Merry Christmas and happy Fantasy Football Championship Week everyone! Congrats on lasting through the playoffs and now being on the doorstep of a title. At the end of this week, all that will matter is which players wound up in your starting lineup. Navigating the tough fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em decisions adequately is critical to victory. The last thing we want is to sit championship-winning production on the bench in Week 17! Hopefully, we can help you avoid this when it comes to the RB position with our discussion of some of the players below.
Of course, players like Jahmyr Gibbs, Saquon Barkley and Bijan Robinson will be started in your championship lineup with the championship on the line. As has been the case all season, the focus of this column will be the RB2 and FLEX spots. To help you feel more confident with some of the tough calls you may be facing, be sure to check out our weekly fantasy football rankings and read on for our Week 17 RB fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em analysis.
Wide Receivers — Week 17 Fantasy Football Start/Sit
Tight Ends — Week 17 Fantasy Football Start/Sit
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Fantasy Football Start ’em, Sit ’em: Week 17 RBs
Start: Tyrone Tracy Jr. Fantasy Outlook vs Colts
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The one major concern regarding Tracy ahead of Week 17 is his health. After aggravating an injury in the latest Giants’ loss last Sunday, he may be very limited in terms of practicing this week. Assuming that he is ready to roll on game day, Tracy has a decent matchup to look forward to against the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts rank 28th in the NFL in total rushing defense. They are allowing 136.8 rushing yards per game and are also giving up a healthy 24.65 PPR points per contest to opposing RBs. Combine that caliber of defense with Tracy’s high-usage role in the Giants’ offense and the recipe for success is there.
Start: Tony Pollard and Tyjae Spears Fantasy Outlook vs Jaguars
With nine receptions over the last two games in addition to his production on the ground, Spears appears to have a comfortable floor cushion at this juncture. With a pair of touchdowns scored in each game, he has truly rewarded fantasy managers who utilized him as a FLEX option. It’s worth noting that Pollard does carry an injury designation at the time of writing. However, the assumption is that he will be good to go and the two backs should split touches fairly evenly. Since the matchup comes against an awful Jacksonville Jaguars defense, both players find themselves on the fringes of RB2 consideration for fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em this week. The Jags have allowed the second-most PPR points per game to opposing RBs.

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Sit: Rico Dowdle Fantasy Outlook vs Eagles
Over the past month, Rico Dowdle has been a tremendous asset for fantasy managers. Since obtaining a stranglehold on the RB1 role for the Dallas Cowboys, Dowdle has been a lock to see double-digit touches every week. Dating back to Week 9, he has had at least a dozen touches in every game. He also had 20+ opportunities in four straight games (averaged over 4.5 yards per carry in each) before last week’s 16. Dowdle failed to get out of the blocks from a yardage standpoint in last week’s contest, resulting in a much lower fantasy point total than has been typical for him of late.
Unfortunately, it could be another slower week for Dowdle with fantasy championships at stake. The Cowboys are set to face the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in a matchup that is not ideal as far as Dowdle’s fantasy production is concerned. When the two teams squared off back in Week 10, Dowdle turned 12 carries and three receptions into just 56 total yards and an 8.6-PPR point effort. Philly has been tough on opposing RBs in fantasy all year, giving up the second-fewest points at 16.91 per game. The fact that the Eagles defense got embarrassed by Washington last week also doesn’t bode well for this contest. With a buttoned up effort from Vic Fangio’s unit expected, it feels as though Dowdle’s ECR ranking of RB19 is rather bullish.
Sit: Rhamondre Stevenson Fantasy Outlook vs Chargers
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