Week 17 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings & Tiers: Studs, Sleepers, and Must-Starts (Ep. 1915)

Summary

Podcast Summary: FantasyPros - Fantasy Football Podcast

Episode: Week 17 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings & Tiers: Studs, Sleepers, and Must-Starts (Ep. 1915)
Date: December 23, 2025
Hosts: Chris Welsh, Pat Fitzmaurice, Andrew Erickson

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Overview

With Fantasy Football championship week upon us, the FantasyPros team dives deep into wide receiver rankings, tiers, and must-starts for Week 17. Chris Welsh leads the discussion with analysts Pat Fitzmaurice and Andrew Erickson as they dissect the top-36 wide receivers, identify crucial start/sit decisions, and highlight key matchups and weather concerns. There’s also insider commentary on the hosts’ own championship pursuits, and lively debates about player upside, tier breaks, and risky boom/bust options.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Playoff Battles and League Championship Stakes

• All three hosts are still alive in their league championships, adding personal stakes and real-world perspective to their analysis.
• Pat: “It’s the best Week 16 I’ve ever had… I went against Puka Nacua and won.” (01:05)
• Welsh boasts a narrow walk-off win in the company league.

2. Top 12 Wide Receivers – The Elite Tier

• Puka Nacua, Jamar Chase, JSN, CeeDee Lamb, Amon-Ra St. Brown are consensus top options.
• Minimal controversy here—big names stay in the must-start category.
• AJ Brown’s Ranking Debate:
  • Pat is bullish (WR8): “Brown’s had 95 or more receiving yards in 4 of his last 5… He’s been getting fed and producing.” (06:48)
  • Erickson is more cautious (WR12): “The Bills have been really good against opposing No. 1 wide receivers… I could see more of a Devonta Smith-type spike week instead.” (08:01)
  • Weather (potential snow in Buffalo) and game script (run-heavy) are discussed as risk factors.

3. Drake London’s Final Week Outlook

• Both experts remain confident despite a disappointing prior week.
• Erickson: “He was knocking the rust off… Falcons are going to be chasing points in the Dome. It’s going to be raining points.” (10:26)
• Pat: “My only reservation—I never feel totally confident about any pass catcher connected to Kirk Cousins… But still, I think he’s a WR1 this week.” (11:15)

4. Wide Receiver 2s: Where Decisions Matter Most

(13–24 range)

• Jauan Jennings is a headline riser (ECR 13), buoyed by TD production and 49ers injuries.
  • Pat: “He’s an absolute touchdown machine… But we can’t count on him for a lot of yardage.” (13:13)
  • Erickson: “He’s been the main guy among pass catchers… At this point, we just need production—Jennings is producing.” (14:28)
• Terry McLaurin is polarizing due to QB uncertainty.
  • Erickson: “I don’t know who his quarterback will be… The Dallas secondary is buns, but the Commanders’ offense has been a mess.” (16:46)
  • Pat: “I just don’t really want to start a WR tied to Josh Johnson if I can help it.” (18:08)
• DJ Moore sees cautious optimism, but confidence hinges on teammate injuries.
  • Erickson: “If there’s no Burden or Doons, you can play DJ as a top-20 guy. If not, temper expectations.” (19:42)
  • Pat: “He’s Caleb Williams’ number one target against a beatable 49ers defense. If the other receivers are out, Moore’s a good play.” (20:59)
• Jaylen Waddle is volatile due to uncertainty at QB.
  • Pat: “Probably the hardest WR to rank due to Quinn Ewers… wide range of possible outcomes.” (22:48)
  • Erickson sees upside: “Bucs are a pass funnel… Waddle’s a solid start; 30% target share last week.” (23:45)

5. Wide Receiver 3s & Flex Fliers: Challenger Tier (WR25–36)

• This tier is flagged as notably weak/grim.

• Brian Thomas Jr. is a debated upside flex.

  • Pat: “He gets a nice matchup against the Colts, who just got shredded… Lawrence is red hot, so BTJ could flash.” (29:53)
  • Erickson ranks BTJ > Jaden Reed > Deebo Samuel, bluntly stating: “I want nothing to do with Deebo Samuel… There’s nothing left.” (31:19, 31:43)

• Marvin Harrison Jr. raises concerns.

  • Erickson: “It’s hard to have upside here with Trey McBride and Michael Wilson around. The Bengals allow the fewest points to WRs.” (34:39)
  • Pat: “Played 51% of snaps last week… Cardinals face the Bengals, who have allowed the most points to TEs, so the ball likely goes elsewhere.” (37:51)

• Emeka Egbuka is in “desperate dart throw” territory.

  • Pat: “He ran the fourth-most routes among Bucs’ WRs… Not confident playing him at all.” (39:32)
  • Erickson: “Efficiency is up but volume is down. He’s in that boom-or-bust category—hard to trust.” (40:22)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AJ Brown’s weather risk:
  Erickson (08:01): “Buffalo right now is projecting for some snow… But the Bills have been really good against number one wide receivers. That concerns me a little bit for maybe he’s not going to be a top 8 guy.”

• On Terry McLaurin’s outlook:
  Pat (18:08): “I just don’t really want to start a wide receiver tied to Josh Johnson if I can help it.”

• On Deebo Samuel:
  Erickson (31:39): “He’s finished outside the top 50 three straight weeks. I can’t do this Deebo Samuel thing. The dude has nothing left. There’s nothing left in the tank.”

• On present wrapping skills (comic interlude):
  Pat (29:09): “One present will look really good… and the next, my wife will look at me and be like, dude, what happened to you in the wrapping on this one?”

