The Week 17 Risers, Fallers, and the Hot Seat list is the last of its kind for the 2024 fantasy football season. Anyone listed here as a riser or faller is solely as a start or sit recommendation one way or the other. Six teams have already played across three games in Week 17. Based on the fantasy points scored in those contests, you may be looking to adjust your starting lineup. My intention this season has been to create these weekly lists as a tool to get you to this point. The Week 17 Risers, Fallers, and the Hot Seat list is intended to help you win you your league. Good luck.
Week 17 Risers, Fallers, and a Player on the Hot Seat
Risers
Chig Okonkwo, TE, Tennessee Titans
If your tight end hasn’t played yet in Week 17, you either feel great with Brock Bowers or George Kittle, or you’re convincing yourself the player you plan to stream is a league-winner. It won’t take much convincing if that player is Chig Okonkwo. One-third of Okonkwo’s targets this season have come from Mason Rudolph over the last two weeks. In fact, no tight end has drawn more targets over the last two weeks than Okonkwo. He has seen 21 total with at least 10 in each game.
Chig Okonkwo is an obvious Week 17 riser based on volume, but the matchup firmly cements him at the top of this list. He and the Titans will face the Jaguars in Jacksonville this Sunday. They’re allowing the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season. The aforementioned Brock Bowers caught 11 passes for 99 yards and 20.9 fantasy points in Week 16 against them. In this case, “What have you done for me lately?” far outweighs “What have you done?” for Chig Okonkwo this season.
Tyjae Spears, RB, Tennessee Titans
It’s hard to sit Tyjae Spears in your fantasy football finals matchup. The bigger question is whether or not you should start him over Tony Pollard, assuming you have both on your roster. Based on the last two weeks, I say yes. Spears is a Week 17 riser especially having played 21 more total snaps than Pollard in Weeks 15 and 16. Pollard has barely practiced over the last few weeks due to injury, specifically his foot and ankle, but still manages to suit up each week.
Spears has scored three rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown in Tennessee’s last two games. Neither running back has been so obviously more effective than the other, but Spears has been efficient in capping off drives with a score. In Week 16 specifically, he ran in an 11 yard touchdown and punched in another from two yards out.
In Week 17, Spears and Pollard will both touch the ball. However, Spears logged all six of the Titans’ red zone touches amongst running backs in Week 16. Pollard rushed for a two-point conversion after Spears scored a touchdown, all of which occurred in the second half. Pollard did rush 21 times for 102 yards against the Jaguars in Week 14, but I’m willing to invest in Spears’ recent usage in Week 17, especially with Pollard’s injury concerns. Jacksonville has allowed the 12th-most rushing yards and second-most receiving yards to the position. Both may have success, but Spears’ role makes him more of a Week 17 riser.
More Quick-Hitting Risers
Deebo Samuel isn’t on a ton of fantasy football finals rosters this season. For those few that do have him on their roster in a championship matchup, I’m cautiously optimistic to list him as a Week 17 riser. Deebo caught seven of nine targets for 96 yards and a touchdown last week. He also logged five rush attempts for 25 yards, his longest going for 13 yards. Even with the 49ers out of playoff contention, Samuel is probably auditioning for another team as I expect him to get cut after this season. He gets a shot to put up big numbers against the Lions on Monday Night Football. Their defense is decimated. They’ve allowed an average of 348 yards through the air over their last two games. I think you can trust Deebo to win you a title at home in the final game of the 2024 fantasy football season.
Alexander Mattison should operate as the lead back for the Raiders in Week 17. He and Ameer Abdullah are the only two running backs who saw playing time in Week 16. Mattison played 10 more snaps, logged five more carries, and one more target than Abdullah. However, Abdullah still recorded 12 touches for 85 yards and a touchdown. At home against the New Orleans Saints, I expect more success in the run game from Las Vegas. They’re not as good as the Packers, but three Green Bay running backs just rushed for 144 combined yards against the Saints last Monday. New Orleans has allowed the eighth-most rushing yards and the most rushing touchdowns to running backs in 2024. Abdullah is still worth a start in deeper PPR leagues, but I prefer Mattison as a Week 17 riser if you need a high-floor RB2 to win your league.
Bryce Young is a Week 17 riser to consider starting in Superflex leagues. He’s now thrown at least one touchdown in eight straight games. Even better, Young has a rushing touchdown in three of his last four games played. He’s averaging five rush attempts per game over the last three weeks. He will look to stay hot in Tampa Bay in Week 17 against the Buccaneers defense that is one of four teams to allow over 4,000 passing yards at this point in the season.
