LAST-MINUTE Week 17 Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em, Advice, Actives/Inactives & Q/A! (12/28 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Summary

Fantasy Football Today: Last-Minute Week 17 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em, Actives/Inactives & Q/A!

Date: December 28, 2025
Hosts: Adam Aizer, Heath Cummings

---

Episode Overview

This episode is a rapid-fire, last-minute primer for Week 17 of the fantasy football season, focusing on critical injury updates, start/sit decisions, weather concerns, and live Q&A on specific player dilemmas. Hosts Adam Aizer and Heath Cummings work through the chaos of championship week, arming listeners with actionable advice to set their lineups and make those crucial, title-winning calls.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Weather Concerns & Impact on Lineups

• Buffalo & Cleveland Games: Rain and mild wind in both, but nothing to warrant staying away from fantasy options. Buffalo’s rain is the main concern, but lines haven’t moved drastically.
  • Heath: “The Buffalo one would be the one I would be most concerned about... I don't see huge movements in the lines based on weather.” (02:49)
• Other cities (New York, Cincinnati, Tennessee): Subpar conditions but shouldn't affect lineup decisions unless significant changes in the betting lines occur.

Quarterback Decisions in Bad Weather

• Jalen Hurts & Josh Allen: Despite potential weather issues, both are considered must-starts except in specific scenarios.
  • Heath: “I would not really consider sitting Josh Allen for anybody.” (03:56)
  • Exception: Could start Matthew Stafford or Joe Burrow over Allen, Hurts is QB9; Trevor Lawrence or Jacoby Brissette could be considered over Hurts. (04:03–04:15)

---

Injury Updates & Last-Minute Starts/Sits

Running Backs

• Travion Henderson: Cleared concussion protocol. Leaning toward starting him, even over options like Jalen Warren.
  • Heath: “I would start Travion.” (04:29)
• Dillon Sampson: Status unknown, will rank as RB25–RB30 if active. (09:45)
• Breece Hall vs. Tyrone Tracy: Tracy for more upside. (11:44)

Wide Receivers

• Michael Wilson: High confidence, top 15 WR for the week due to Arizona injuries.
  • Heath: “Right now I’m starting Michael Wilson. He’s a top 15 wide receiver for me...” (09:12)
• Marvin Harrison Jr.: Playing, but with limited snaps; seen as a boom/bust WR3.
  • Heath: “I have him right between Christian Watson and Quentin Johnston...” (09:12)
• Luther Burden vs. DJ Moore: Leaning DJ Moore, but both are viable borderline WR2/3 options.
  • Heath: “DJ Moore as a borderline wide receiver two… Burden at wide receiver 30.” (08:19)
• Devonte Adams: Doubtful.
• Drake London: Questionable but expected to play.
• Chris Olave: Questionable but should play.

Tight Ends

• George Kittle: Game-time decision. Advice is to have a contingency plan (e.g., Juwan Johnson, Jake Tonjas, Colston Loveland).
  • Heath: “There’s a little bit of risk ... Kittle says, yeah, I’m gonna go. And then he’s out there and he’s just not George Kittle.” (05:33)
  • Prefer Juwan Johnson or Loveland if available. (06:05–06:47)

Other Notable Player Notes

• Foster Morrow out: Good for Juwan Johnson’s fantasy prospects.
• Sauce Gardner (Colts): Not enough of a downgrade to move Trevor Lawrence in rankings. (10:55)
• Maxx Crosby out (Raiders): Defensive impact mentioned but minimal fantasy fallout.

Offensive Lines

• Seattle and Rams missing multiple linemen, which could hinder their running games and pass protection.
• Giants missing two offensive linemen against the Raiders.

