NFL 2025 Week 17 Start 'Em Sit 'Em: Omarion Hampton And Bucky Irving Bring Home The Hardware

Fantasy championship week is underway. Hopefully you didn’t have many players on the field for Christmas. Even if you did, these are the players you need to start working your way back into the race.

Start: Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars

Lawrence’s monster run over the last month has vaulted him up to QB5 on the year and sportsbooks are sold on the Jags’ offense. They have an implied team total of 27.5, the fifth-highest of the week. Lawrence gets a Colts defense that ranks 20th in EPA for dropbacks allowed. Because Indy is a top 10 unit against the run, they have faced a +2% passing rate than expected this year. That’s the third-highest mark in the league. On the best pace of his career, Lawrence is a sure bet for QB1 numbers against the Colts.

Start: Jacoby Brissett, Cardinals

Brissett has made 11 starts this year. He has finished outside of QB1 range only twice and is averaging 19.8 points per game, making him the QB5 since taking over. This week, he gets a Bengals defense that ranks 30th in EPA per play allowed. Cincinnati has allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. The total of 53.5 points in their matchup is the highest of the week. They are three points behind every game except Bears/49ers.

Sitting: CJ Stroud, Texans

Stroud is the best quarterback to ever score fantasy points. He is the EPA’s QB9 per play and has a top-10 weekly finish this year. The odds are against them in Week 17. The Chargers are the No. 5 defense in EPA per dropback allowed. They are giving up the third-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. The game total has fallen to 39.5 and the Texans’ team total is 19. For reference, that is below the Dolphins and Raiders.

Sitting: Jaxson Dart, Giants

Dart was only fun when the Giants let him run. Those days are gone. Dart has three designed carries in three games since Brian Daboll was fired. He is averaging 30 rushing yards per game with Mike Kafka as interim head coach. That would be a lot for some quarterbacks. Not for Dart. The rookie averaged 7.9 attempts for 45 yards and a touchdown per game with Daboll. Dart will be a fun bet in 2026, but his time in the QB2 ranks has come to an end this season.

Home: Omarion Hampton, Chargers

Kimani Vidal is likely to be on the wrong side of questionable this week, which could leave Hassan Haskins as Hampton’s backup. Haskins saw four attempts last week. He did not travel a single route. Before going on the disabled list with a foot injury earlier this year, Hampton had at least five receptions in three consecutive games. He ran a route on 62 percent of Justin Herbert’s dropbacks and earned a 15 percent target share in these three games despite leaving the third early. He averaged 21.1 fantasy points.

Home: Bucky Irving, Bucs

Bucky hasn’t been fun to start since returning to the lineup, but his usage is still solid. Irving has seen 69 percent of the team’s carries over the past two weeks and has a good (but not great) 42 percent route rate. A lack of goal-line work has been an issue in recent weeks, but Irving could find the end zone from deep on Sunday. Miami ranks 26th in explosive run rate allowed.

Sitting: Derrick Henry, Ravens

The Packers are a run funnel in the sense that they face a lot of run attempts. However, it is not an easy team to handle. Green Bay ranks 11th in yards after contact per carry allowed and 10th in yards before contact. They have given up the sixth-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs. Lamar Jackson is listed as doubtful for Week 17 due to a back injury, meaning the Packers will have an even easier time focusing on stopping Henry.

Sit: Breece Hall, Jets

The season ended three weeks ago for Hall, but we didn’t know it yet. Brady Cook has appeared in three games this year. They have all been disastrous for Hall.

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He hasn’t posted an RB1 finish since Week 10 and that doesn’t seem likely to change this week. Hall’s route rate has dipped below 50 percent in each of his last two games. He’s seen a goal line since Justin Fields left the lineup in Week 11. The Jets simply can’t stand a top-24 fantasy back with Cook under center.

Start: Adonai Mitchell, Jets

We can start with our king of the air yards one last time. Even with Brady Cook on the sticks, Mitchell has gained 40 percent of the Jets’ passing yards and 23 percent of targets. Mitchell has a first-read target percentage of 29.5 percent and has seen a third of the team’s end zone looks. The Pats are a good defense on all fronts, but if they can be beaten in any way, it is on deep shots. New England has allowed the 10th-highest rate of explosive plays through the air.

Home: Mack Hollins, Patriots

Kayshon Boutte is expected to be out this week with a concussion. Hollins averaged 13.5 PPR points in the two games Boutte missed earlier this season. With Boutte out, Hollins consolidated the aerial yards. It accumulated a target share of 25 percent and 35 percent of air yards during those two weeks. Of note, Hollins is dealing with an abdominal injury and the Christmas practice schedule makes it difficult to get a read on his status for Week 17 as of Friday morning. If you plan to start Hollins, keeping Kyle Williams as the backup is the decision. Williams has 16 targets this year and 12 of them have gone more than 10 yards downfield.

Sitting: Emeka Egbuka, Bucs

This one can be quite short. Egbuka ran a route on 50 percent of Baker Mayfield’s downhills last week. Jalen McMillan ran more routes than him and outscored him 3-2. These are not the chance numbers of a playable fantasy option.

Sitting: Jayden Reed, Packers

The Packers/Ravens gap has ballooned to six points with Jackson listed as doubtful for Week 17. That should be more than enough to take the wind out of the ball no matter who starts at quarterback. Green Bay ranks 20th in pass rush when playing from forward. Their offense runs at the ninth-slowest pace with a lead. Reed’s 16 percent target share since returning from the injured list won’t be enough to get home in a first-run game this week.

Home: Juwan Johnson, Santos

Johnson has reached at least seven PPR points (a completely arbitrary number aside from the fact that it’s the mark he hits most weeks) in a dozen games this year. The last time he was under seven PPR points was in Week 6. His current high-floor streak hasn’t so surprisingly coincided with the trade of Rashid Shaheed and the benching of Spencer Rattler. He has earned two points per game when Shough comes to play and 1.6 points when Shaheed is gone. Johnson is a clear TE1 against a toothless Titans defense.

Home: Darnell Washington, Steelers

DK Metcalf will miss the next two weeks while serving a suspension for an altercation with a fan. Metcalf aside, as of Week 3, Darnell Washington ranks second among the Steelers in targets, behind only Kenneth Gainwell. Washington leads the non-Metcalf Steelers in yards per route (1.68) this year. Only Jaylen Warren averages more YAC per sack than the big tight end. He’s their best option to move the ball through the air with Metcalf on the ice for the rest of the regular season.

Sitting: Mark Andrews, Ravens

Things turn sour for Andrews when Jackson is left out of the lineup. He goes from a viable TE2 with 8.6 PPR points per game to barely a TE3 with 5.3 points per game when Jackson is out.

The Packers are also particularly stingy against tight ends. This year they have given up the eighth fewest points to occupy that position. There are better options on his waiver wire than Andrews this week.

Seated: Oronde Gadsden, Chargers

The Chargers are using their backup tight end more often lately, likely to compensate for the loss of left tackle Joe Alt. This, in turn, apparently ended the Gadsden experiment. It has a target share of 12 percent on 67 percent of routes over the past month. The previous month, Gadsden had seen 21 percent of the team’s targets on a 79 percent route rate.

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