Fantasy Football Week 17: Deep Sleepers Who Can Help Win Your Matchup

We’ve reached the end of a long, unpredictable season, but there’s still one week to go and that’s one last opportunity to play fantasy football.

Maybe you’re playing a championship game or maybe you’re getting in a little bonus action with many championships already in the books. No matter what, you may still need a little help to put the final starting lineup of the year over the top. 

You may need some help due to some late-season injuries landing top names on the injured reserve. Alshon Jeffery of the Chicago Bears and Vincent Jackson of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were two of the names that had their seasons prematurely ended with their teams out of contention.

You’ll find some of the names I suggest may have been on your roster at one point or another during the season but were ultimately too disappointing to stick with and ended up on the chopping block.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford and New York Giants Rashad Jennings fall into that category but have since rebounded in recent weeks. 

As we enter the final week of the regular season, enjoy whatever format you’re playing in this weekend since we’ll have nine months before regular-season fantasy football is upon us once again.

Brian Hoyer

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Brian Hoyer will return to his starting role with the AFC South title on the line.

The Houston Texans are one victory away from winning the AFC South, and they’ll have a much better chance of doing so with quarterback Brian Hoyer back under center. Earlier this week, Hoyer was cleared from the concussion that cost him the last two games.

To his credit, Brandon Weeden played one of the best games of his career filling in for Hoyer last week in a win over the Tennessee Titans, but if the Texans have any chance of making a run in the playoffs, they’ll need Hoyer, who’s been their best quarterback all season. 

At best, Hoyer is a pretty average quarterback, but he’s done a good job taking care of the football with just six interceptions and two lost fumbles on the year. He’s completed just over 60 percent of his attempts and has 18 touchdowns in 10 games.

Hoyer returns to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 17 and that’s the real key to his value. Back in Week 6, Hoyer went for 293 yards and three touchdowns against the Jaguars in Jacksonville. In the last four games, they’ve allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to quarterbacks thanks to 1,186 yards and seven touchdowns.

With the division on the line and a vulnerable Jaguars defense coming to Houston on Sunday, Hoyer should be one of the better streaming options.

Rashad Jennings

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The last three weeks have been some of the best for Rashad Jennings.

At the beginning of the season, Rashad Jennings wouldn’t have been considered a deep sleeper. In fact, many had him in their lineups because he was expected to lead the team in carries in a bit of a one-two combination with running back Shane Vereen.

Things didn’t go that way, at least not for the majority of the season, and Jennings ended up on many benches or cut loose from fantasy rosters. 

Jennings didn’t run for more than 65 yards in the first 13 weeks of the season and scored just two touchdowns in the first 14 weeks. That lack of production ruined his reputation among fantasy owners, so heading into the playoffs, he didn’t look like a very reliable option.

Apparently, he wanted to save his best performances of the year for the homestretch because he’s actually had productive games in the last three weeks.

Part of that had to do with the New York Giants finally committing to Jennings as their lead back, instead of working Andre Williams and Orleans Darkwa into the mix.

Jennings received a season-high 22 carries in Week 14 and turned that into 81 rushing yards and added two receptions for 21 yards. He followed that up with 16 carries for 107 rushing yards and a touchdown in Week 15 against Carolina.

Last week, he had 62 receiving yards on two receptions and 74 rushing yards on 14 carries. It’s taken way too long, but Jennings has become a reliable fantasy starter.

The timing does coincide with this week’s excellent matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. No team has allowed more fantasy points to running backs over the last month. Running backs have rushed for 481 yards and three touchdowns, and posted 29 receptions for 291 yards and two touchdowns.

If you moved on from Jennings earlier in the season, you probably made the right call, but if you’re searching for a running back to trust in the final game of the season, Jennings is worth a shot.

Sam Bradford

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Sam Bradford should have success with a favorable matchup against the Giants.

Sam Bradford and the Philadelphia Eagles fell well short of expectations this season and as a result, head coach Chip Kelly was fired earlier this week. So where does that leave Bradford for the season finale?

It’s important to separate fantasy from reality when it comes to Bradford.

Yes, the Eagles were blown out by the Washington Redskins and Arizona Cardinals in the last two weeks and have been eliminated from postseason play as a result, but you can’t blame Bradford for those results. In fact he’s played much better in the second half of the year, but it was too little, too late. 

Over the last two games, Bradford has completed 65-of-97 attempts for 781 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. The volume that came from playing under Kelly has always been the reason to boost Bradford’s fantasy value and it was on full display in those two games.