---

Team Motivation & Playoff Scenarios

• Steelers: Must-win scenario due to Ravens’ win; sets up potential Week 18 showdown.
• Rams: Remote risk of resting players if Seattle and San Francisco both win, but hosts don’t anticipate players sitting.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On lineup pilfering in championships:
  Heath (06:47): “My experience has been when people start doing this on championship week, they end up losing.”
• On unpredictable inactive reports:
  Heath (10:10): “I expect more surprise inactives. Somebody’s going to get a hangnail this morning. Somebody is going to wake up and have a little itch in the back of their throat.”
• On Derrick Henry’s impact:
  Adam (12:20): “Well, what a game from Derrick Henry. Unbelievable… Derek Henry was in zero of the eight FFT Open finals lineups.” (12:58)

---

Q&A Highlights (Timestamps, Direct Advice)

• Breece Hall or Tyrone Tracy:
  Heath: “Tracy.” (11:44)

• Allen or Drake May:
  Heath: “Allen.” (11:50)

• Kyle Williams or Dillon Sampson:
  Heath: “If Sampson is active, I would go Sampson...” (11:50)

• Start One — Tonjas, Michael Mayer, Juwan Johnson, Colston Loveland:
  Heath: “I would just start Juwan Johnson.” (12:05)

• Tetairoa McMillan or Alec Pierce:
  Heath: “Be Ted Roll McMillan for me.” (12:11)

• Derrick Henry or Travion Henderson:
  Heath: “I think you should probably go with Derek Henry.” (12:17)

• Brissette or Trevor Lawrence:
  Heath: “This is one of the toughest questions of the week... I would go Brissette.” (13:12)

• Burrow (wind) or Stafford:
  Heath: “Stafford.” (13:25)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Weather Update/Quarterback Concerns: 02:41–04:15
• Running Back Injuries & Start/Sit: 04:15–04:30
• Wide Receiver Updates (Adams, London, Olave, Harrison Jr., Wilson): 08:19–09:38
• Tight End Strategy (Kittle, Johnson, Tonjas, Loveland): 05:33–06:47, 12:30
• Team Motivation & Rest Scenarios: 10:55–11:30
• Rapid-Fire Listener Start/Sit Q&A: 11:40–13:34

---

Final Takeaway

In true finals week fashion, Adam and Heath deliver sharp, quick-hitting analysis to help listeners juggle late-breaking news, make difficult lineup calls, and prepare for the unpredictable nature of active/inactive lists. Their tone is pragmatic, occasionally irreverent, and always focused on maximizing your chances at fantasy glory—because, as they remind us, championships are won in the details.

---

Remember: For more live Q&A and updates, join them on YouTube Sundays from 11am–1pm Eastern. Good luck in your matchups!

Transcript

[A]

As a father of three, as a homeowner, as a husband, I want to make sure my family's taken care of in one of those God forbid situations just to make sure that they are okay for the rest of their lives if I'm not around. That's why I started looking into life insurance. Honestly, the traditional process always seems so complicated and drawn out, but Ethos changed that for me. Ethos is an online platform that makes getting life insurance fast and easy to protect your family's future in minutes, not months. There's no complicated process and it's 100% online. No medical exam required. You just answer a few health questions. You can get a quote in as little as 10 minutes and even same day coverage without ever leaving your home. Plus you can get up to $3 million in coverage with some policies as low as $2 a day. Build monthly and Ethos is trusted. 3 million families have already completed their applications through Ethos to help find the right coverage. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get your free [e-mail] FFT that's ethos.com FFT application times may vary. Rates may vary Sample rate for a 10 year term life policy for a 35 year old healthy, non smoking male.

[B]

Are you interested in effortlessly growing your Bitcoin portfolio? I sure am. The Bitcoin credit card by Gemini earns you Bitcoin back on every purchase. Use it like any credit card, buy lunch, gas or your weekly groceries and you'll earn up to 4% back instantly in Bitcoin or one of over 50 other cryptos straight to your account. All that with no annual fee. And right now you can grab a $200 bitcoin welcome bonus. It's the easiest way to start building your Bitcoin stack. Go to gemini.com card to learn more. Terms apply. See the link in the description for more information regarding rates and fees issued by WebBank. To qualify for the $200 crypto intro bonus, you must spend $3,000 in your first 90 days. Some exclusions to instant rewards apply. This is not investment advice and trading. Crypto involves risk. Check Gemini's website for more details on rates and fees.

