A quick-hit recap of what really mattered from Thursday through Sunday. We skip the obvious studs and instead focus on usage trends, injuries, and key shifts that actually impact your lineup decisions.

Welcome to the Monday edition of the Daily Dose newsletter, our “Fantasy Fallout” day. In this article, you will get a quick rundown of the relevant things we learned from the week’s games from Thursday through Sunday. 

We won’t talk about every single player and we usually won’t spend time on studs who go nuts (no one needs to be told to start Jahmyr Gibbs right now!), but rather, the idea is to update you on usage trends, injuries, and other relevant things to help your decisions with your teams for the coming week and beyond.

RAMS @ SEAHAWKS 

• The Seahawks won an OT thriller on TNF to take control of the NFC West. Seattle’s frustrating RB workload-split continued, but Kenneth Walker racked up 164 total yards and a score and Zach Charbonnet added 54 yards and a score of his own in the back-and-forth shootout.
• AJ Barner caught a vital 26-yard TD late in the fourth quarter and maintains one of the more reliable fantasy roles, outside of JSN, in Seattle’s passing game.
• Matthew Stafford had a massive passing night, topping 450 yards and tossing three TDs. Half of yardage and two of the scores went to Puka Nacua, featuring even more than usual in Davante Adams’ injury absence.

EAGLES @ COMMANDERS

• It was the usual suspects for the Eagles in their comfortable divisional victory. Jalen Hurts threw two-thirds of his passes to his star WR duo and tossed a pair of TDs, including another to TE Dallas Goedert. Saquon had a big rushing performance before backup RB Tank Bigsby capped the scoring late.
• Backup QB Marcus Mariota left the game injured after passing for 95 scoreless yards, making way for third-string QB Josh Johnson, who passed for 43 scoreless yards and an interception in relief. A situation to monitor this week, as a juicy matchup with a usually generous Dallas pass defense looms in Week 17.
• Chris Rodriguez and Jacory Croskey-Merritt combined for 23 carries for 88 yards and scored a TD a piece; C-Rod continued to lead the platoon.

PACKERS @ BEARS

• Caleb Williams tossed a game-tying TD with seconds left on the clock and a walk-off game-winning TD in overtime to cap off a huge comeback victory on Saturday night. DJ Moore (5-97-1) caught the game-winner and featured in the passing game with two of his top WR teammates out injured.
• Both Chicago RBs topped 50 rushing yards and caught multiple passes, featuring alongside Moore in for the short-handed Bears offense.
• Jordan Love was knocked out of the game with a concussion on a helmet-to-helmet hit after 77 scoreless yards, making way for veteran backup QB Malik Willis. Willis performed admirably in relief, passing for 121/1 and adding 44 yards rushing. Another QB situation to monitor ahead of the Packers’ Week 17 game at home against the Ravens.
• Josh Jacobs started after another week as a game-time decision but wound up splitting carries with Emanuel Wilson due to a combination of his health and his costly lost fumble. It seems likely that Jacobs will miss practice, be listed as questionable, and play again next week, too.

CHARGERS @ COWBOYS

• Justin Herbert had a terrific day as he decimated a Cowboys secondary that has injuries and talent deficiencies while being eliminated from playoff contention. Herbert’s remaining games against the Texans and Broncos will be much more difficult tests.
• The Chargers passing game was led by Quentin Johnston and Ladd McConkey as they torched the helpless Cowboys DBs, but all four of their WRs (QJ, Ladd, Keenan Allen, and Tre’ Harris) ended the game with five or six targets.
• Chargers rookie RB Omarion Hampton continued to ramp up his usage and had significantly more snaps and touches than Kimani Vidal for the first time since returning from his ankle injury. Vidal also suffered a fourth-quarter injury, which could leave Hampton in a bell-cow role the rest of the way.
• Javonte Williams continues to lose usage to Malik Davis and the Cowboys having been eliminated from the playoffs could lead to him seeing a drop in touches for the final two weeks, making him a risky start in a great on-paper matchup for Week 17 championships.

VIKINGS @ GIANTS

Your weekly roadmap to the wire. Each Tuesday, Tony Kneepkens highlights the top adds across positions — complete with FAAB recommendations and context to help you prioritize based on your league size and format.

These are the top players to consider adding from waivers this week. Unless otherwise noted, all players below are available in greater than 50% of Yahoo leagues (as of Sunday evening). Priorities listed are meant to differentiate between some of the options available and are assuming 12-team, single-QB, fantasy formats.

It’s fantasy football championship week in most season-long head-to-head fantasy leagues, good luck to those still in contention! Many managers will be competing for final league placements, but some others may still be looking to optimize their team’s Week 17 performance for bragging rights or to avoid a last-place punishment or penalty.