According to interim head coach and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, the uptempo offense will continue, per Martin Frank of The News Journal. That’s good news for Bradford’s fantasy prospects, especially with a nice matchup against the New York Giants coming on Sunday afternoon.

Much like the Eagles, the Giants saw their playoff chances disappear last week and their defense is part of the blame. In the last four weeks, they’ve given up 1,134 yards and nine touchdowns to quarterbacks, which explains why they’ve allowed the fifth-most fantasy points over those last four weeks.

The Eagles also have a pretty poor defense, so there’s a good chance this game becomes a high-scoring affair. If you can get one more game of volume out of Bradford, he should have strong fantasy numbers in what might be his final game as an Eagle.

Cameron Artis-Payne

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The Panthers are hurting at running back, so expect a busy day from Cameron Artis-Payne.

Last week was a disappointing one for Carolina Panthers running back Cameron Artis-Payne. He looked primed for a big role against the Atlanta Falcons after he led the team’s backfield in every statistical category in addition to snaps in Week 14.

However, the Panthers ended up playing their worst game of the season and with the loss, Artis-Payne never got the volume he needed to produce for fantasy. 

The reason you should be willing to give him another shot is the health of Carolina’s other running backs. Jonathan Stewart has missed the last two games and continues to deal with a foot injury and Fozzy Whittaker has an ankle issue. With both missing practice once again on Thursday, their chances of playing are looking slimmer by the day.

In his somewhat limited role last week, Artis-Payne led the team with 49 rushing yards on just five carries. He also caught his only target for seven yards. Because the Panthers played a tight game instead of the 38-0 blowout over Atlanta they had in Week 14, they ended up running the ball just 12 times between Artis-Payne, Whittaker and Mike Tolbert. 

Luckily for Artis-Payne, the Panthers are still battling for the top seed in the NFC so they shouldn’t try to handcuff anyone out of caution, or at least not someone like Artis-Payne considering his role on the team when Stewart and Whittaker are healthy.

This week, he faces a Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense that’s given up 369 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in addition to 23 receptions for 150 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown to running backs in the last four weeks. That puts them 12th in fantasy points allowed to running backs over that span.

With a big role likely coming and a favorable matchup, Artis-Payne should have a busy and productive performance in Week 17.

Jordan Matthews

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You might want to give Jordan Matthews another shot in the season finale.

This was supposed to be the season Jordan Matthews took a big step forward as the top receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles. We know that didn’t happen for a variety of reasons, as Matthews enters the final week of the season outside the top 25 fantasy wide receivers. 

If Matthews cost you fantasy victories during the year, you might hold a grudge. However, I suggest you don’t do that, especially if you’re looking for a little upside this week.

The Eagles face the New York Giants in a battle of NFC East underachievers that were knocked out of playoff contention last week. Neither team has much on defense, so the hope is we see plenty of scoring and as a result, plenty of fantasy production.

Over the last month, the Giants have surrendered 64 receptions, 750 yards and six touchdowns to opposing wide receivers. That’s why they’ve allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to wide receivers over those four games.

Besides the matchup being in Matthews’ favor, he’s actually been fairly productive since Thanksgiving. Matthews has four touchdowns in his last five games and has back-to-back games of 100+ receiving yards.

That hasn’t happened nearly enough in 2015, but he’ll have a great chance to start 2016 the right way when he faces the Giants on Sunday.

Tennessee Titans Defense

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If you're looking for a sleeper defense, check out the Titans this weekend.

When it comes to reaching deep, you can’t reach much deeper than the Tennessee Titans defense. In fact, the only fantasy defense that’s been worse over the last four weeks has been the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So why am I considering them as a possible sleeper for Week 17?

They’ll face an Indianapolis Colts team that won’t have quarterbacks Andrew Luck (kidney) or Charlie Whitehurst (hamstring) and almost definitely won’t have Matt Hasselbeck (shoulder, ribs). So where does that leave them at quarterback this late in the season?

Their current quarterback depth chart includes Ryan Lindley, Stephen Morris and Josh Freeman. And that’s in no particular order because offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski said the way he’s picking a quarterback this week is, “Eeny, meenie, miney, moe,” according to Mike Wells of ESPN.

The Colts are technically still alive in the hunt to win the AFC South, but they need a ton of help to get in even if they win with quarterbacks who have been with the team for less than a week. Freeman last played for the Brooklyn Bolts of the FXFL and Lindley last played for the Arizona Cardinals in last year’s playoffs.

This mess of a situation on a bad team is enough reason to take a shot on the Tennessee Titans defense since they should be able to take advantage in Indianapolis.