It’s Week 17, which means most fantasy football managers are smack dab in the middle of their fantasy football championships. Unfortunately, there have already been a few letdowns in a crucial moment, but there could be more on the horizon. In this week’s fades/busts column, I’ll be highlighting three players with the potential to let you down in fantasy’s most crucial week.
QB Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts
Since returning to the active lineup following his benching for Joe Flacco, second-year QB Anthony Richardson has generally improved — especially for fantasy football managers, having scored 20 fantasy points in three of his last five matchups. Still, in that span, there have been plenty of inconsistencies, as Richardson has averaged a 51.1% completion percentage with fewer than 175 passing yards in all but one outing, throwing 4 passing TDs and 5 INTs in that span with a 6.5 YPA. It’s not the passing production that’s scored those fantasy points, though — it’s his work on the ground; he’s scored at least one rushing touchdown in all but one of those matchups.
In Week 17, Richardson could face several uphill challenges against the New York Giants, the first being health. The QB missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday, listed with back and foot injuries, and even if active, could find himself limited in the rushing game under the circumstances. He’ll also be facing a New York Giants defense that’s forcing the second-highest sack rate at 8.3% — another alarming note that could be bad news for a banged-up QB already prone to taking some big hits.
Heat check 🔥 Given the hype for Richardson ahead of the season, it seems ludicrous to consider leaving him on your fantasy bench. However, given his track record of volatility and another slew of injuries, he’s probably better left out of lineups in such an important week.
RB Rico Dowdle, Dallas Cowboys
Unfortunately for fantasy football managers who were hoping to ride off into the sunset — erm, championship game — with this year’s most pleasant surprise in their lineups, there’s another tough matchup on deck for Dallas Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle in the most crucial moment. It’s his second consecutive week here for Dowdle in the fades column, fresh off a matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he was limited to just 23 rushing yards on 13 attempts, scoring just 6.6 fantasy points in half-PPR leagues for his third lowest-scoring outing of the year.
This week’s matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles isn’t likely to be the cure, however.
The Eagles’ rushing defense has been a challenging one for opponents to overcome this year, with the fourth-lowest EPA per rush (-0.14) and second-fewest fantasy points per game (14.67) to opposing RBs, one of just five NFL teams to have allowed fewer than 10 rushing scores on the year. Over the past five weeks, the Eagles rank dead last in schedule-adjusted fantasy points per game allowed to opponents per Fantasy Points data. With CeeDee Lamb shut down for the remainder of the 2024 season, there’s also the potential that things get out of hand rather quickly, which would be bad news for establishing the run in terms of game script.
Heat check 🔥 Dowdle is another big-time asset that may have helped lead you to the fantasy championship as a surprisingly useful FLEX play throughout the year. It’s looking more and more unlikely, however, that his chances of delivering a league-winning performance in Week 17 are high.
WR Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions
Former first-round pick Jameson Williams has been among the more surprising breakouts this fantasy season, currently ranked third in the NFL with an 18.9 YPR average and WR22 rank in averaging 11.9 FPPG in half-PPR scoring formats despite a relatively low target share (5.8 per game — 43rd among WRs to play 10+ games this year). It hasn’t necessarily been a smooth ride to that overall ranking, however, with as many weekly finishes ranked outside of the top 100 at WR as he does inside the top five
Despite coming off a season-best 23.5 points in Week 16 thanks to a 5-142-1 stat line, his performance has been generally underwhelming as of late, scoring 11.2 or fewer fantasy points in five of his last seven games dating back to Week 10. This week, the already-volatile asset will be tasked with facing the San Francisco 49ers, who are allowing the fifth-fewest schedule-adjusted fantasy points over the past five weeks per Fantasy Points data. Dating back to Week 10, the 49ers rank dead last in the league in explosive receptions allowed (10), with a league-low 10.0 YPR and the second-lowest YAC/R average (3.55) in the league on targets to WRs.
Heat check 🔥 Williams has a high ceiling, but fantasy managers should carefully consider whether or not his ceiling is worth the potential low floor in a must-win week.