Fallers
Rico Dowdle, RB, Dallas Cowboys
Rico Dowdle deserves some praise for his late-season heroics. From Weeks 13 to 15 specifically, he rushed for 112, 131, and 149 yards in each game respectively. Some of Dowdle’s success has been in part due to commanding the lead-back role in Dallas. He finally pulled away from the other Cowboy’s running backs in terms of workload. Dowdle’s 190 carries account for a 65% running back rush share this season in Dallas. However, he only logged one game of more than 12 carries just once before breaking out in Week 12.
A lot of Dowdle’s recent success has to do with a favorable stretch of matchups. Rico Dowdle is a Week 17 faller for this very reason. He and the Cowboys are playing the Eagles in Philadelphia on Sunday. The Eagles’ defense allows the second-fewest fantasy points to running backs this season. Only eight individual running backs have topped 50 rushing yards in a game against Philly. Dowdle barely did so with just 53 rushing yards in their first matchup.
The Cowboys’ offense will be without CeeDee Lamb, as well, in Week 17. Without their top playmaker in the passing game, and Cooper Rush at quarterback, there may be an emphasis on stopping the run without a legitimate threat through the air. This matchup is supposed to be played in rainy conditions, too. I wouldn’t put my faith in Dowdle with a fantasy championship on the line.
Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams
Similar to Week 17 riser, Deebo Samuel, consider yourself lucky with Cooper Kupp on your fantasy football finals roster. He laid an egg in Week 15 then posted just 5.4 PPR points in Week 16. However, unlike Deebo Samuel, I think Kupp is a Week 17 faller and wouldn’t start him if I had other logical options.
Kupp has drawn just six total targets over his last two games, three in each. Even in Week 14, in a 44-42 win over the Buffalo Bills, Kupp caught just five passes. Thankfully, he yielded 92 yards and a touchdown, but given the score, you would expect more. His snaps haven’t taken a dip. The Rams just haven’t thrown a ton in Weeks 15 and 16. Matthew Stafford has thrown 27 and 19 passes respectively over the last two games. When he is throwing, Puka Nacua is dominating the target share. His 17 targets in Weeks 15 and 16 combined account for 36.9% of the Rams’ team targets. Consider, too, his 14 targets in that aforementioned win over the Bills. Nacua is Los Angeles’ WR1.
In Week 17, I expect the Rams to run the ball and run the ball well. They host the Arizona Cardinals of whom they lost to 41-10 in Week 2. Arizona’s defense has allowed the second-most rush yards per game (178.3) over the last three weeks including 243.0 to the Carolina Panthers in Week 16. If Kupp doesn’t produce early, he may not produce at all. I don’t think he is a must-sit, but I think there’s justifiable cause for concern with a league title on the line.
More Quick-Hitting Fallers
The Denver Broncos’ backfield is a difficult group to analyze. Through 16 weeks of play, four different running backs have led the backfield in rush attempts at least once in a game. Javonte Williams has done so eight times, but not since Week 12. Against a tough Chargers defense in Week 16, Williams did log a team-high 11 targets. He’s also played the exact same amount of snaps this season (529) as the other five Broncos running backs combined that haven taken the field this year. If you’re going to play any of them in a favorable matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, it’s Williams, but the start carries risk of Audric Estime, Jaleel McLaughlin or another stealing touches or a touchdown.
Kyle Pitts belongs on the bench in Week 17. After a few good weeks in October and November, Pitts has caught just six passes over four games in December. In rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s first start, Pitts drew just two targets. The offense did not have to do much since the Falcons’ defense scored two touchdowns, but Penix still threw 27 times with three other receivers logging more targets than Pitts. The Washington Commanders will demand more from Penix than the New York Giants did last week. However, Washington’s defense has allowed bottom-five numbers in receptions and yards to tight ends this season.
The Week 17 Hot Seat
Justin Herbert, QB, Los Angeles Chargers
Justin Herbert is averaging just 12.94 fantasy points in seven away games this season. He and the Chargers will travel to New England against the Patriots for a Saturday afternoon matchup. It may be a colder, outdoor environment, but Justin Herbert is on the Week 17 hot seat. There’s even more reason to be nervous considering the Patriots held Josh Allen to just 12.16 fantasy points last week.
Not only are the Chargers still in playoff contention, but they should continue their playoff push with a pass-heavy approach. Justin Herbert has thrown at least 30 passes in his last three games. That should continue especially with running back Gus Edwards ruled out and J.K. Dobbins working back from an Injured Reserve stint due to a knee injury.
The Patriots rank inside the top 10 in points allowed this season and in the last three weeks. They also rank inside the top five in points allowed at home this season. There are better matchups for quarterbacks in Week 17, but I’m optimistic about Herbert yielding a high-floor performance. I prefer Herbert to players like Aaron Rodgers, Sam Darnold, and Drake Maye, in the same matchup, this week.
Make sure to check out all of our Week 17 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!