While the focus of this week’s column is obviously to suggest some potential spot-starting options to consider. You’ll note that many of these suggestions also double as players to consider adding as a defensive measure to stop your opponent from showing up with them in a matchup against you. Happy Holidays to all of the OWS Daily Dose readers and good luck this week in your championship matchups!

QB Streamer of the Week

Tyler Shough, NO, Week 17 at TEN

• Shough had his first career 300-yard passing game last week in a convincing win over the Jets, feeding star WR Chris Olave for over 100 yards and a TD before Olave caught a late second TD from utility man Taysom Hill once the game was well in hand.
• Shough and the Saints will be road favorites at Tennessee in Week 17 and will be sporting one of their stronger implied team point totals of the Shough era. The Titans shut down a shell-shocked Chiefs team playing their third-string QB this past week but have otherwise been very generous to opposing passing games for much of the season.
• Low-priority add. Shough is my favorite widely available QB streamer to consider for Week 17 matchups.

RB Pickups

Michael Carter, AZ, Week 17 at CIN

• Carter, like the rest of the AZ offense, had an underwhelming performance in a Week 16 loss to the Falcons. The veteran RB maintained a healthy role, seeing half of the team’s RB carries and two of their three RB targets, but failed to catch either pass and finished with 65 scoreless yards on the ground.
• Arizona mixed both Corey Kiner (6-32 rushing) and Emari Demercado (5-30 rushing, one target) into its Week 16 lineup and it’s reasonable to expect more of the same this week. I still think there’s a path to more upside for Carter if he can catch a few passes this week against a generous Cincy defense. Last week was only the second time this season that Carter recorded multiple carries in a game and didn’t also catch 2+ passes.
• High-priority add. Carter seems poised to finish the fantasy football season as a favorite to lead his team in touches in a dream matchup against an extremely generous Bengals defense. This is the type of defensive play to make even if you “don’t need” Carter this week; the game opened with the week’s highest implied point total (53.5), and there should be fantasy points to go around.

Blake Corum, LAR, Week 17 at ATL

• Corum saw a season-best 14 carries in last week’s wild TNF loss to the Seahawks. He found the end zone for a fourth consecutive game but had just 48 yards, his worst output in over a month.
• The Rams have opened as eight-point favorites on the road against the Falcons this week. The Rams have a strong implied team total and seem likely to be missing star WR and TD-maven Davante Adams for another week.
• High-priority add. What began as a premier handcuff option has morphed into a standalone fantasy RB role down the stretch of the year. The second-year runner has an outrageous 328-5 rushing line on 11 carries per game over his four-game TD streak. I think he can be deployed as a Flex option as needed, even in PPR leagues, indoors against the Falcons.

Jawhar Jordan, HOU, Week 17 at LAC

• Jordan led the Texans backfield with 20 more touches last week against the Raiders after his 17-touch NFL debut in Week 15. He didn’t find as much room to operate this week, accumulating 70 scoreless yards in a defensive struggle at home.
• Things won’t be getting any easier on the road this week against a tough Chargers defense but Jordan seems likely to lead the RB room if Woody Marks misses another game with his ankle injury.
• Medium-to-high priority add. I believe Jordan should be added, speculatively, to contending rosters this week. I do prefer Carter and Corum as additions (and plays) this week, but all three make sense to add to benches, even for teams with strong RB and flex options to keep them from an opponent.

WR Pickups

Overview ::

It is important to understand the big picture of these teams both in terms of their inner workings and their perceptions entering this week::

• Texans – A lot of different scenarios could play out in Week 17 and 18 for the Texans, but the bottom line is that if they win Saturday they clinch a playoff berth. Their backfield could be a little tough to predict, as Woody Marks is back to full practices and has no injury designation, but is joined by veteran Nick Chubb and the impressive Jawhar Jordan in a matchup with a shaky Chargers run defense. Houston is also going to get a couple of key defenders back on the field this week after a shaky performance against the Raiders.
• Chargers – The Chargers have already clinched a playoff berth but can win the AFC West by winning their last two games and could potentially end up as high as the No. 1 seed, depending on what happens with the Jaguars and Patriots over the last two weeks. This is essentially a playoff game for them. Their wide receivers torched the Cowboys last week but have a stark change in matchup this week, as Dallas ranks 31st in PFF coverage grade and Houston ranks third. Four wide receivers are involved for the Chargers and all of them saw five or six targets last week. Running back Kimani Vidal missed two practices with a neck issue and then was limited on Thursday to earn a questionable tag, but it’s looking like a tough hill for him to climb to be active this week.
• Ravens – Baltimore ruled QB Lamar Jackson out for this week due to a back injury and will once again turn to Tyler Huntley to lead them. This likely means a run-heavy game plan that involves both Derrick Henry and Keaton Mitchell, along with a relatively conservative passing attack. Baltimore must win this game and have the Steelers lose to the Browns on Sunday to have any chance of making the playoffs.
• Packers– Green Bay clinched a playoff berth when the Lions lost on Thursday and starting QB Jordan Love will NOT play this week as the team gives him a week to recover from his concussion suffered in the first half against the Bears. This leaves the highly agile and exciting Malik Willis under center for this primetime matchup. The Packers do still have an outside shot at winning the NFC North if they win their last two games and the Bears lose their last two.

