 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets. That's now four games in a row with at least 11 targets, eight catches and 73 yards, and he has three touchdowns over that span. I liked St. Brown a lot coming into the season, and he's played well beyond my expectations during this hot streak. I'm hopeful he keeps it up for at least one more time in Week 17." | | Sit 'Em: Terry McLaurin and Chase Claypool | | "McLaurin is going to be one of my favorite bounce-back candidates in 2022 when Washington hopefully gets an upgrade at quarterback. But I'm not starting him in Week 17 against the Eagles. McLaurin had two catches for 51 yards on four targets in Week 15 at Philadelphia, and he's now gone five games in a row with nine PPR points or less and has just one game with more than 60 receiving yards since Week 7. With a likely matchup with Darius Slay, McLaurin is even a risky starter in three-receiver leagues." | | Tight Ends | Start 'Em: Dalton Schultz
Sit 'Em: Noah Fant | | "I've been wrong on Schultz the past two weeks as a bust alert, so hopefully he stays hot in Week 17 against Arizona. I anticipated Schultz getting fewer targets with the Cowboys being fully healthy at wide receiver, but he still had eight targets in Week 15 at the Giants and nine targets in Week 16 against Washington. He scored at least 20 PPR points in both outings, and he should continue to do well this week against the Cardinals if Dak Prescott keeps looking for him this much." | | | | DSTs | Start 'Em: Bills vs. ATL
Sit 'Em: Packers vs. MIN | | 1️⃣7️⃣ Dave Richard's Week 17 Preview | | | | There are the obvious calls, and then there are the ones you need help with. Dave Richard goes through each game to identify the most interesting matchups and biggest lineup dilemmas for Week 16. Here are some of his top picks for this week. You can find the rest of his advice for Week 17 here. | | Starts | | Devin Singletary vs. ATL -- "The Bills have seemingly settled on him as their main running back, giving him 17-plus touches in each of their past two games. He's rewarded their faith with a rushing score and at least 78 total yards in each. In a set-up that should give the Bills some playing time with a lead, Singletary will face a Falcons run defense that's allowed 90 total yards to a running back in six of its past nine and a score to a rusher in 11 of 15 games. He's a must in all formats."Darrel Williams @CIN -- "Williams has already started five games this season in place of Clyde Edwards-Helaire, picking up 19-plus touches in four of them (all wins) and coming away with 16-plus PPR Fantasy points in three of those. I think the only way Williams wouldn't get a lot of work is if the Chiefs get blown out (seems unlikely) or if Derrick Gore gets really hot really early in the matchup. Speaking of the matchup, it's not exactly easy: the Bengals have kept running backs to just two touchdowns and one 100-total-yard game over their past six. They've done well against backs on the Raiders, Steelers, 49ers, Broncos and Ravens. But how many of those teams have an excellent quarterback to force the Bengals to greatly respect the pass? That's where Williams has an advantage -- not only is Patrick Mahomes an obvious difference-maker, but Mahomes has willingly thrown to Williams and handed off to him in the red zone for much of the year. Count on that continuing, making Williams a start ahead of guys like Saquon Barkley, Melvin Gordon, D'Onta Foreman and Devonta Freeman." | | Sits | | Dare Ogunbowale @NE -- "Before we can even think about Ogunbowale, consider how long it took Fantasy managers to trust the Jaguars run game. Even when we thought Robinson would be the guy, there were times he was not. Therefore, do not assume Ogunbowale will be the only rusher for the Jaguars. If he is, then the Jaguars will utilize an average back who doesn't have much speed or power rushing behind an already weak offensive line that might be down two starters. He's a flex at best."Michael Carter vs. TB -- "Carter really started to get going in the second half last week against Jacksonville, picking up chunks of yardage on runs outside of the tackles. He saw 73% of the snaps but still was close in overall carries with Tevin Coleman and specifically lost out to Coleman in goal to go carries (4 to 2). That's concerning, but they're taking on the Bucs and it's not like they're about to get a ton of chances to score anyway. Tampa's allowed six total touchdowns to running backs in their last nine. It means Carter will have to rack up total yards on, hopefully, a bunch of touches. That's also concerning since the Bucs have let up over 100 total yards to one running back in those last nine. Facing Tampa Bay without Lavonte David and Shaquil Barrett is a perk, but the likelihood of a favorable game script really makes Carter tough to go with as a No. 2 running back." | | Sleepers | | Tyler Boyd vs. KC -- "Boyd's past two weeks have been wild: He's scored on catch-and-run plays of 50-plus yards and had nearly had a third score on a 32-yard bomb last week. But it's