• On desperation wide receivers:
  Pat (37:51): “Let’s take the Occam’s razor approach: The Cardinals are playing the Bengals, who have allowed the most fantasy points to tight ends by a freaking country mile. Where do you think the ball is going this week?”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Intro & Hosts’ Playoff Updates: 00:29–03:51
• Top 12 WRs and Big Board Rundown: 04:10–09:52
• A.J. Brown Risk & Tier Debate: 06:48–09:52
• Drake London Confidence Check: 10:26–11:50
• WR2 Tier Deep Dive (Jennings, McLaurin, DJ Moore, Waddle): 12:51–24:49
• Brian Thomas Jr. Boom/Bust Flex Arguments: 27:39–34:00
• Marvin Harrison Jr. & Michael Wilson Uncertainty: 34:00–38:56
• Emeka Egbuka and Desperation Flexes: 38:56–41:52

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Closing Thoughts

The hosts advise fantasy managers to:

• Monitor weather and injury news closely, especially for players like AJ Brown and teammates.
• Ride the productive, high-usage options even if underlying metrics are shaky (“You can’t win your fantasy championship with expected fantasy points… you need production.” – Erickson, 15:49).
• Avoid chasing “name value” with slumping veterans (ex: Deebo Samuel) in favor of upside options backed by a good matchup or emergent usage.

Good luck in your championship matchups, and may your lineup decisions land you the trophy!

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YouTube Link for Rankings Reference:
https://fantasypros.com/rankings

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For further analysis, join the FantasyPros community on YouTube, Twitch, and Discord or check their real-time rankings for the latest updates as game day approaches.

Transcript

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

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[Chris Welsh]

Hello friends and welcome into Fantasy Pros, the fantasy football podcast. This is it, the week 17. Your championship wide receiver ranks. I'm Chris Welsh. We've got Andrew Erickson and Jolly Pat Fitz Morris. Both of you dressed up. Me, I'm dressed down apparently for the Christmas season. That is Santa Gaines. We've got and hopefully Fitzy, you can play Grinch on your opponents. We are championship time. Fitzy, what are you battling out for some championships this week?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I've got seven.

[Chris Welsh]

Seven champion. Okay, Flex clean.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

A clean sweep in the semis. It's was the best week 16 I've ever had. Like a couple of years ago I had just a catastrophic week 16 where I think I went like 1 in 5 or 1 in 6 and, and this week was just. I went against Puka Nikua and one.

[Chris Welsh]

Wow. Okay. I mean you might be saying it, Gaines, you might need to start flexing out there. Seven for seven. That's crazy. Erickson, are you going to be fighting for any championships this week?

[Andrew Erickson]

Yes, I. I advanced one team from my semi Zed. Three teams left last week. Two got knocked out, played Lamar Jackson over Joe Burrow. Got absolutely nuked for that decision. So that's unfortunate. And I lost in the content team or excuse me, not the content, the work league. The yahoo league that we have with all the employees at fantasy pros fell just short, although I had a pretty solid roster. But the team I care about the most and the one that I'm actually going for a repeat championship, I won last year. My name is Team Beefcake. Yes, we got to stay on brand here. So I'm going for the repeat. Up against my old roommate from college, his father. That's who I'm facing in the championship. He has a juggernaut squad so I'm going to be an underdog. We'll see how things shake out. But looking forward to it for week 17.

[Chris Welsh]

Very nice. I'm going to clean three for three. After I tweeted about it, I pulled a walk off win in the company league. I was losing. I has 91.1 to 91.12 to our dear friend Kerry and the game was over. I had Niners defense, she had Michael Pittman and De Winters brought it home and I was able to move into the furthest, by the way of our content people in the company league. So going to the championship against, oh, you know, the guy who created Fantasy Pro. So I need to tread water maybe a little bit carefully how I work that. But we've all got championships, we've all got big wide receiver questions. So we're going to be battling it out just like you are. You're here, we're invested and we're going to be going through the top 36 wide receivers. Might intertwine a few other things. These are going to be the big questions, the big decisions you're going to have for this coming week. We have some rank discrepancies. We're going to be moving through all of it and we're excited to do it and we're excited to bring home some championships for you. Big wide receiver episode. We are doing this a little bit early because obviously it is a holiday week so we cannot shout out to the accuracy people, but just go over to Fantasy Pros. You can type in Fantasy Pros accuracy contest and you'll be able to see by the time this comes out, they'll be be there who finished amazing. Likely one of you will finish like in the top 10 because it's a week that we're not going to be celebrating. So Fitz, congratulations on your eighth overall. Probably finish, I'm guessing.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Oh, thank you. I feel like I did have a good week everywhere but tight ends and I absolutely bombed the tight end position like terribly. Everything I, everything I ranked at tight end was wrong.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, well, I mean, I liked Colby Parkinson so I'm a dumb idiot. So there you go. But shout out to everybody that will have the season long contest that's out there. You guys want to follow, you know where to go. And shout out to all the people that have been keeping up with that the entire season. You're the real heroes. You are the real heroes. Before we get in and look at the big board here. We still have giveaway time. It is the giving season and this gift could be for you because this is your chance to win a Bijan Robinson and Drake London signed mini helmet for free. Drake may not have got you to your championship because he was active and it sure didn't feel like it, but he can bring you joy every single day as you have that amazing Helmet with Bijan and Drake London courtesy of our friends [e-mail] here's what you can do. Go to fantasypros.com contest, fill out the form. Then you can also download the Fantasy Bros app, leave a review for the podcast, follow us on our socials x Instagram and TikTok. They're all at Fantasy Pros and every one of those things you do, it's an extra entry. So we'll be announcing a winner right here on the podcast. We're going to be here through the actual playoffs. Maybe not this show. This is the last iteration of this show for the season, but we got lots of others and we'll be announcing it. So make sure you are subscribed to our YouTube YouTube.com fantasypros because you don't want to miss out. We want you to win that awesome Bijan and Drake London signed mini helmet. You guys want to follow along in the episode, go to fantasypros.com rankings. That is what you can see here. Pre warning because it is earlier. You're going to see some adjustments as more rankers start submitting their rank fantasyprose.com rankings all right boys, let's look at the big board this early. Big board for the top 12 wide receivers for week 17. And it starts with of course Mr. Week 16. Puka Nakua is going against the Atlanta Falcons coming in at two, Jamar Chase followed by Jackson Smith and Jigba CD Lama, Monroe St Brown, Crystal Lave, then on the back half, Nico Collins, George Pickens, Mike Evans, Jameson Williams, Drake London and AJ Brown. It's chalk stuff guys. I'm not sure, you know if we're going to see tons of questions from people. You know, George Pickens kind of answered some of those off of multiple bad weeks he had his big blow up. I think people will feel comfortable. Mike Evans touchdown. You're going to feel a lot of things you're going to feel comfortable with. Maybe there'll be a Drake London question or two. I doubt it. But how about an A.J. brown question? A.J. brown comes in at 12. He's the bottom of this list. Could kind of float in different spots. You guys are either at ECR or higher. Erickson's at 12 and 50. You actually are the high man here. So wide receiver eight for you. For A.J. brown. What's got you excited about the not so pass heavy offense but going up against the Buffalo Bills?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

