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Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Week 17: Examining Fringe Fantasy Football Flex Starters
- Updated: December 28, 2016
We’re now counting down the days to the final Sunday of the 2016 NFL season. By Monday morning, the NFL postseason will be set, and the fantasy playoffs will be a thing of the past.
Some of you, no doubt, are in the final stage of your fantasy runs this week. Congratulations are certainly in order, but some frustrated hair-pulling might also come out of this week. This is because it can be difficult to predict which teams are going to play their stars in Week 17.
Guys like Le’Veon Bell, Odell Beckham Jr. and Ezekiel Elliott probably got you to this point in the fantasy postseason, but there’s a strong chance they’ll only see limited action in the season finale.
From here, we need to turn to fringe fantasy stars who will be active in Week 17. Teams like the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs still have reasons to win in Week 17—as do teams whose seasons will be over by Sunday night.
We’re going to scour these rosters for some fringe stars worth starting in Week 17. We’re talking about guys who have only been occasional standouts this season or who are filling in for the final week. We’ll also examine some you might want to avoid. We’ll be basing our choices on points-per-reception scoring and on factors like past performances, projected role and pending matchups.
Good luck!
Start ‘Em: Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was a legitimate fantasy stud in 2015, but he’s been a lot more hit-and-miss this season. He has passed for fewer than 3,300 yards, has rushed for just 353 yards and has 23 combined touchdowns to go with 14 turnovers.
Yet we kind of like Newton’s chances of producing a solid fantasy outing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week. Tampa is clinging onto slim playoff hopes, and Newton would likely love to play spoiler.
He’ll be going up against a Buccaneers defense that has shown improvement but is still flawed. For the season, the Buccaneers allow an average of 253.7 passing yards per game, 10th-most in the NFL. New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees gashed the Buccaneers for 299 yards last week.
Against the run, Pro Football Focus rates Tampa just 31st in the NFL.
Sit ‘Em: Matt McGloin, QB, Oakland Raiders
With starting quarterback Derek Carr out for the year with a broken fibula, the Oakland Raiders will be relying on backup Matt McGloin from here on out.
There are a …