[C]

Fantasy football has a lot of ORs. Start or sit, Draft or bust. Buy or sell. But you don't have to pick because Nationwide is so much more than a great insurance company. They're one of America's largest financial services companies too. Insurance and Financial Services Game changer for your insurance and financial needs. Nationwide is on your side. Nationwide Investment Services Corporation Member finra, Columbus, Ohio. And we are ready to win some fantasy championships. Let's set those lineups right now on FFT Express. Welcome to your week 17 start or sit. Remember, we have two hours of this from 11am to 1pm Eastern. YouTube.com fantasy football today. Join us there. Get your question asked and answered. Although that does not. That is not a guarantee. No money back guarantee there. All right, Heath, what's going on? Good morning.

[D]

Good morning.

[C]

Yeah, we get a lot of questions during that show, but we'll try our best. Let's go through the weather. We got some weather concerns today. What are we looking at?

[D]

It looks like the two biggest concerns are Buffalo, where it's not that windy. A little windy, but could just rain through the entire game and possibly downpour for big portions of it. The other one is Cleveland, where again, it's a little rainy, it's a little windy. I don't think there's anything that's like stay away or awful. Not great weather in New York, Cincinnati or Tennessee either. But it's, it's the type of weather that I mostly just ignore unless it causes the line to fall, and it hasn't so far. So looking right now, we've got the, the Buffalo one would be the one I would be most concerned about. And it's still 44 and a half, which is very close to where it's been for most of the week. Looking at Cleveland, it's still 34 and a half, which is terribly low, but that's because it's the Steelers and the Browns, not because of the weather. Yeah, I, I don't see huge movements in the lines based on weather.

[C]

This really stinks. I mean, it puts you in a bind if you have Jalen Hurts and Josh Allen. I guess you're just probably gonna end up starting them.

[D]

But I, I don't, I, I, I would not really consider sitting Josh Allen for anybody.

[C]

I mean.

[D]

Okay, I take that back. I'd, I'd start Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow over Allen. I've got hertz at QB9.

[C]

Right.

[D]

So if you picked up Trevor Lawrence, if you also have Jacoby Brissette, I'd rather start those guys.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

All right, let's go to the, the injuries here. Travion Henderson cleared concussion protocol. What do you think about starting Travion?

[D]

I'm going to.

[C]

Oh, okay. I have a decision to make. Travion Henderson vs. Jalen Warren. How do you feel about that?

[D]

I would start Travion.

[C]

Oh, okay. He's guide me to a championship thank you. How about the fact that Mac Hollins is out? How weird is that?

[D]

It. Well, it's, I mean, unfortunate for him. We also don't have Keisha on booty. Last I saw. Demario Douglas is still questionable. So I listen. It's been dangerous because we've been here a couple times before this season, but I'm viewing Stefan Diggs, the number two wide receiver that I want to start. I think Kyle Williams, especially if Demario Douglas is out. Kyle Williams is a. A decent boom bust flex, but not somebody I really want to start. Hunter Henry, a low end, tight end. 1.

[C]

Okay. Josh Allen's good to go by the way with the foot injury, but the big thing will be the Sunday night game. I don't know if people are really waiting on Ricky Piersol. He's questionable. But George Kittle is going to test that foot out or that ankle out pregame and see what happens. They've got the Bears on Sunday night. We're hoping this is a high scoring, fun game. What are we doing about the. I guess Pierce so I can throw them in there and Kittle.

