It was a bit of a bumpy road due to the coronavirus pandemic but we successfully got to Week 17 of the NFL season. It has been a very different season for obvious reasons but what has not changed is the drama we will get to watch unfold in Week 17. What will make Week 17 even more exciting is if you got some lineups in our RedZone contest during this jam-packed slate! With there being 15 games, it is extremely hard to narrow down your choices. I am here to help you with that with my top picks for each position.
Quarterback
Baker Mayfield 1.5X
Baker and the Browns had an extremely rough Week 16 against the Jets as Covid decimated their wide receiver group. When you include the already injured Odell Beckham Jr., Mayfield was without his top four receivers on the depth chart. This resulted in a performance in which he only put up eight fantasy points. This is far from the player he was in the previous four games when he was accompanied by all of his weapons.
In the previous four games before last week, Mayfield threw for 1,232 yards, 10 touchdowns, one interception and averaged 25.3 FPPG. The number is higher than what Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson have averaged for the season. When you factor his 1.5X multiplier into the equation, the value goes up to 38 FPPG. This week he will get all of his receivers back and play in a must-win game vs the Steelers who plan on resting their starters. This has all the makings of another big game for Baker and he will be a steal at 1.5X.
Running Back
Derrick Henry 1X
You do not get any additional multiplier juice with Henry this week but that does not matter. To be honest, if we had the ability to assign a negative multiplier to a player, doing it to Henry this week would make perfect sense. This one is pretty simple – the best pure running back in the NFL with a playoff berth on the line is facing the worst run defense in the NFL with nothing on the line. JJ Watt laid into his team post-game last week after an embarrassing performance against the Bengals where they allowed 267 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns to Samanje Perine and Giovani Bernard. While Watt’s presser could have woken some teammates up, I don’t think it will be enough.
Henry had his best fantasy performance of the year against Houston as he ran the ball 22 times for 212 yards and two touchdowns which amounted to 41.4 fantasy points. Henry may not drop another 40-burger but it is fair to expect him to get close given the circumstances surrounding the Titans and Texans.
Wide Receiver
Allen Robinson 1.35X
The Bears face off against the Packers in Week 17 and it was against the Packers that started the Bears on the right track towards a postseason berth. They lost the game but Mitch Trubisky played well and he started beefing up the fantasy value of his top receiver Allen Robinson. Since Trubisky took over, Robinson has caught 37 passes for 458 yards and three touchdowns. This comes out to an average of 17.2 FPPG and with his 1.35X multiplier, it is an average of 23.2. This average of 23.2 is the exact number of fantasy points Davante Adams has averaged for the entirety of the season.
Robinson’s best game in this stretch came against the Packers where he caught 8 passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns. I expect the majority of the targets to go Robinson’s way in this game as this is a must win game for the Bears and the other options behind Robinson are limited. I would be stunned if Robinson does not show out in a big way against the Packers with the way Chicago is rolling on offense right now.
Tight End
Mark Andrews 1.25X
In the middle of the season, Andrews was looking like one of the more disappointing fantasy players in the league. He had a four-game stretch where he scored under 10 points and in three of those games, he scored under five points. However, since Lamar Jackson has bounced back, so has Andrews. In the last four games, Andrews has averaged 5.3 catches, 79 yards, 0.5 TDs and 13.5 FPPG. With his multiplier of 1.25X, the average goes up to 16.9 FPPG. While these are not Travis Kelce-type numbers, they are certainly numbers for a tight end you can rely on.
The Ravens face off against the Bengals in a game they must win to get into the playoffs. You would think that Andrews would be a primary focus against a Bengals defense that has given up the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends in 2020. We saw Andrews have a solid game against the Bengals in their first match-up this year as he caught 6 passes for 56 yards, one touchdown and 14.6 fantasy points. With the way he is playing now, we should fully expect him to get at least that amount of points if not way more.
This article expresses the personal views of the writer and does not reflect the view(s) of SuperDraft in any way.
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