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13 hours ago
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In fantasy football, nothing's worse than a player going out and being a liability in your lineup. There's not a whole lot you can do when a superstar underperforms, but it's infuriating when one of your fringe starters is one of the reasons you lost a matchup. Fantasy managers should look to avoid these disappointments at all costs.
Last week, we gave you names including Joe Mixon, Jonnu Smith and Brian Robinson Jr. as players to consider benching. If you started any of these three, chances are that you were at least slightly disappointed with their performance.
Thankfully, Week 17 is a clean slate with new matchups to analyze. It may be a new week, but the goal remains the same — avoid any lineup landmines.
We'll be using a roundtable style article for our Week 17 fantasy football busts. Three of our fantasy football analysts will be taking a look at the slate and covering one player who they will be shying away from at each position. Fantasy managers could be in line for a frustrating Sunday afternoon if they choose to start any of these players.
WEEK 17 FANTASY FOOTBALL RANKINGS
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/ST | Kickers
Fantasy QB Busts Week 17
Michael O'Hara: Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins — You might be thinking that I'm about to push the "Tua in cold weather" narrative, but it's supposed to be around 50 degrees Sunday in Cleveland. This pick is simply due to the fact that the Cleveland defense is talented and the current version of the Miami offense isn't conducive to consistent fantasy production for Tagovailoa. This is a dink-and-dunk offense (Tagovailoa ranks last in aDOT and deep throw rate) that requires massive YAC plays from receivers for Tagovailoa to accumulate fantasy points. Gone are the days of Tagovailoa scoring six fantasy points on a single play. The last two weeks have quite clearly shown that this offensive philosophy creates a very low floor for Tagovailoa on a week-to-week basis. Look to avoid that floor this week.
Ed Williams: Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals — I went with the Los Angeles Rams as my sleeper defense, so this is a correlated play. With the Cardinals eliminated from playoff contention, Murray may be starting to turn his focus to some offseason video gaming. But seriously, while Murray got some early-season MVP buzz, the offense never seemed to be clicking on all cylinders for more than a week at a time. There's zero evidence of any substantial amount of chemistry with rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Trey McBride has been a target monster but still doesn't have a receiving touchdown. It's hard to imagine that changing in the last two weeks of the season.
Vinnie Iyer: Jared Goff, Detroit Lions — The 49ers' defense is at home in prime time and this has nothing to do with that ol' cold weather outside narrative that Goff squashed in Chicago. This has everything to do with the fact only three QBs have had significant fantasy days vs. the 49ers, and two, Josh Allen and Kyler Murray, did it with their running cheat codes.
MORE FANTASY: Complete Week 17 Waiver Wire recommendations and FAAB advice
Fantasy RB Busts Week 17
O'Hara: Rico Dowdle, Dallas Cowboys — When one of your running backs has the Eagles on their upcoming schedule, it's best to steer clear of the situation entirely. In the last two weeks, six different running backs have seen multiple carries against this Philadelphia front seven. Those six backs combined for just 67 rushing yards. Across the whole season, the Eagles have allowed the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs. Dowdle may be the lead back for the Cowboys, but he's going to have a hard time getting anything going against this defense. He should be viewed as an RB3 option this week and should only be started by teams in desperate circumstances.
Williams: Travis Etienne, Jacksonville Jaguars — The Titans are actually giving up the seventh-most fantasy points to the running back position, but that just shows you how frustrating this running back situation is right now. On any given week, there's no telling whether Etienne or Bigsby will be getting the bulk of the carries. Last week it seemed to be Bigsby, so this carries some risk as it could be Etienne's "turn" this week. But other than Brian Thomas Jr., no one on this offense is worth starting in fantasy unless absolutely ravaged by injuries (which probably means you've already been eliminated).
Iyer: Brian Robinson Jr., Washington Commanders — The Falcons can give up some TDs to running backs, which might help B-Rob's value rebound a bit from the Jayden Daniels-dominated comeback game against the Eagles. But it could be more of the Daniels' dual threat show in national prime time for the first time while the team spreads the backfield touches.
Fantasy WR Busts Week 17
O'Hara: Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams — It may be too small of a sample to lean into, but Kupp has taken a considerable step back over the last two weeks. Kupp has been held to a sub-20% target share in two straight games. He also ran a route on just 57.9% of dropbacks, his lowest mark in a healthy game this season. It's hard to bench Kupp as a 30% target share is always in his range of outcomes, but it's hard to ignore his recent struggles. Expectations should be kept in check for Kupp this week.
Williams: Jerry Jeudy, Cleveland Browns — This one is a bit of a no-brainer, so take this as a public service announcement reminder that the Cleveland offense is an absolute mess right now. The Browns appear to want to see what they have in Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback, but it should be pretty clear by now that what they have in him isn't much at all. The drop off from Jameis Winston to DTR is massive, and the entire wide receiver corps should be left on benches.
Iyer: Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions — Williams went off in Chicago when not expected but stack him up with Goff as a bust in San Francisco. The 49ers' secondary can give up some big games to wide receivers, but they're more based off target volume than big plays, which seems to not align with Williams' usage.
Fantasy TE Busts Week 17
O'Hara: T.J. Hockenson, Minnesota Vikings — Hockenson just isn't the same target hog that carried fantasy managers to the playoffs last year. Hockenson hasn't cleared a 20% target share in over a month and has been the clear third option in the passing game behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Without consistent volume, it's hard to rely on Hockenson, especially when he hasn't been much of a goal line threat. He's a fringe TE1 at this point and it's not ridiculous to go with a different option given the stakes of Week 17 matchups.
Williams: Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys — Cooper Rush does like to get Ferguson involved, but the Eagles have been giving up the 4th-fewest fantasy points to the tight end position this season. The Eagles have surprisingly been one of the best defenses in the league this season, and a big reason why is the surprisingly elite linebacker duo of Zach Baun and Nakobe Dean. With both linebackers flying all over the field, it could be tough for Ferguson to get much going in the middle of the field.
Iyer: Hunter Henry, New England Patriots — Henry will have some revenge on his mind against the Chargers and counterpart Stone Smartt (see sleepers for Week 17) but he needs help from Drake Maye getting him the ball and the rookie QB should be coached to throw elsewhere in a bad tight end matchup.
Fantasy Defense Busts Week 17
O'Hara: Houston Texans — The Texans have been among the more reliable fantasy defenses this season, but fantasy managers should consider another option this week. They'll host Lamar Jackson and the red-hot Baltimore offense this week. The Ravens are among the offenses that you don't want to face when it comes to your starting D/ST in fantasy.
Williams: Cleveland Browns — While we already talked about the offense being a mess, the defense is not what it used to be either. Myles Garrett still has a fearsome pass rush, but Tua Tagovailoa gets the ball out so quickly that some of that pass rush should be mitigated. The backend is where Cleveland has struggled much more than in past years, so maybe this is finally the week we see Tyreek Hill get free for a long touchdown.
Iyer: Denver Broncos — Joe Burrow has been relentless in trying to keep his team alive in the wild-card race to try to catch the Broncos and with his shot against the actual Broncos, he will light it up at home again to put Denver and Bo Nix in an uncomfortable catchup situation where it can't tee off defensively.
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