[D]

So I have Kittle on one team that's in a championship and I think what I'm doing is I picked up Juwan Johnson and I'm just going to play him now I have Juwan Johnson ranked at tight end six. So that's, that's about as far down the rankings as I would go before. I just try to pick up Jake Tonjas and wait it out. But there's a little bit of risk that. Listen, Kittle says, yeah, I'm gonna go. And then he's out there and he's just not George Kittle. There's also a little bit of risk that he's out and you start Tonjas and he catches two passes.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

So I, I think you kind of have to look at your matchup and see exactly how much upside you think you need. Although I know you hate doing that. But Basically I've got McBride fan and Pitts. Juwan Johnson are the guys. I would definitely start over him. Colston Loveland's right behind them and he plays in the same game. So you wouldn't have to make that decision if you, if somebody was really sharp and took tons away from you and there's not another good option, then I think you go find one of the three rims and just hope they score a touchdown.

[C]

Sure, you could do that. Are you making a joke? Because that's what Jack did to me. Took to. No, I did not know that, well, I don't have Kittle or anything, but I, I, I'm just going to start Tyler Warren and because I have him in Parkinson, whatever, just Tyler Warren.

[D]

Yeah, no, I've done that before and I've had it done to me before and my experience. Adam, this makes me feel better about your chances of pulling know my experience has been when people start doing this on championship week, they end up losing.

[C]

Oh, man, I gotta tell you. JB took someone from Dave, took James.

[D]

Connor in the podcast league.

[C]

Yeah, he took James Connor from Dave, which is Dave's good luck player, and it just cracked.

[D]

Oh, that's fantastic.

[C]

All right, we'll be right back with some more news items after this. As a man, finding a good pair of pants can feel impossible. Jack Archer's jetsetter tech pants make it easy. These are the one pair you need. They're built with advanced fabric sourced from Japan that resists wrinkles, stains and odors. Whether it's a long flight, a workday or a night out, these pants do it all. With customizable fit options and thousands of five star reviews. Trust us, these are the one pair of pants you'll actually want to wear every day. And they just launched a matching blazer in the same unbelievable fabric, all for an amazing price of $249 for the suit. It's a no brainer. For a limited time, get 15% off using the code. Get [e-mail] Again, that's promo code. Get jack archer.com for 15% off your entire order. Okay. Also, Sunday night we got Romo Dunes a out, but Luther Burden going to play. Who do you like better? Luther Burden, who we did like better than DJ Moore before the injury or DJ Moore.

[D]

I don't have them that far apart. I'm leaning towards DJ Moore just because I don't know if Luther Burden is fully 100%. And more is on a bit of a heater right now. Seems to have developed a little better chemistry with Caleb Williams. So I've got DJ Moore as a borderline wide receiver too, right around wide receiver 25. I've got burden at wide receiver 30. So they're both high end, number threes, low end, number twos.

[C]

Okay, we've got Devonte Adams, doubtful. Drake London questionable but expected to play. Right. We were thinking London's good to go.

[D]

We, we. They say, they say they think he's playing, so.

[C]

Okay. And then we've got Chris Olave, questionable, but he's going to be good to go. Let's Talk about Marvin Harrison Jr. He's going to play but again, limited snaps. This made me a little more confident in Michael Wilson. I've been really on the fence with him. We're going to get a ton of Michael Wilson questions, but what do you think about the Cardinals?

[D]

Right now I'm starting Michael Wilson. He's a top 15 wide receiver for me and I'm viewing Marvin Harrison as a low end. Boom, bust. Number three wide receiver. I've got him. Well, two guys who were both good yesterday, one a lot better than the other I have I had him right between Christian Watson and Quentin Johnston. So that kind of tells you I think the range I would start both Bears over Marvin Harrison Jr.

[C]

Okay. Do we feel like we're getting going to get Dylan Sampson this week? Don't know this yet, but what do you think?

[D]

I have no lean. I've seen no real reporting on it and it like no idea. If he plays, I'll probably have him somewhere between RB25 and RB30.