The target volume here. AJ Brown's target counts in his last six games. 11, 10, 12, 13, 2 and 12 and the 2 target game was the 31 nothing win over the Raiders where Jalen Hurts only had to throw 15 passes and AJ Brown still had a touchdown in that game. So Brown has had 95 or more receiving yards in four of his last five games. The only miss being that anomaly game against the Raiders and four touchdowns in the last five games. He has been getting fed and he's been producing wide receiver three and a half point PPR scoring over the last five weeks.

[Chris Welsh]

Erickson, you've got him at 12. You're on ECR curious about something? Because I don't, I'm not looking at your list so I don't know if you have like Drake London right above Jameson Williams right above Mike Evans, but I'm curious, is A.J. brown in your mind in the tier of the no doubt wide receiver ones or do you think there's a little bit question going into week 17 about like again you'd have to have really good wide receivers to be deciding it. But is he on like another tier break the start of another tier or is he just part of this bigger tier of wide receiver ones?

[Andrew Erickson]

I think that he has to be in that tier. Fitz just laid out how productive he has been over the last six weeks or so and that's why I have him at ecr. I'm not fading AJ Brown in any capacity. I guess I'm just trying to take into consideration what the matchup in game could look like in Buffalo on the road. Look, this week it looks like there's a potential for weather kind of across the board here. Whether it's cold weather, rain. Buffalo right now is projecting for some snow. That's just typical of Buffalo weather in December. Now it's not to say that A.J. brown can't produce in snow like the Eagles play outside. So I don't think this is a big deal for him. But when you look at the Bills and what they do defensively, they've been really good against opposing number one wide receivers. Last five games, no number one wide receiver against the Buffalo Bills has exceeded 45 receiving yards and that includes Nico Collins, DK Metcalf, Jamar Chase and Stefan Diggs and of course Jerry Judy last week.

[Chris Welsh]

So of course the, the when you talk about number ones you talk about Jerry Judy.

[Andrew Erickson]

You gotta throw a Jerry Judy, but.

[Chris Welsh]

You don't not talk about Jerry Judy.

[Andrew Erickson]

But to their credit a lot of those guys are really good and are in that wide receiver one tier for the most part. So that concerns me a little bit for maybe he's not going to be a top eight guy this week. He and you look at how you beat Buffalo, it's with a lot of these slot receivers. They've allowed the fourth highest amount of slot wide receiver production versus the fourth fewest percentage of wide receiver fantasy points to perimeter wide receivers. So I could see a scenario where maybe we see a little bit more of a Devontae Smith type of spike week of production rather than an A.J. brown monster game. And the other point too is this is a matchup where they can get Saquon Barkley going. The Buffalo Bills run defense is so, so bad. Getting Lane Johnson potentially back here. Do the Eagles just sit on the run? You know we don't love this weather potentially. Let's just feed silk and Barkley 25 carries, get him going into the postseason. I could see that kind of playing and potentially hurting A.J. brown a little bit.

[Chris Welsh]

Guys, I want to ask you just one more. It wasn't on our sheet but I and you don't have to go into big crazy analysis on this, but is there any reservation at all Andre Clenden after last week, I mean I was kind of taking the like, you know, if he's healthy, he's going to be good to go put performance was not where anyone would have wanted. We saw some targets early on. But I'm asking also because this is like a rough matchup. Erickson can just start with you again. You don't have to go crazy about it. You can just kind of be like, yes, no. But is there any reservation whatsoever in this final week of Drake London after last week and going up against the Rams this week?

[Andrew Erickson]

I don't really have any reservations. I think that he was knocking the rust off and that was confirmed postgame by Green Morris saying that no, it wasn't that he wasn't healthy. It was he's knocking the rust off after he missed a couple of games. He's playing in the Dome. The Falcons are going to be chasing points probably most likely against the Los Angeles Rams and going back to I don't want to deal with some of these weather games potentially this week and there's going to be no weather in Rams Falcons except points. That's what it's going to be raining in that dome is points. So I like Dragon London to be a top 12 guy.

[Chris Welsh]

Fitzy same thing. Is there just any reservation whatsoever with the matchup and everything? Is the rust knocked off enough if you had really good options? I mean I think it'd be impossible if you made it to a championship and you have Drake London and he got that rest game off to like avoid him. But is there just any reservation whatsoever?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Not really. It seemed like he got all his targets early, like he was getting targeted a lot early in that game against the Cardinals and then, you know, just like disappeared as the Falcons had command of that game and just ran it a lot. Bijan Robinson and Tyler algier combined for 32 carries, so they just didn't have to throw that much. And you know, my only reservation, I never feel totally confident about any past catcher connected to Kirk Cousins, but still, I think he's a wide receiver one this week.