not really who Boyd is as a receiver. On the year he has four end-zone targets, six red-zone targets, 14 targets on throws that travel 11-plus air yards, a low average target depth (7.89) and a modest target per route run rate (18.3%). Boyd remains a volume-needy receiver who doesn't even clinch seven targets when his team is in competitive high-scoring games. This week figures to be one of those games, and starting Boyd for that reason makes sense, but it cannot be done as anything more than a flex or No. 3 wideout."Boston Scott @WAS -- "As of this writing, Miles Sanders has been ruled out, Jordan Howard was sidelined from practice with a stinger and Kenneth Gainwell and Jalen Hurts were limited in practice. If things stay this way, Scott should reliably be the Eagles' lead running back on Sunday and even have a clear shot at short-yardage work. If Jordan Howard comes back, then it's up in the air who will see the most carries and have the most goal-to-go opportunities. But there's no denying how effective Scott has been when given the chance: in four games with 11-plus carries, he's delivered a minimum of 10 non-PPR each time. He could still come up around that number if Howard plays, but it'll be tougher to trust him." | | Busts | | Cordarrelle Patterson @BUF -- "The Bills run defense is exactly the kind of matchup you're looking for with Patterson, but the 30-year-old receiver-turned-running back has hit a slump over his past three games. Without two touchdowns, he'd be averaging a puke-worthy 4.0 PPR points per game (it's still not great that he's averaging 8.0 PPR points per game WITH the touchdowns). Patterson doesn't have consistent burst on his edge runs, isn't fighting through tackles and is hampered by poor run blocking. He's also seen his touches drop from 18 to 13 to 8 over his past three. In a game the Falcons ought to be trailing in, Patterson doesn't look or feel like the guy who helped carry us to the Fantasy playoffs in the first place."Saquon Barkley @CHI -- "When Devontae Booker is playing better than you, something's wrong. Booker not only looked better than Barkley in Week 16 but played more than him and was more efficient, though both factors might have been thanks to the game script in their blowout loss to the Eagles. The unfortunate truth is that Barkley has been incredibly frustrating to watch, hesitating behind his overmatched O-line and forced to take small gains (if not losses) play after play. We can't even blame it on stacked boxes -- he's seen eight men in the box on just 8.7% of his carries over the last three games. So why not call him a flat-out sit? The Bears run defense is pretty awful; with or without Akiem Hicks , they've given up a touchdown to a runner in 10 of their past 13 games and allowed 80-plus total yards to a rusher in eight of their past 10. It gives Barkley a glimmer of hope for some decent gains, provided he finds 15 carries for a fourth-straight game, but not enough to say he's a must-start." | | 🚑Week 17 Injury Watch | | | | As expected, a bunch of players were activated from the COVID list Wednesday as a result of the new protocols, and I'm sure a bunch more will be activated Thursday. The situation is so fluid that I'm not sure it really even makes sense to go through every player today since so much will likely change by tomorrow and nobody has to set their lineups until Sunday this week. I'll have the full list of everyone on the COVID and injury lists for tomorrow's newsletter, but for now, here are the injuries we're watching as of Wednesday evening: | | Wednesday practice report updates | | Quarterback | | Lamar Jackson (ankle) – Limited practice. Jackson returned to practice for the first time Wednesday after missing two games, a good sign for his chances of returning. Tyler Huntley was also activated from the COVID list, so if Jackson isn't able to go, Huntley would be a top-12 QB even in a tough matchup against the Rams. Jackson would be as well, obviously.Justin Fields (ankle) – Limited practice. Fields was unable to practice last week, so this is certainly a step in the right direction. Andy Dalton (groin) was also a full participant, so the Bears will have at least one of their top two QBs back in all likelihood. Fields would be a mid-range QB2 for the matchup against the Giants. Jimmy Garoppolo (thumb) – Did not practice. The 49ers haven't ruled Garoppolo out yet, but it seems inevitable. He has a fractured bone in his right thumb along with a Grade 3 sprain, and while he doesn't need surgery, it just doesn't seem very likely he'll play Sunday against the Texans. Trey Lance figures to get his second career start, and he's a viable low-end QB1 given his rushing ability, with upside beyond that if he's improved as a passer while running the squat team. Jared Goff (knee) – Did not practice. Goff was forced to sit out last week's game on the COVID list, but he may not have been able to play either way. He suffered the injury back in Week 15 and told reporters he is "day to day," putting his availability for Sunday's game against the