Week 17 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Advice on Fantasy Football Stars to Play or Bench

Week 17 of the 2023 NFL season is here.

That means the fantasy football gods just upped the pressure meter to its highest setting.

Not to put any additional weight on your shoulders or anything, but your lineup decisions this week could easily determine whether or not you're celebrating a league title.

We'll do our best to steer you toward that celebration with one start and one sit call at each of the three marquee positions.

Matthew Stafford hasn't thrown an interception in the month of December. He's been too busy piling up yards and touchdowns. Over these four outings, he has tallied 1,159 yards and 10 touchdown passes.

While there's always a bit of risk in being late to a hot streak, Stafford could stay cooking against a New York Giants defense that just gave up 20-plus fantasy points to Derek Carr and Jalen Hurts in its last two outings.

While the Dolphins feature an explosive offense, Tua Tagovailoa doesn't always get in on the fantasy fun. He's only posted multiple scores in two of his last seven outings and none of his last three. He had fewer than 20 fantasy points in all seven of those contests, and he hasn't even reached 16 fantasy points in any of his last three.

Don't look for him to snap out of his funk here. Not against a Baltimore Ravens defense that's allowing the second-fewest fantasy points to the position, per Yahoo, and just stripped Brock Purdy of his MVP favorite status by holding him without a touchdown and intercepting him four times on Christmas night.

Austin Ekeler's first game under Chargers interim coach Giff Smith was loaded with encouragement. He played 64 percent of the offensive snaps, per Pro Football-Reference, while handling 15 carries and seeing four targets. He had 86 scrimmage yards in the game, and his output actually felt a pinch disappointing given his level of involvement.

If those opportunities keep coming his way, he'll turn them into more production, likely starting this week. The Denver Broncos have given up the second-most fantasy points to running backs, a figure Ekeler contributed to by totaling 100 scrimmage yards and a score when these teams faced off in Week 14.

Yes, Khalil Herbert just had one of his best games of the season (121 scrimmage yards and a touchdown), but, no, you shouldn't be banking on a repeat performance here. Not with D'Onta Foreman returning to what's once again a three-headed backfield with him, Herbert and Roschon Johnson all in the mix.

The crowded position group alone is, at least, a yellow light warning to proceed with caution regarding any of the Bears' backs. But a date with this Atlanta Falcons defense is a full-on stop sign. The Falcons have allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to the position and have only given up a single rushing score to running backs all season.

Kansas City's offense is in a rut, but that hasn't dulled the shine on Rashee Rice's emergence within it. The rookie receiver keeps rocketing up the Chiefs' pass-catching pecking order, having paced the offense in targets (12), catches (six) and receiving yards (57) in Week 16.

He could have a field day against this Bengals defense which has given up the ninth-most fantasy points to the position. In its last two outings, Cincinnati allowed both George Pickens and Jordan Addison to post triple-digit yardage with multiple scores.

While Drake London breaks loose every now and again, the bottom could drop out on him at any time. And it's become a more frequent occurrence of late, as he's had fewer than 40 receiving yards in three of his last four games. Oh, and his last touchdown catch came in the first week of October.

He's often at his best at home, where isn't where he'll be in Week 17. Instead, he'll be up in Chicago against a Bears defense that has only allowed three receivers to post double-digit fantasy points and just one to clear a dozen since Week 12.