[Chris Welsh]

All right, well, easy stuff. Let's move out of those wide receiver ones. That's not where probably a lot of your big discussion and question points are going to be. They're probably going to be in the wide receiver twos. So let's look at the big board here. We've got 13 through 24 coming in at 13. We've got Juwan Jennings, T. Higgins, Courtland Sutton, Terry McLaurin, Tetaroa McMillan, T. Mac, I guess as he wants to be called, Zay Flowers, Michael Wilson at 19, Justin Jefferson floating around 20, DJ Moore, DeVonta Smith, Jalen Waddle and Jacoby Myers. Boys, Juwan Jennings, where is the sooth saying Erickson? Juwan Jennings all he's Chris Carter this year because all he does is catch touchdowns. He is ECR wide receiver 13. The reason we are pushing this up, obviously Ricky Pearsall is down, Brock Purdy's coming off of a huge performance and Juwan Jennings is creeping up and up and up. And this is an interesting spot because plenty of teams might have Juwan Jennings as a wide receiver three or four and he's jumping some big names and being placed next to some big names.

[Andrew Erickson]

A.J.

[Chris Welsh]

Brown, Drake London. Let's talk about where you guys have have got him. He's ECR 13. Fitzy, you've got him at 15. Erickson, you got him at 13. Fitzy, why don't you kick it off? Any reservations? He's going up against the Chicago Bears this week. He's been a big massive target, lots of touchdown equity. Is he comfortably a top 15 wide receiver this week for you?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I think he is. And my ranking assumes that George Kittle is going to play through his ankle injury. If he does not play then I will probably move Juwan Jennings up at least two spots. And I think the only reservation with him is he is not a big yardage guy, has not had 100 yard game this year. He has only been above 71 yards once this season, but he has been an absolute touchdown machine. You said it. While I think five, six, seven, seven touchdowns in his last seven games. So we like that about him. I just. I don't think we can count on him for a lot of catches and yardage. The touchdown outlook is very good. I like the matchup against the Bears, but, you know, we're just not talking about a target hog here.

[Chris Welsh]

So, Erickson, like what we talked about with the A.J. brown thing. How about Juwan Jennings? You've got him at 13. Is Juwan Jennings the start of another tier or is he kind of like a pseudo wide receiver, one he should be valued in the space of like an AJ Brown? Again, I don't know where you have like Jameson and London, like, where does he sit? What is your level of comfort with all those touchdowns and you know, the Niners pass catchers. No, Pierasol might, you know, Kittle could be banged up. He is kind of the main target.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah, he's been the main guy for the receivers for the last two months, it seems like. And I know that it started off rocky for him as he was kind of battling through his own injuries, but now it looks like he's the healthiest of the top pass catchers on the 49ers offense. And look, he has a real connection with Brock Purdy. No, it was Mac Jones to start the year for the most part. And that's when Jennings wasn't nearly as productive because he just doesn't have the same type of chemistry that he does with Brock Purdy, which stems from last season. Season. So although the yardage hasn't been there this year, it's not like we've never seen him have big yardage games with Brock Purdy as his quarterback. So I kind of echo most the same things Fitz said about it's a good matchup. He's got touchdown equity. He plays an offense that scores a lot of points. So I don't think it's super fluky that he is scoring all these touchdowns when Brock Purdy is targeting him in the red zone quite often he'll have those opportunities against the Chicago Bears. So I have him behind guys like JMO and Mike Evans and Drake London. But I mean, he's 13 because he's a really strong start. And this is, I think, exactly where I had him ranked last week. And I just didn't move him because he did exactly kind of what I expected, put a decent yardage total five catches and scored.

[Chris Welsh]

But is he in that tier of that wide receiver one? Like he's in the back end of maybe that tier. Or do you think he's the start, like the very tippy top of the next? I know technically at 13 you are like the wide receiver, the first of the wide receiver twos. But you know what I'm getting at? Which tier break is he?

[Andrew Erickson]

I think that he's probably in that tier just, just based on the production. Right. Again, the usage you can kind of poke some holes in. But at this point, week 17, we just need production. Right? You're not going to win your fantasy championship with expected fantasy points. As much as I'd love to say that, it's not how it works. So you need the production and Jennings is producing.

[Chris Welsh]

All right, next wide receiver up here. Terry McLaurin is in a juicy matchup this week. Quarterback play, maybe not so much, but he going up against the Dallas Cowboys five star rating on on the ranks page. If you look as far as matchups go, it's the only five star in the top 24 wide receivers we have ranked. Terry McLaurin is wide receiver 16. And both of you fine gentlemen, boop down. Further down. One of you, the one that's going to talk. Second wide receiver three. Erickson. You've got him as a wide receiver too though. Wide receiver 20. What's got you down on Terry McLaren this week?

[Andrew Erickson]

Well, I don't know who his quarterback is going to be. I think that is probably where Fitz also has McLaren ranked lower. I'm not like, oh, you have to completely bury him if Josh Johnson is the quarterback. We've seen Josh Johnson play like, I think that he's fine and when it comes to, I mean he's probably the best third string quarterback that's going to play on Christmas potentially. So I don't necessarily hate that for Terry McLaren the matchup is so good that the Dallas secondary is so bad. I know they got Trevon Diggs back last week. He looked terrible. He was giving up, he was giving up all sorts of production to every single Chargers wide receiver. So their secondary is still, as we say on the show, buns. So I think that there is upside with Terry McLaurin. I just, I don't know what kind of upside though, is it top 10 potentially with Josh Johnson and the commander's offense has just kind of been a mess all year long. That's kind of where I get a little bit concerned and gun shy about getting him up to wide receiver 16. But if we get Mariota as the quarterback. I'll definitely move him up closer to the 15 range.