Seahawks in question. Teddy Bridgewater (concussion) – Did not practice. Bridgewater is not expected to be cleared to return to action in time for Sunday's game against the Chargers, with Drew Lock e expected to remain the starter. The offense looked miserable in Week 15, racking up just 158 yards against the Raiders, which makes it awfully tough to be excited about them at this point. I would prefer to avoid the passing game if I could against the Chargers. | | Running back | | Dalvin Cook (illness) – Limited practice. Cook is expected to return this week after missing a game with COVID, but the Vikings are going to take it easy on him in his first days back, at least. He should be good to go for Sunday against the Packers with a few days to get his conditioning back, and he's a top-five RB even with a tough matchup. D'Andre Swift (shoulder) – Full practice. It sure looks like Swift will be back this week. What kind of role he's coming back to remains to be seen, but it's going to be awfully hard to sit a player with Swift's receiving abilities against a Seahawks defense that is allowing 0.5 receptions more per game than any other defense. Antonio Gibson (hip) – Limited practice. This is actually something of a surprise, as Gibson had been dealing with a toe injury but isn't on the practice report for that. Maybe the hip is why he played less than 40% of the snaps in Week 16. The fact that he was able to participate in practice is a good sign, and if the toe really isn't an issue, then Gibson is probably a must-start RB this week even with a tough matchup against the Eagles. James Conner (heel) – Did not practice. Chase Edmonds was also limited with a back injury, so this is certainly a situation to watch. At this point, I would expect Edmonds to play while the opposite is true of Conner, which would make Edmonds a top-10 RB (at least) even against the Cowboys. Saquon Barkley (ankle) – Did not practice. Barkley has been held out of practice at times over the past few weeks with this issue, but he's also seen his playing time limited of late, possibly as a result of it, too. At this point, he's a low-end RB2 at best. Elijah Mitchell (knee) – Limited practice. This is the first time we've seen Mitchell practice since Week 13, so that's a good sign. However, even if he does play against Houston, it's hard to know whether he'd be worth trusting, or whether he would be in a timeshare with Jeff Wilson. The latter is my guess, and I probably wouldn't rank either as a top-24 option even given the great matchup.Clyde Edwards-Helaire (shoulder) – Did not practice. Edwards-Helaire is not expected to play this week against the Bengals due to this injury, which pushes Darrel Williams into the top-15 RB discussion. Jordan Howard (stinger) – Did not practice. Miles Sanders is out with a broken hand, and Kenneth Gainwell was limited by an ankle injury, so this practice report was just about a best-case scenario for Boston Scott. If Howard is unable to play Sunday, Scott will be a top-20 RB. | | Wide receiver | | Kadarius Toney (shoulder) – Did not practice. It's just one thing after another for Toney going back to the start of training camp, really. He's shown real flashes of potential, but they've been incredibly brief thanks to his injuries. I like Toney as a keeper, but you can go ahead and cut him in redraft if you haven't already. Jakobi Meyers (hamstring) – Limited practice. The Patriots have already been missing Nelson Agholor , who was also unable to practice Wednesday with a concussion, so they could be very short-handed this week. Jamison Crowder (calf) – Did not practice. Braxton Berrios is a viable WR3/4 in PPR formats if Crowder is out. Rondale Moore (ankle) – Did not practice. Moore's absence would likely make Chase Edmonds an even better starting option. | | Tight end | | Tyler Conklin (hamstring) – Did not practice. Conklin has been occasionally useful as a streamer, but his absence doesn't mean much for Fantasy or the Vikings. If he's out this week, it would make K.J. Osborn a better start as a WR3.James O'Shaughnessy (hip) – Did not practice. Dan Arnold was designated to return from IR last week before being placed on the COVID list, so if he can get activated this week, he might be worth streaming against the Patriots, even in a tough matchup. Remember, Arnold had at least eight targets in four of five games earlier in the season, averaging 57.2 yards per game on five catches from Weeks 5 through 10. Jack Doyle (knee/ankle) – Did not practice. Doyle's absence could be meaningful in that it could provide Mo Alie-Cox the opportunity to play a bigger role. He played 90% of the snaps in Week 16 and came away with two catches for 42 yards on four targets. He'd be a viable streamer in deeper leagues. | | | | | | | | Europe's Best on P+ | | 24/7 Sports News | The 2021/22 UEFA Season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting and thrilling in recent times! Watch Europe's Top clubs battle on the road to glory exclusively on Paramount+.
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