The Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers hold the fate of many fantasy football championships tonight. This matchup will ultimately close out many fantasy football leagues, but some are still battling it out in Week 18. As always, there were eye-catching performances around the NFL with many takeaways while discussing some of the biggest notes from championship weekend. Let’s look at some of the biggest takeaways from Week 17.
Week 16 Takeaways
Stacks Dominate on Sunday
On Sunday we saw stacks dominate the action leading to massive point totals. The most notable stack was a potential Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins stack that had monster days. Joe Burrow threw for 410 yards and 3 touchdowns while adding 25 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown that resulted in 36.98 points. Meanwhile, Higgins had 11 catches for 131 yards and 3 touchdowns reaching 40.1 points. The pair had their best game of the season while Ja’Marr Chase still had a solid day catching 9 passes for 102 yards.
Another pair we saw go off was Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans. Mayfield was tabbed as the start of the week and cashed in with 359 passing yards and 5 touchdowns scoring 34.56 points. Evans who is chasing that 1000-yard mark again, moved closer with 8 catches for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns scoring 29.7 points. The Bucs pair combined for 65 points on the day while the Bengals pair combined for 78 points putting whoever had these elite pairs in a great position for fantasy football glory this week.
Rookie’s Were the Biggest X-Factor’s
Rookies are always among the most talked about players heading into the draft weekend due to the unknowns about their potential impact. Rookies played a significant impact in the fantasy football championships with a majority of them coming at a major value in drafts. Below are all of the top rookie scorers of the week with their average draft position this offseason.
- Jayden Daniels QB (WAS) 31.78 Points > 102.6 ADP
- Bo Nix QB (DEN) 21.86 Points > 184.6 ADP
- Bucky Irving RB (TB) 23 Points > 191 ADP
- Malik Nabers WR (NYG) 36.10 Points > 48.6 ADP
- Marvin Harrison Jr. WR (ARI) 15.6 Points > 16.8 ADP
- Ladd McConkey WR (LAC) 29.40 Points > 105.4 ADP
- Brian Thomas Jr. WR (JAX) 23.90 Points > 116.2 ADP
- Xavier Worthy WR (KC) 22.90 Points > 90 ADP
- Jalen McMillan WR (TB) 23 Points > 275.5 ADP
- Brock Bowers TE (LV) 14.60 Points > 100.6 ADP
The wide receivers headline this list with players like Ladd McConkey and Brian Thomas Jr who have been 16+ scorers consistently over the last month. Bucky Irving has taken over as the clear lead back in Tampa Bay phasing Rachaad White out of the offense. Brock Bowers and Jayden Daniels just broke rookie records as well. Heading into next season identifying the rookies that can carve out major roles in their offenses will be a key factor in winning a championship.
Fantasy Football Playoff Heroes
Jonathan Taylor: Taylor has been dominant in the last two weeks posting 39.8 points and 27.6 points. In his last three games, Taylor has 450 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns while being able to achieve those high point totals with only 3 catches. He was able to cash in on two great matchups against the Titans and the Giants to bring home many people fantasy football championships.
Mike Evans: Since returning from his mid-season injury, Evans has been on fire with three performances over 25.8 points and no performances under 10 points. In the last three weeks, he has been even better with 22 catches for 325 yards and 4 touchdowns resulting in 78.5 fantasy points. The future first-ballot Hall of Famer has been one of the most consistent receivers of all time and is now averaging 17.1 points per game this season.
Tyjae Spears: Spears has benefited from the Tony Pollard injury resulting in more touches in each of the last three weeks. During this stretch, he had 24 carries for 127 yards while catching 15 passes for 134 yards and 4 touchdowns resulting in 62.1 fantasy points. Spears may have carved himself out a larger role next season with his production over the last few weeks and has slotted into lineups nicely for teams in need of a running back.
Lamar Jackson: Jackson might just be on pace for one of the best runner-up MVP campaigns we have seen. He has close to 5000 total yards with 43 total touchdowns and only 4 interceptions on the season resulting in his second-highest average points per game total in his career. Jackson never failed to go under 20 points in the last five weeks while getting two 29+ point performances in the last three weeks.