[Chris Welsh]

Moving you down a couple notches for that for reminding us about that. Fitzy, you got him at 26. Is this completely relevant to Josh Johnson being the quarterback? Is there movement potential if Mariota is going to be out there or like what I mean, this is, this is just Josh Johnson, right?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Yes and yes. Welsh. I'm working under the assumption that Josh Johnson is going to start a quarterback for the Commanders and if Mariota is able to play, I'll move up McLaurin. But Mariota has a hand injury and a quad injury, so I don't know what the outlook for him is potentially coming back. Josh Johnson has a career completion percentage of 58%. He's thrown more interceptions and touchdown passes. He's only started four, four games since 2018 and in one of them he had 304 yards and two touchdowns. In the other three, 153 or fewer passing yards and a combined two touchdown passes in those three starts. So I don't really care that the matchup against Dallas looks good on paper. I just, I don't really want to start a wide receiver tied to Josh Johnson if I can help it.

[Chris Welsh]

So Terry McLaurin, even though the matchups there might be a fade for this week pending some of the wide receivers that you guys have got another one, this is a guy that we all kind of continuously want to fade, but he keeps getting it done, especially in dramatic and incredible fashion. Last week, DJ Moore. DJ Moore comes in at ECR wide receiver 21. I think we are also still waiting on like what's going on with the other guys, maybe even Luther Burton more particularly, but he is ECR21. You guys both have him at the back end, so you're just lower than ecr, but you're in the same general range. Back in wide receiver two at this point, Erickson at 24. Fitzy, you've got him at 22. Because of the last couple of weeks as your level of confidence like come up on DJ Moore or is this more relevant to like the other guys not being active?

[Andrew Erickson]

I think for me it's about the availability of the other players for the Bears. I mean, Luther Burden was the target leader the last couple games when Roma Dunes was out. D.J. moore over the last two weeks has been averaging six targets per game. It hasn't like been a oh, he's the alpha back in this passing game last week. Again, you can't take away the big play he made in overtime, but if they don't get that onside kick, that play doesn't exist. And DJ Moore finishes with four catches for 51 yards. And we're not talking about DJ Moore as locked and loaded top 20 wide receiver in week 17 under your fantasy football championships. So I think that if there's no burden, there's no doings that yeah, you can play DJ Moore as a top 20 guy. I'll definitely move him up closer to where he ECR has him again against the 49ers which I think is one of the better matchups the Bears passing game has actually had in like a month. So I do think that works favorably in DJ Moore's favor. And look, he's not a bad player either. I know that this year has been down for him overall, but he's popped off the last couple games. He's obviously scored some touchdowns. So I think that yeah, he can definitely be a top 24 guy. That's why I have him as a backhand wide receiver too.

[Chris Welsh]

Fitzy, is your rank of DJ Moore just relative to the other guys not being active or is it about his most recent usage in the offense and him becoming like a trustworthy option?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I mean that's a key for sure that it seems like Romo Dunes has very little chance of playing, if any and Luther Burden could very well miss a second straight game. So D.J. moore is going to be Caleb Williams number one target against a 49ers pass defense that as you know Welsh isn't very good. They have trouble getting pressure on quarterbacks. They don't give up a lot of big plays in the passing game, but they will let you nickel and dime them to death. They've allowed the fourth most completions in the league and they've given up 27 touchdown catches. So yeah, I mean what Erickson said is a valid point and I wish that game last week didn't get to overtime and make DJ Moore's weak. But he has been wide receiver 5 and wide receiver 7 in half point PPR scoring the last two weeks. So I don't expect another top 10 performance necessarily. But I do think if A Dunes and Burden are both out, Moore is a pretty good play this week.

[Chris Welsh]

I wasn't thinking about the open wound on that game either, so apologies. Yes, I bet you weren't. Yeah, sure you weren't. Not at all. I mean I am right. I'm riding high right now off of that game last night 49ers and the walk off fantasy win like I've just got blinders I'm just like that. All right, final one in the wide receiver twos here, Jalen Waddle. Jalen Waddle, ECR 23. This is a spot where you guys are kind of on opposite ends. Fitzy, why don't we start with you? You are at ECR on Jaylen Waddle. Quinn, yours did surprise some people, at least from a passing yard standpoint. I mean, I think his passing yard prop was like 180 or something. He put up like 260. A little bit more competent than we thought they were using the, you know, some of these pieces a little bit differently as well. Just desperately trying to get Waddle involved here. Where are you at wide receiver 23? Are you kind of like indifferent? You're like, yeah, he's fine. Any upside? What's your take?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

I think he's really hard to rank for the second straight week. Probably the hardest wide receiver to rank because of the Quinn Ewers factor. You know, five catches for 72 yards on nine targets last week, not bad. But that was with Quinn ewers throwing for 260 yards. And I will take the under on 260 passing yards for Quinn Ewers this week, even in a pretty good matchup against the Buccaneers. But then on the other hand, like, Waddle is basically the only viable wide receiver the Dolphins have, unless you count Darren Waller as a wide receiver, which he basically is. I'm starting Waddle in a championship game where I really don't have that much of a choice. So I guess I have to be okay with it. I just, I think there's a pretty wide range of possible outcomes here.

[Chris Welsh]

Now Erickson, you are higher. You've got him in the teens, you've got him as a mid wide receiver two this week, you've got him at wide receiver 17. So give us or paint us a positive narrative around starting Jalen Waddle this week.