[C]

Okay. Harold Fannin is good to go. Full go. Theo Johnson is out for the Giants. So are two offensive linemen on the other side of the ball. Max Crosby is out if any thoughts on Giants Raiders?

[D]

It's going to be fantastic. Yeah, it's, it's, I expect more surprise inactives. Somebody's going to get a hangnail this morning. Somebody is going to wake up and have a little itch in the back of their throat. I I It's gonna be fascinating to watch the fourth quarter of this game.

[C]

Yeah, sure is. I'm gonna put my Beckham jersey on today and just, you know, root for a loss. Not I'm not gonna root for a loss. But Foster Morrow is out, which we talked about on beyond the Box Scores is certainly not a bad thing. Probably a good thing for Juwan Johnson. Yeah. Yeah. Seattle left tackle Charles Crosses out. The Rams could be without two offensive linemen and Sauce Gardner is going to play for the Colts. Does that change anything for Trevor Lawrence for you?

[D]

I have not moved Trevor Lawrence, no.

[C]

Okay. Last thing here is the Steelers. With the Ravens winning yesterday, the Steelers have to win. If the Steelers win today, they win the division. If they lose, they play next week for the division against the Ravens. So I don't have anything against Steelers. I'm just rooting for them to lose because I want to see that showdown. The Rams, though, just for the last time, any concerns about them resting players because it could happen if Seattle and San Francisco both win.

[D]

I I mostly think that we're probably not going to be okay on that. It's pretty. Be pretty unique for a team to do that two weeks in a row.

[C]

Yeah, I think so too. That's where I'm leaning. Okay, thank you very much, Heath, and thank you all for watching and listening and we will talk to you at. @. Oh, I forgot to answer questions. I'm.

[D]

Sorry. I was. I was.

[C]

Wondering. Let's go Breeze hall or Tyrone.

[D]

Tracy. I'll go.

[C]

Tracy. I need upside Allen or Drake May. Kyle Williams or Dylan.

[D]

Sampson. If Samson is active, I would go Samson and I'll start Allen over. Drag.

[C]

Me. That is a one o' clock game too, so that's good news. Start one Tonjas. Michael Mayer, Juwan Johnson or Colson.

[D]

Loveland? I would just start Joanne.

[C]

Johnson, Tede Row McMillan or Alec.

[D]

Pierce. Be Ted Roll McMillan for.

[C]

Me. This is a funny one. Derek Henry or Trayvon.

[D]

Henderson? Yeah, I think he should probably go with Derek.

[C]

Henry. Well, what a game from Derrick Henry. Unbelievable. Okay, I. What do I do with. With George Kittle? I have Loveland and Tonjas on.

[D]

Waivers. Like was. Was Derek Henry actually involved in any of your championship.

[C]

Games? I'm only in two, unfortunately. And no, he was.

[D]

Not. I didn't. I did not see him in any of mine either. What do I do with Kittle? If you have Loveland, they play each other, so it's really easy. Well, I would prefer Loveland over Tonjas if Kittle was.

[C]

Out. That's the question right there. Okay. By the way, Derek Henry was in zero of the eight fft Open finals.

[D]

Lineups.

[C]

Yeah. How about Brissette or Trevor.

[D]

Lawrence? I think this is one of the toughest questions of the week. I have them back to back. They're celebr. They're separated by a tenth of a.

[C]

Point. I would go Brissette Burrow in the high wind or Stafford. I don't. We're not looking at high wind there. We're looking at wind. But I don't know necessarily that it's going to be. I mean, look, I don't take my word for it, I guess, but.

[D]

Like Brissette Lawrence is my QB4 and QB5. Stafford Burrow is my QB1 and QB2 this week. So congratulations. I'll go.

[B]

Stanford.

[C]

Okay. All right, everybody, we'll talk to you at 11:00am Eastern. For Heath, I'm Adam. See you.

[A]

Later. Paramount.