Yet another NFL Sunday is upon us, meaning it’s time for the latest edition of our weekly must-starts column.
In Week 17, season-long leagues roll into championship week as the regular season hits a fever pitch. While this column leans toward the NFL DFS side of things, the same advice can apply to other formats as well — we just want to help you win your leagues. After crunching the numbers, we’ve got another three must-start players for your fantasy football contests. Whether a standout talent to build lineups around or an intriguing value with matchup and salary, these are guys who can smash and win the week. Let’s jump right in.
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QB Tyler Shough, Saints @ Titans ($5,200)
Last week, Tyler Shough earned his first appearance in this must-starts column. He delivered a respectable 20.1 DKFP with 308 yards and a touchdown, completing 32-of-49 passes in a 29-6 win. It was an excellent showing for real-world purposes and fantasy as well, only proving that perhaps the second-round rookie does belong at the professional level. Shough’s average of 17.0 FPPG as a starter is tied with Baker Mayfield as the QB6 on this slate, but he comes in as the QB10 in terms of salary in Week 17. He’s been very efficient throwing the ball with no worse than a 62.5% completion rate as a starter, and while his seven touchdowns aren’t necessarily the most impressive, he’s putting up the yardage to make up for it with 18.1 DKFP or better in four straight games. He gets a matchup with the Titans this week, who are fifth-worst in defensive EPA/pass while allowing the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. Given the potential to expose this poor defense and the value of his salary, Shough is one of my favorite plays on the slate.
RB Ashton Jeanty, Raiders vs. Giants ($6,100)
Last week was Ashton Jeanty week as the rookie halfback scored a staggering 34.8 DKFP against a stingy Texans defense, totaling 188 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns overall on the day. The first-round pick’s fantasy outputs are inconsistent this season with some real stinkers on his resume, but there’s a lot of reason to feel good about him in Week 17. Jeanty gets a meeting against a Giants defense that ranks dead last in defensive EPA/rush as well as second-worst in rushing yards allowed per game with 150.9. New York has also conceded the third-most rushing touchdowns with 19 on the campaign along with an average of 27.5 points per game (fifth-most), so there’s a very solid outlook for points in this contest. The fun doesn’t stop there — the Giants are also last in rushing yards over expectation allowed, so they’re consistently getting gashed even when the metrics suggest they shouldn’t be. With Jeanty’s big-play potential and penchant for escaping tacklers with 54 forced missed tackles, fifth-most at the position, he could shred this poor front seven even despite his own offensive line’s woes.
WR Mike Evans, Buccaneers @ Dolphins ($6,500)
The Buccaneers are playing for their season in the final weeks with hopes of sneaking into the playoffs if they win out, meaning there’s even more incentive than usual to feed the top playmakers. Mike Evans has been a beneficiary in his two games since returning from injury, posting 22.2 and 14.1 DKFP with an excellent target share in both games, In that first outing against the Falcons, he hauled in six of his 12 looks for 132 yards, then followed it up with five receptions for 31 yards and a touchdown on nine targets against the Panthers. If the future Hall of Famer is seeing this kind of opportunity from Baker Mayfield, the sky remains the limit for his fantasy stats. Evans will unfortunately miss the 1,000-yard mark by a long shot after playing roughly five-and-a-half contests this season, but he’s clearly still a priority in the offense who can work downfield or in the red zone. The Dolphins rank sixth-worst in defensive EPA/pass while giving up 26 passing touchdowns this year, tied for seventh-most. With a smaller slate than usual and fewer standout wideouts at the top of the player pool, locking down a ceiling play like Evans can make a massive difference this week.