[Andrew Erickson]

Well, Fitz has talked about the performance last week, which was pretty good. 5 or 72, 9 targets and he had still 67 incompleted air yards. So there was even more to kind of see from him production wise. Again, when you have a rookie quarterback, not all of your targets are going to be completed. That's a given. Pass funnel defense, the Buccaneers, that's all they do. People just throw on them and throw on them and throw on them and every offense knows it. You don't. I, I we could see HNC10 targets in this game because they decide, no, we're not gonna run up the middle, we're just gonna get him in space and he's gonna make plays. And the Bucks right now talking about teams that are just super vulnerable. This team can't get out of their own way. They can't win a game. So I know that it seems like, oh well, they just roll against Miami, will they? I'm not so sure about that, especially with Miami. I believe that they're playing at home. So you're getting good weather conditions, you're playing in sunny Florida. Waddle has been solid for most of the season without Tyreek Hill in the lineup as the number one option, so I think he's going to see double digit targets again and I think that makes him worth a start. 30% target share last week.

[Chris Welsh]

Wide receiver threes are coming up here in just a second, but first, today's show is brought to you by Hard Rock Bet. Are you out of your fantasy playoffs but still want to get in on the Week 17 action? Head over to Hard Rock Bet. They make it easy to bet both before kickoff and between snaps. In just a few simple taps, I open the app, find a bet I like. Bam. My bet is placed just in time for me to get back to wrapping presents and enjoying my favorite Christmas movie. Sign up today and bet $5 on any game. If it wins, you can also score $150 in bonus bets, a winning bet plus an extra 150 to bet with. Now that's spreading some holiday cheers. Plus, Hard Rock bet fills your stockings with new promos daily, so whenever you're listening, just open up the app, check out what they've got going on any day of the week. Download the Hard Rock Bet app today and make your first deposit payable and bonus bets.

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[Chris Welsh]

Receiver threes 25 through 36 starts off with Wandell Robinson, Stefan Diggs, Lad McConkey all the way down at 27, Christian Watson, Chris Godwin, Brian Thomas at 30. The back half is Michael Pittman, Marvin Harrison, Debo Samuel, Jaden Reed, Ameka Egbuka and Adnai Mitchell. This is not a great list and there are some big fallers on this as well. I mean like you look at Egbuca, you look at like where lad has gone. The twenties are a little bit more like you don't have these big discussion points. This is a really interesting one. Where are we at gentlemen on Brian Thomas? Brian Thomas Jr. ECR 30 going up against the Colts. Colts just got dashed in the passing game. Five touchdowns given up on the receiving side. Trevor Lawrence is a monster and Brian Thomas, he's not the dude, but he's waking up a little bit. You know, Parker Washington had a big week last week. We've seen Brian Thomas, you know, just get back involved at least in that rotation. You guys have got some interesting ranks here. You're on opposite ends with one being more positive than ECR and that's Fitz. So Fitz, actually, why don't we start with you. You've got him at 28 for this week. Not a resounding like, you know, pound the table for Brian Thomas, but that's a wide receiver three. You probably got him over a few other very interesting names. What's your take here? Can Brian Thomas salvage this back half of the season? If someone's still holding onto him in.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

The championship, I think he can. Before we get to Brian Thomas Jr. Walsh, I have to ask, in that last read you mentioned getting back to rapping presence. What kind of, what kind of present rapper are you? Are you like N and tight, tight wrapping and neat corners or are you like a five year old wrapped at present? Really runs the gamut with, you know, dudes rapping presence.

[Chris Welsh]

It's a great question. I have the rapping hands of Adonai Mitchell. I've got the route running and present buying of Adnai Mitchell, but I've got the hands of A.D. mitchell, unfortunately. F minus rapper, that is for anybody else in the house. My children can probably rap better. Erickson. What, what level of wide receiver rapper are you?

[Andrew Erickson]

I think I'm more of like the Mike Gasecki where I'm not actually trying to wrap presents. It's called you buy a bag, you get tissue paper. There you go. Right. So you're like, your designation is like tight end but you're actually playing.

[Chris Welsh]

So you're tasting Hill.

[Andrew Erickson]

Yes.

[Chris Welsh]

Every week we're waiting for you to step up and then it's just like one week you have a bag with paper but you can never get the wrapper.

[Andrew Erickson]

Once everybody starts object estimate, then it's Taysom Hill week.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, Then, then you step up when you're not believed in anymore. All right, so you're the Taysom Hill of of present rapping. I'm the Adnai Mitchell. I'm going to guess this is Fitz telling us that he is the Jamar Chase. He's the go to 15 target present rapper.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

No, I just talked about Jalen Waddle having a wide range of outcomes this week. I'm kind of a Jalen Waddle. Like one present will look really good and I kind of nail it and it looks solid, like it could pass muster and pass inspection for anyone. And then the next present, my wife will look at me and we'll be like, dude, what, what happened to you in the wrapping on this one?

[Chris Welsh]

So it's like two seasons of Brian Thomas, though. It's like there's this great season where you're like, wow, look at this. And then it disappeared and it's like, what happened? So that done with us? What's your level of confidence? Week 17 Brian Thomas, because I'm not sure how many championship teams are going out there, but you want to know what there actually might be because I think a lot of people turn the page and started benching him. So there might be people that did it without him. Should we be doing it with him this week?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Yeah, I've I've got BTJ on a championship team, but oddly enough, I haven't played him all year pretty much. So yeah, he did terrible matchup last week against the Broncos and spent a lot of time in the coverage of Patrick Certain junior And now he gets a nice matchup against the Colts, who we saw your 49ers just completely tear to ribbons last night. Welsh and the Colts don't have Charvarius Ward. They might not have shut down quarterback Sauce Gardner, who's been out with a quad injury and probably isn't going to be rushed back now that the Colts have pretty much careened out of the playoff hunt. So The Brian Thomas Jr. Who went off as a rookie is still there and we've seen little flashes that tantalize us. And now he's playing with a red hot quarterback who's thrown 15 touchdown passes in his last five games. So that's the hope here that Trevor Lawrence is sort of the rising tide that lifts all boats among the Jaguars pass catchers.