Fantasy Football Playoff Villians
Cooper Kupp: Kupp is the most notable playoff villain this season with a combined 9.3 fantasy points in the last three weeks. No one would have predicted his end to the season with him having 20 points in four of six games during the middle of the season. Kupp and the Rams’ offense hit a slump in the last three weeks basically making Puka Nacua the only valuable pass catcher in the offense. Kupp’s draft stock is going to take a major hit heading into 2025.
Joe Mixon: Mixon was one of the best players in fantasy football to start the season but the veteran running back ran out of gas in the last five weeks. Mixon only topped 10.6 points once during that stretch and averaged under 3 yards per carry three times. He and his Texans’ counterparts were never able to overcome a poor offensive line to recreate the early success to start the season which cost many fantasy owners championships.
Khalil Shakir: Shakir has been a steady hand at receiver all season with only two performances under 10 points heading into the fantasy playoffs. In the playoffs, he never topped 40 receiving yards or 6 catches resulting in one performance over 10 points and under 10 against two good matchups. The decline should have been more predictable with only one performance over 10 yards per target since Week 8.
Indianapolis Colts Defense: The Colts defense deserves a mention for fooling all of us into thinking they had streaming value against the Giants this week. After two straight weeks of 3 interceptions, the Colts managed 0 turnovers and -4 fantasy points. It was one of the worst defensive showings of the season and Pat McAfee is officially disassociating himself with the team.
Highest Scorers
Mentioned above were many of the highest scorers from Week 17 but there were a few unexpected names to make this top ten list. The guy who was not as surprised to be here, Trey McBride, finally caught his first touchdown resulting in a monster performance with his volume. DeVonta Smith was able to have a big day with Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee throwing the ball resulting in 30 points. Drew Lock shredded a brutal Colts defense for the best performance of his career. Finally, Marvin Mims Jr. had a monster day with 30 points catching two touchdown passes and potentially earning himself a bigger role heading into next season.
- Tee Higgins WR (CIN) 40.10 Points
- Joe Burrow QB (CIN) 36.98 Points
- Malik Nabers WR (NYG) 36.10 Points
- Baker Mayfield QB (TB) 34.56 Points
- Drew Lock QB (NYG) 34.36 Points
- Jayden Daniels QB (WAS) 31.78 Points
- Trey McBride TE (ARI) 30.30 Points
- Marvin Mims Jr. WR (DEN) 30.20 Points
- DeVonta Smith WR (PHI) 30.00 Points
- Mike Evans WR (TB) 29.70 Points
Breakout Performances
Each Week I highlight three players whose stock rises after a breakout performance. Zach Ertz is the first name on this list with his 6 catches for 72 yards and 2 touchdowns resulting in 25 points on Sunday Night. Ertz has proved to be a steady option at tight end this season. Another Commander Olamide Zaccheaus has been great since taking over as the wide receiver two and had 8 catches for 85 yards with a touchdown resulting in 23.3 points. We got Joe Flacco back at quarterback resulting in big performances from both Michael Pittman Jr. (25.90 Points) and Alec Pierce (24.20 Points). If Flacco is back at quarterback next week for the Colts’ both players have flex appeal.
Injury Notes
There are some noteworthy Injuries and teams resting their players that you need to be aware of heading into Week 18. The Chiefs will plan on resting their plans while the Bills and Eagles could opt to do so as well. The two biggest injuries to monitor heading into next week are Chase Brown and Aaron Jones who left their games early. Both Kendre Miller and Kenny Pickett suffered concussions putting their availability this week in question. Ameer Abdullah has broken out this year and could potentially miss this week’s game with a foot injury.
Chase Brown (CIN): Week to Week
Ameer Abdullah (LV): Week to Week
Aaron Jones (MIN): Week to Week
Kendre Miller (NO): Week to Week
Kenny Pickett (PHI): Week to Week
For all of the Week 17 takeaways in Fantasy Football check out this YouTube Video