QB Thoughts ::

Every Saturday, MJohnson86 posts full positional rankings (QB, RB, WR, TE, DEF) to get you ready for Sunday’s slate. Built for 12-team, full-PPR formats — with insights that translate across most league settings.

The weekend is here and it’s time to get our lineups set before Sunday’s full slate of games. Each week, the Saturday edition of the Daily Dose will feature my rankings for all players who have yet to play a game this week. Obviously this will not include the Thursday games, but always feel free to hit me up in Discord or on X/Twitter if you have some tough decisions around guys who play on Thursday. 

Most of the leagues I play in are full-PPR, 12-team leagues and these rankings are designed for those settings – you may need to make some slight adjustments based on your own league settings.

QB :: 

1. Joe Burrow
2. Drake Maye
3. Trevor Lawrence
4. Josh Allen
5. Brock Purdy
6. Matthew Stafford
7. Jalen Hurts
8. Caleb Williams
9. Jacoby Brissett
10. Baker Mayfield
11. Tyler Shough
12. Justin Herbert
13. Jaxson Dart
14. Sam Darnold
15. C.J. Stroud
16. Malik Willis
17. Kirk Cousins
18. Cam Ward
19. Geno Smith
20. Tyler Huntley

RB ::

1. Christian McCaffrey
2. Bijan Robinson
3. Saquon Barkley
4. Ashton Jeanty
5. Jonathan Taylor
6. James Cook
7. De’Von Achane
8. Travis Etienne Jr.
9. Chase Brown
10. Kyren Williams
11. Rhamondre Stevenson (*if Henderson inactive)
12. Bucky Irving
13. Derrick Henry
14. D’Andre Swift
15. Jaylen Warren
16. Breece Hall
17. Josh Jacobs
18. Tony Pollard
19. Omarion Hampton
20. Kenneth Gainwell
21. Tyrone Tracy Jr.
22. Rico Dowdle
23. Kenneth Walker III
24. Blake Corum
25. Zach Charbonnet
26. Kyle Monangai
27. Dylan Sampson
28. Woody Marks
29. Tyjae Spears
30. Michael Carter
31. Chuba Hubbard
32. Emanuel Wilson
33. Samaje Perine
34. Tyler Allgeier
35. Audric Estime
36. Devin Singletary
37. Raheim Sanders
38. Emari Demercado
39. Rachaad White
40. Keaton Mitchell

WR :: 

Mike Johnson (MJohnson86) has racked up over $500,000 in DFS profit as an NFL tournament player with success in all styles of contests.

Welcome back to my (Mjohnson86) Player Grid. The format will vary slightly from JM’s Player Grid, as we each see things slightly differently and play in slightly different contests, but should complement his thoughts and content very well for those looking to build their lineups for the week. The format of this article will vary slightly from my FanDuel Player Grid, which will be more direct in terms of which players I like. Enjoy!!

The Core

This is a list of players that stand out to me at each position from using my “Checking the Boxes” criteria outlined in my course you can find in our Marketplace. This list is a starting point, from which I build out lineups using game theory and roster construction concepts (which we will also touch on) with the mindset being to find the best plays with big ceilings. Low ownership is a bonus, but not a must. This section will focus primarily on three positions – running back, tight end, and defense – as the other two positions (quarterback and wide receiver) tend to have more dependent tendencies which I try to attack from other angles (which we will get into in the other sections):

Running Back ::

• Ashton Jeanty – Elite talent facing the worst run defense in football with basically guaranteed massive volume.
• Rhamondre Stevenson – If TreVeyon Henderson plays in this game, I would expect his role to be very limited coming off a concussion especially once the Patriots take control. Basically Stevenson is a smash if Henderson is out, and he’s an elite GPP option if Henderson plays.
• Saquon Barkley – The Bills have been gashed on the ground this season and Barkley has quietly been heating up in recent weeks, with two of his best games over the last three weeks.
• Travis Etienne Jr. – One of the best backs in the league in recent weeks has an elite role in a high-leverage game against a struggling defense.
• Chase Brown – Follow the points!! The Bengals should score a lot of points this week and Brown showed last week why everyone drafted him in the second round in August. Elite role, matchup, and game environment.
• Bucky Irving – Talented player in a strong matchup. Salary has dropped to reflect the workload concerns, but Bucky has 30-point upside in this spot where we expect the Bucs to score a lot.

Tight End ::