[Chris Welsh]

Erickson, you look at like Brian Thomas. I'm going to give you two other players because we don't. We're not planning to talk about those players. And let's see what level of comfort you have in rank. Brian Thomas Jr. Debo Samuel, Jaden Reed, those are your three Debo's got the Cowboys, Jaden Reed has got Baltimore and then obviously Brian Thomas has got the Colts. There's pretty much good matchups across the board. Rank those three in order of your level of like we're going down for the ship with this guy.

[Andrew Erickson]

Brian Thomas Jr. Jaden Reed, Debo. I want nothing to do with Debo Samuel.

[Chris Welsh]

You never.

[Andrew Erickson]

You just the last three weeks when you publish your rankings, you get notifications saying you are so and such lower on player Devo Samuel every single week. Look at his finishes outside the top 50 last three. I'm like, I can't do this Devo Samuel thing. I can't. The dude has nothing left. There's nothing left in the tank.

[Chris Welsh]

Body type of Philip Rivers out there and he just know I just don't.

[Andrew Erickson]

Care and I know he's this week again. Are you sure you want to have Deebo Samuel 10 spots lower than ECR? Yes, I do. Please. I don't want to sign up for this ride anymore. So I think it's easy between those three, especially if we get Malik Willis. We saw Jaden Reed splits last year with Malik Willis and he was unplayable. And when they really leaned more into the run game. Now maybe they don't do that as much, but Jaden Reed was already, I mean the stat that Fitz dropped last week about how Jaden Reed has had one game with double digit targets. I had to kind of recalibrate expectations. Obviously Jordan Lee, Jordan Love got hurt last week so it really kind of nuked the entire packers passing attack. But what's his upside like? Doesn't have that much. I think upside is non existent when it comes to Debo Samuel at this point in his career. Brian Thomas Jr. We saw him play the Colts earlier this year. He had 87 receiving yards in their first matchup. So there is an upside case for Brian Thomas Jr. I want to make sure that Sauce Gardner is out because it is possible that he does come back and maybe the Colts are trying to justify. Well no, we did trade two first round picks for this guy. Like we want him on the field or it's hey, we trade two first round picks for this guy, we may need to make sure he's okay for next season. So we'll see how that kind of shakes out. But well, that.

[Chris Welsh]

Will that change your rank? If.

[Andrew Erickson]

If.

[Chris Welsh]

I mean like if he's not. You'll move him?

[Andrew Erickson]

Oh yeah. If he's. If he's definitely not playing. Brian Thomas Jr. Would mute move up into. I think, I mean I, I look at this wide receiver three tier and it's gross. I mean, who has more upside this week? Brian Thomas Jr. LA McConkey against. I'll take BTJ over Lab McConkey against the Houston Texans. I mean his targets aren't necessarily super abundant in his offense where they like to spread it out, they're running the ball a little more effectively. Whereas Brian Thomas Jr. Look, since week five he has two top 13 finishes, right? So it's not a lot, but there is a sample size of okay, he can have a big game, he's capable, he. And who would I want to attach my wide receiver to with a big game would be the quarterback one in fantasy points per game since week five, which is Trevor Lawrence. So you have a dome environment against a secondary that just got eviscerated by Brock Purdy. Yeah, I think btj, if there's no sauce Gardner, he could be one of these sneaky flex plays that gets you a ton of points that maybe you weren't expecting basically the entire season. Okay.

[Chris Welsh]

Going from one high expectation wide receiver of disappointment to another. And that'll be the kind of theme that we're going to do with these. Marvin Harrison Jr. Marvin Harrison returned. He's ECR32 on this list. Didn't do a whole lot in his return. But you've got Marvin Harrison going up against the Cincinnati Bengals. You guys are, you know, within reason. Fitzgerald, a little bit lower. Erickson, you're higher. So Erickson, you kick it off. Why are you. I mean higher as in he's a mid wide receiver 3 but he's kind of in that Brian Thomas territory. What is there, what optimism do you have in Marvin Harrison right now?

[Andrew Erickson]

Yeah, this one is really tough to rank him. Michael Wilson with Trey McBride coming off his bomb game. And then you have this Elijah hating and things which is that real? Is it not real? Well, maybe it is real because he's facing the Bengals this week and we know the Bengals terrible against tight ends.

[Chris Welsh]

And also to throw into, you take that same logic of what you said where you're playing that game of like, what's the upside? What really is the upside of Marvin Harrison at this point with. With Trey McBride and Michael Wilson in there, like I would actually say, because Fitzy shaking his head. Yeah, I think that's like kind of the thing. I'm not sure there is massive upside anymore when you start to compare. If you were to play that same game where you're like Brian Thomas Lad McConkey, you want to throw Christian Watson in who has the least upside of everybody? I think it might be Marvin Harrison of that group. But what say you, Erickson?

[Andrew Erickson]

Well, I don't wouldn't say that he has no ups. I mean, he's playing in a game this week with a 511 1/2 point total and he's a wide. He's the number one wide receiver on the Cardinals. Look, he's had two games where he came back and he was more productive than Michael Wilson was. Like the targets were sapped away. Even just this past week they had the same amount of targets. They both had three targets in the game. Now, Michael Wilson ended up scoring the touchdown, but the sample size again we went over on the extra point. Welsh. Right. Guess which games Marvin Harrison played with Michael Wilson based on the finishes and last week, yeah, he did score the touchdown, but he got there on three targets. The issue with this for me is if it was anyone else but the Bengals, I would feel more confident about Marvin Harrison Jr. Over Michael Wilson this week. But if Marvin Harrison Jr. Is viewed as the number one guy and he didn't draw D.J. turner coverage, well, then that becomes problematic for Marvin Harrison Jr. And then it does become more of a better matchup potentially for Michael Wilson. So I'm having a lot of trouble trying to wrap my mind around these particular Cardinals wide receivers because I like the game total. But the Bengals have allowed the fewest points to wide receivers this season. So is it just Trey McBride, is this going to score all the points and this Elijah Higgin things is going to go on for another week because they're just so bad against tight ends. And that's who trade or that's who Jacoby Brissette is going to lean on the most. But I just don't want to ignore the fact that when Michael Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr. Have been on the field at the same time, Michael Wilson's not getting as many targets. Like his targets are getting completely nuked when Marvin Harrison Jr. Is on the field. And I don't want to completely ignore that. I don't think that fantasy manner should either. So I think that the gap right now between Wilson and Harrison, I mean, why is Michael Wilson Wide receiver 15 in ECR When Harrison Jr. Is going to play in full capacity? He wasn't wide receiver 15 last week and he only had three targets. So that's kind of where I'm. I get this isn't even really about. It's more about a Marvin Harrison versus Michael Wilson.

