Fantasy football championship week is nearly in the books, and it’s been one hell of a tough ride for many managers. Between player absences, injuries and bad stat lines, we were left second-guessing decisions and wondering if the fantasy gods were just angry this week.
Case in point … fantasy managers who needed a running back or flex starter this week used Alexander Mattison based on a great matchup against the Saints. Well, the Raiders decided to use Ameer Abdullah as their top runner instead, and he finished with 17.7 points. The veteran started in just 14 percent of ESPN.com championship week lineups, while Mattison (4.8 points) was active in 25.5 percent. That was a nearly 13-point fantasy swing.
Championship-week managers who needed a quarterback might have looked to Joe Flacco in a plus matchup against the Giants. After all, Anthony Richardson had been ruled out and Flacco had been productive in similar scenarios in the past. Well, he finished with a ho-hum 15.3 fantasy points.
His opposing quarterback, Drew Lock, who no one in their right mind would have started in fantasy championship week, scored five total touchdowns (four passing, one rushing) and put up a career-best 34.4 points. Only Joe Burrow and Baker Mayfield finished with more points at the position heading into the Sunday night game!
That my friends, was certainly no “lock.”
With that said, here’s my Fabs’ Five Storylines from Week 17, broken down by position. For all of the latest news and fantasy advice, be sure to check out Fantasy Dirt five days a week!
Week 17 Fantasy Football Storylines
Quarterbacks … Anyone Have Tanner McKee On Their Bingo Card?
The week began on a high note, with Lamar Jackson (29.4 points) and Patrick Mahomes (26 points) filling our stockings with fantasy points. Things weren’t as good for the likes of Caleb Williams (6.6 points) or C.J. Stroud (6.1 points) though, who were likely starters in super flex leagues.
On Saturday we found out that Jalen Hurts, who entered the week as the QB5 in fantasy points, would be inactive due to a concussion. That left Kenny Pickett to start for the Eagles. He scored 16 points before getting hurt himself. His backup, Tanner McKee (the Eagles’ third-string quarterback), scored 10 fantasy points. That was more than Drake Maye, Matthew Stafford, Geno Smith, Caleb Williams, Stroud and Aaron Rodgers.
McKee threw four passes in the game!
Running Backs … Several Big Fantasy Names Fall Short
Derrick Henry ran all over the Houston Texans on Christmas Day, scoring 24.5 points. That’s the good news. Now, for all of the bad news. The opposing running back in that game, Joe Mixon, was held to a mere 5.9 points. He averaged 18.2 points heading into the weekend. What’s more, the Texans were held to just two points and 50.1 fantasy points as a team.
Najee Harris, a likely starter in many leagues, put up just 10.1 points, and Isiah Pacheco scored just 1.8 points. On Thursday night, fantasy fans were without Kenneth Walker, who was inactive due to injury. That was bad enough. Zach Charbonnet, who got the start in his absence, went on to score a very disappointing 10.6 points despite facing a Bears defense that had been smashed by running backs in the last two months. That game was 6-3 at halftime and it ended, 6-3. That’s right. No touchdowns in the entire game … what???
On Saturday, Rhamondre Stevenson started for the Patriots but touched the ball just twice and scored 0.10 points. He was a starter in 47.5% of ESPN leagues. Later that day, Chase Brown injured his ankle while sliding down at the one-yard line … he was trying not to score a touchdown. He missed the rest of the game and could be out next week, too. What made this worse is that Joe Burrow scored a touchdown on the next play! Also, Brown finished with just 13.1 points, which is 8.6 fewer points than he had averaged since Week 9.
In the third of the NFL Network’s trio of games, James Conner re-aggravated his knee and left the contest. The veteran, who averaged nearly 20 fantasy points in his previous seven games and was active in 82% of ESPN leagues, didn’t return and scored just 2.8 points.
