If you are reading this, congratulations, you are playing for the fantasy football championship this week.
The Week 16 smash starts kicked off with only a solid outing from the quarterback position. Cooper Rush threw for 292 yards and one score, leading the Cowboys to a victory, but they didn’t step up in a plus-matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both running backs came up big for fantasy managers, with Jerome Ford and Bucky Irving scoring and providing top-15 finishes.
Malik Nabers had a decent output with seven receptions for 68 yards, but it was not a smash start. The other two pass-catchers – Romeo Doubs and Brenton Strange – did not positively impact fantasy football squads in Week 16. The Atlanta Falcons’ defense continued their hot streak of terrorizing opposing offenses with two interceptions returned for touchdowns, three sacks and a forced fumble versus the New York Giants.
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Let’s close out this fantasy football season with a win and a fantasy football championship inspired by this week’s smash starts.
Fantasy Football Smash Starts For Week 17
Quarterback
Jordan Love (QB – GB) at Minnesota
For the Packers to win in Minnesota on Sunday, head coach and play-caller Matt LaFleur must unleash Jordan Love. Green Bay’s run-heavy approach has led the Packers to an 11-4 record, but this Sunday, they take on the 13-2 Vikings, who allowed the second-fewest rushing yards per game (87.1) this season.
In contrast, the Vikings have surrendered the third-most passing yards this season. Opposing offenses are steering away from running the ball and gearing up to pass, with the Vikings seeing the highest opponent passing play percentage (64.71%). Of course, some of this can be attributed to Sam Darnold and the Vikings’ offense firing on all cylinders.
In their Week 4 matchup, Jordan Love threw a remarkable 54 attempts, completing 32 passes for 389 yards and four touchdowns. Both offenses will put on a show in a critical matchup, and fantasy managers will want every piece of this fantasy pie to be as good as possible, especially Love.
Running Back
Ameer Abdullah (RB – LV) at New Orleans
It was challenging to write about Ameer Abdullah, but after digging deeper, I realized inserting Abdullah in your championship matchup could provide excellent fantasy production.
Abdullah produced 19.5 PPR points in Week 16 in a juicy matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He has another favorable matchup this week. The Raiders take on the New Orleans Saints, who looked like they packed it in on Monday night and are a bottom-feeder defense.
This game will be hard to watch, but starting Abdullah and watching him score a touchdown and provide close to 20 points could lead to victory and recognition as your league’s most brilliant fantasy manager.
Rachaad White (RB – TB) vs. Carolina
While every fantasy manager waits for Bucky Irving to explode on that pitiful Carolina Panthers defense, do not forget about Rachaad White. White has scored four touchdowns across his last five games.
Every Buccaneer offensive weapon is in play this week. Count on White to hit paydirt this week and produce RB2 numbers.
Wide Receiver
Jauan Jennings (WR – SF) vs. Detroit
Every fantasy manager will be glued to the TV on Monday Night when the San Francisco 49ers play the Detroit Lions. This game will be fun to watch.
The Lions are trying to keep their No. 1 seed in the NFC. However, the Niners are playing for pride. The Niners will pull out all the stops to be a spoiler in a disappointing season.
Jauan Jennings has taken over as the lead wideout for the Niners and this game should be a high-scoring affair. Brock Purdy‘s connection with Jennings connection will pay enormous dividends for fantasy managers to close out their championship dreams.
Terry McLaurin (WR – WAS) vs. Atlanta
No one has benefited more from the emergence of rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels than Terry McLaurin. There were rumblings about his play before this season, but he shut them up with a WR1 season with 12 touchdowns.
McLaurin has scored in four consecutive games and has an exciting matchup against the Atlanta Falcons this week. The Falcons’ defense is opportunistic, but it also coughs up considerable plays to wide receivers, including 30.9 fantasy points per game to wide receivers this season.
The Falcons’ defense won’t be able to stop the former Buckeye. McLaurin will go off for 100 yards and a pair of scores.
Courtland Sutton (WR – DEN) at Cincinnati
Courtland Sutton disappointed many fantasy managers with his Week 16 stat line of five receptions for 50 yards. However, all will be forgiven if Sutton rises to the occasion this week in a pivotal matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.
With a 50-point total, every offensive weapon is in play. Sutton has provided explosive plays throughout the season and will serve up at least one more in this favorable fantasy start sit matchup.
Tight End
Chig Okonkwo (TE – TEN) vs. Jacksonville
Chig Okonkwo has developed interesting chemistry with Mason Rudolph, drawing 21 targets in the last two weeks. He has caught 17 passes for 140 yards across the past two games, with the only negative being he has failed to score.
Luckily, during championship week, Okonkwo is playing in every fantasy manager’s dream matchup, going up against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars do not defend well against anyone, including tight ends, where they have allowed the eighth-most fantasy points to the tight end position. That number will significantly increase after this Week 17 matchup.
Defense
Tampa Bay Buccaneers D/ST vs. Carolina
Tampa Bay’s defense is not good, but I anticipate Todd Bowles will throw everything at Bryce Young to rattle the young quarterback. The Bucs were embarrassed last week against the Dallas Cowboys. Look for a bounce-back performance from all three phases for the Bucs.
The Panthers’ defense will not be able to stop the Bucs’ offense, leading to a negative game script for Young. With a considerable lead, Tampa’s defense will tee off on Young and the Panthers offense, leading to opportunistic plays.
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Dennis Sosic is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Dennis, check out his archive and follow him @CALL_ME_SOS.