[Chris Welsh]

Yeah, more about like Wilson's rank Shouldn't be that. Which I think you can do, by the way. I think you can have that.

[Andrew Erickson]

But I'm also. But I'm also trying to, like, I'm not sure that this means that, oh, it's a smash spot for Harrison either because of the. The D.J. turner matchup. And, you know, who do the Bengals view as the, you know, tougher receiver that they need to defend? And if that's Harrison, then you could see Michael Wilson having the more productive game. So I'm pretty torn on. On these guys.

[Chris Welsh]

Fitz, you were shaking your head when I was doing the, like, upside on Marvin Harrison. So what's your take? I think you're a little bit lower. You are two spots at, what is it, 34 on Harrison this week.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Yeah, he played 51% of the offensive snaps last week in his first game back from a heel injury. One catch for 14 yards on three targets. I don't know if he's fully healthy, but Erickson is talking himself into circles here. Let's just take the Occam's razor approach to this. The Cardinals are playing the Bengals, who have allowed the fourth fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Bengals have allowed the most fantasy points to tight ends by a freaking country mile. Where do you think the ball is going this week? I would bet that Trey McBride and Elijah Higgins are going to combine for more targets than Michael Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr. Well, and I think those two receivers are going to fight for the table scraps this week, and I'm probably betting that Michael Wilson is going to get more of those table scraps than Harrison.

[Andrew Erickson]

Cardinals, where do you have Michael Wilson?

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

So I've, I mean, yeah, he didn't get many targets, but like, he hit on a big play last week. I've got him at 19. But that does, in fairness, that does feel too high. And I'm. I'm still pretty well below ecr.

[Chris Welsh]

Like that's in the general range. All right. The final of the big fat disappointments has been the just trending down arrow of a mechagbuka all year. He's now ECR wide receiver 35. You guys are both one spot lower on him. You've got him at 36. We're looking for other options at this point. And frankly, you might. We know what the upside that does exist. But you might be in a spot where you just want to throw a dart on someone else even a little bit further at this point with how Mecca is going. Fitzy, what's your take on Inc. Buka this week? Seems like there's just not a scenario where you can put him out there unless you're just depleted.

[Pat Fitzmaurice]

He ran fewer routes than Jalen McMillan last week. He ran the fourth most routes among the Buccaneers receivers. It's kind of a four receiver rotation now with a quarterback who has not played especially well for the last two months in Baker Mayfield. And yeah, I just, he's a real dicey play. It was his lowest snapshare of the season. Well, excuse me, second lowest snapshare 56% last week and I think in the one game where he had a lower snapshare he got dinged up back in week six. So yeah, I just. He's kind of a part time guy right now. I don't think he can play him confidently.

[Chris Welsh]

Erickson is every question about a Mecca Igbuka? No. Or is there anything that has got you optimistic that you could throw him out there as like a flex at this point?

[Andrew Erickson]

The thing is with Ibuka and I agree with everything Fitz said, he's a really tough click just because the usage has really been plummeting the last couple of weeks with some of these receivers coming back. But the thing that's weird about it is but now his efficiency has gotten a lot better because he's not playing nearly as much. Again, terrible last week, two targets and yet he still led the team in receiving yards because he had one catch for 40 yards. So I don't think that it's a. Again, he's still in that back end wide receiver 3 range. Even though we are feeling pretty pessimistic about Ed Buka. But it's still the Miami Dolphins. We just saw them get completely eviscerated by Joe Burrow. Is it a bounce back spot for Baker Mayfield? It should be on paper, but he hasn't played particularly well. I think a Booka is in that boomer bust type of category where you're trying to get away from him. But if push comes to shove and he's kind of like the best upside option you have, that's kind of how I would paint the picture of him turning it around because he has been more efficient and I think that's because he's getting more favorable looks when he's not viewed as the locked and loaded number one guy. And it's always possible that, you know, next week he does run more routes than Jalen McMillan. This is only a one week sample size so it doesn't necessarily mean that, oh well, every single week he's always going to be fourth on the team in routes run. Maybe he was dealing with some type of injury or something, I don't know. But he had the most yards on the team last week. Like that shouldn't be totally ignored. But again, it's, it's a low confidence play this week.

[Chris Welsh]

Hopefully we can build up your confidence with some of your plays. It is a weird week because it is a holiday week with some of the normal content not out there. But just make sure you're following us in all the spots. We've got the YouTube, we've got the Twitch, Twitch TV, FantasyPros, we've got the Discord fantasyprose.com chat all of those places where you can find any live streams we've got going on where we can answer your questions and you can even have access to some of the analysts. So make sure you're following on all those. If you've got more for your championship week, that is going to do it for the wide receivers. For Erickson and Pat Fitzmaurice, I'm Chris Welsh. Good luck this week, win those ships and we'll talk to you next time right here on Fantasy Pros. Bye friends.

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[Pat Fitzmaurice]

Com this is an iHeart podcast.

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