Oh, and let’s not forget that the Panthers placed Chuba Hubbard on injured reserve with calf and knee injuries. That was a killer for fantasy managers, as Hubbard had emerged into a productive fantasy option. In his absence, many were stuck with Raheem Blackshear and Mike Boone. They combined for 3.1 points in a blowout loss to the Buccaneers. We also found out that Tony Pollard would miss Sunday’s game with the Jaguars, leaving those without Tyjae Spears in a bind. Spears scored a respectable 13.3 points in the contest.
On a positive note, Jonathan Taylor and Bucky Irving joined Henry as the only backs to put up 20-plus points. Saquon Barkley, who scored 18.9 points, rushed for 167 yards against the Cowboys. That performance made him the ninth running back in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single season, and he did it in 16 games. He would need 101 yards next week to break Eric Dickerson’s all-time record of 2,105 rushing yards.
Wide Receivers … Big Scores That Didn’t Help Fantasy Fans
The week began with bad news, as the Dallas Cowboys shelved CeeDee Lamb for the final two games due to an injured shoulder. He was the fourth-best wideout in fantasy football heading into the weekend.
On Christmas Day, Nico Collins and Zay Flowers were both held to single digits. DeAndre Hopkins was held to single digits against the Steelers, and George Pickens had eight points. He had averaged nearly double that in his previous four games.
On Thursday night, Jaxon Smith-Njigba finished with a meager 6.2 points. He had averaged nearly 22 points in his previous seven contests. DK Metcalf was held to single digits, and Keenan Allen posted a mere 7.5 points. The veteran had averaged nearly 20 points in his previous four games.
While Saturday did see its share of good stat lines from the position, including Tee Higgins scoring three touchdowns and 40.1 points in a win over the Broncos, one came from Marvin Mims Jr. He scored a career-best 30.2 fantasy points, but he was started in less than two percent (and rostered in just four percent) of ESPN leagues.
It was a bad night for Cooper Kupp, who scored just 3.9 points in a win over Arizona. In his last three games, he has scored zero points, 5.4 points and 3.9 points. Very un-Kupp like.
The good news is that Sunday brought a lot more points from the position. Malik Nabers and DeVonta Smith both posted at least 30 points and both did it catching passes from backup quarterbacks! Mike Evans, Adam Thielen, Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, Brian Thomas Jr. and Jalen McMillan all scored at least 23 points, which is obviously good. Here’s the bad news … Thielen (26.9%), Pittman Jr. (23.6%), Pierce (0.7%) and McMillan (14.1%) were all started in fewer than 30 percent of ESPN leagues, so their points didn’t help many.
Tight Ends … The Who’s Who Of Who’s That
Fantasy fans did get help at tight end, as Trey McBride (30.3 points) and Travis Kelce (22.4 points) both posted big totals. Mark Andrews scored 14 points, and Pat Freiermuth had a respectable 11 points. Mike Gesicki had 18.6 points, but he was started in just 7.7 percent of ESPN leagues. The biggest loser was those who started Hunter Henry, who had scored at least 9.4 points in four of his last five games but didn’t score a single point on Saturday.
On Sunday, Tyler Conklin, Foster Moreau, Juwan Johnson, Payne Durham, Chig Okonkwo and Noah Fant scored enough points to finish in the top 12 at the position heading into Sunday night. Conklin (3.6%), Moreau (0.4%), Johnson (4.8%), Durham (1.6%), Okonkwo (22.6%) and Fant (2.1%) were all started in fewer 25% of ESPN.com leagues.
The 2024 Fantasy Football Season Is Nearly Over
In most leagues, we’re saying goodbye to this fantasy season. Soon, league champions will be crowned, trash will be talked, belts will be worn, and trophies will be hoisted. If you’re one of those who took home the gold, give yourself a hand … this was one of the toughest NFL seasons to navigate that I can remember, as injuries to big names (especially at wide receiver), rotating backfields and a thin tight end position made life hard on managers.
But you endured … and for those of you who won, congratulations!
Be sure to check out Fantasy Dirt this week, in what will be our final week of shows for the 2024 campaign, as we break down all the craziness that we all just wrapped up!
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fabs Five Fantasy Football Storylines: A Fantasy Championship Week of Woe & Glory.
