Fantasy Football Week 17 Start Decisions Involving Lions and Vikings: Jared Goff, Justin Jefferson, Aaron Jones and More

After going over Cowboys and Commanders in trending fantasy football start/sit decisions, let's do the same for Lions and Vikings. That's the second of three Christmas matchups in the NFL.

Check back in a bit for a similar story on Chiefs and Broncos. Also be sure to check out my DFS lineup for Thursday!

Having trouble deciding who to start? Let the FantasySP start/sit tool help you make a decision.

Jared Goff Start Decisions

Goff is the most popular fantasy football player in trending decisions from the Detroit, Minnesota contest. He's part of decisions with New York Giants' Jaxson Dart, Denver's Bo Nix and Buffalo's Josh Allen.

I ranked Goff 12th heading into a brutal fantasy test against Minnesota. He had 284 passing yards and two touchdowns, while avoiding a turnover in the first game against Minnesota, so the matchup is not as bad as it first appears.

Fantasy owners are taking Goff over Dart in week 17. I don't think the decision should be all that close, as I ranked Dart 19th going into an average test against the Raiders. Dart really struggled last week against Minnesota, and I wouldn't be too confident starting him in many leagues - he's definitely below Goff in my eyes this week.

Fantasy owners are also taking Goff over Nix this week. I had Nix ranked 15th heading into a below-average test against the Chiefs, so I agree with fantasy owners. It's a close decision, but I like the Lions' offense over the Broncos' offense, so Goff gets the edge.

Allen is heavily preferred over Goff, which is no surprise. Allen is dealing with an injury, and we won't know his status until after Goff plays, so that complicates things.

I expect Allen to play, but if you have these two QBs, I'd drop Goff, so that you could pivot to another QB if Allen is eventually ruled out. Allen ranks fourth for me this week, and he has a tougher matchup, so adding in an injury concern, Allen isn't the elite fantasy QB option he usually is. 

Wide Receiver Start Decisions

Minnesota's Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison are part of a couple trending decisions right now.

Jefferson is compared to Carolina's Tetairoa McMillan, while Addison is up against Buffalo's Khalil Shakir and Las Vegas' Tre Tucker.

Jefferson made my top-30 wide receiver rankings, coming into 26th. He has a great matchup coming, but after some down fantasy outings and with Max Brosmer starting over the injured J.J. McCarthy, I'm really not super high on Jefferson this week.

The super favorable matchup against the Lions helped Addison come in 30th on my rankings though. I expect Minnesota to be competitive at least, and that could mean good things for both Jefferson and Addison in a great matchup.

Jefferson is preferred over McMillan, with both wideouts starting in 58% of leagues. I have McMillan ranked 20th heading into a tougher test against the Seahawks, so I like him over Jefferson. I'd be happy to start both wide receivers this week though.

Shakir is preferred over Addison, with both starting in 21% of fantasy leagues. Shakir didn't make my top-30 list, so I disagree with the majority here. A tough test against the Eagles, plus factoring a banged-up Allen (at least), I definitely like Addison over Shakir if I needed to choose between the two, and I'd only be starting both in deeper leagues if I could help it.

Addison is preferred over Tucker, with both wide receivers starting in just 8% of fantasy leagues. Tucker didn't make my top-30 list either, so I like Addison between the two. Tucker has a good matchup against the Giants this week, so both wide receivers are good deep-league assets, but I prefer Addison for a standard league spot.

Aaron Jones Sr. Start Decisions

Jones is the last player from this Christmas contest in a trending decision. He's up against Los Angeles Rams' Blake Corum.

If Jones plays, he will have a tougher test against Detroit. Jones had 98 total yards on 11 touches in the first meeting between the teams, so I'm not too scared of the matchup, especially with a below-average quarterback leading his team. I have Jones ranked 25th among running backs for week 17. 

Fantasy owners are taking Jones over Corum, and only starting both just 13% of the time. Corum didn't get a top-30 spot this week heading into an above-average test against the Falcons. Even though Jones isn't a typical RB1, I'd take him over the Rams' second-best back.

Other Fantasy Options

Brosmer is the other half of the quarterback battle in this contest, and although we've mentioned him a few times, we haven't gone into much detail.

I have him ranked 30th among quarterbacks for week 17. He has a pretty favorable test ahead, but it's hard to trust a guy with not much playing time, or success.

Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery are the top running backs for the Lions. Jones leads the Vikings, with help from Jordan Mason usually. 

Jordan looks like a longshot to play with an ankle injury, while Montgomery is working through an illness. Zavier Scott could backup Jones this week, and Ty Chandler could factor in too after just being activated off the injured reserve list. Sione Vaki would be the top backup to Gibbs if Montgomery cannot play this week.

Gibbs is ranked third for me this week despite having a below-average matchup against Minnesota. He had just 28 total yards on 12 touches in the first meeting between the teams. I think Gibbs does a lot more this time around, so fire him up confidently, like you usually would.

Montgomery is a better deep-league starting option because of the matchup and his low usage of late. Vaki wouldn't be worth a starting spot, even if Montgomery were out.

After Jones, it's a tough call on who would get more playing time if Mason is out, so Scott and Chandler are just desperation plays in deeper fantasy setups. If Jones and Mason are both out, Scott and/or Chandler are worth some looks in deeper leagues.

Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams are the top pass catchers in Detroit. Isaac TeSlaa, Kalif Raymond, Shane Zylstra and Anthony Firkser were all decent fantasy options last week in a pass-heavy game for Detroit, but that isn't as likely this week.

St. Brown ranks fourth among wide receivers, while Williams is 13th. Those two should be starting in just about every fantasy league for week 17.

TeSlaa is the best deep-league option of the other Detroit pass catchers. In a very tough fantasy test, I wouldn't really want to start anyone but St. Brown and Williams though. No other wide receivers or tight ends were ranked for the Lions in week 17.

Jefferson and Addison should do most of the heavy lifting for the Minnesota pass catchers. T.J. Hockenson, Josh Oliver and Jalen Nailor will also help out some.

Hockenson ranked 18th for me among tight ends, but is trending toward not playing because of a shoulder injury. That could give Oliver some deep-league potential in a pretty average fantasy matchup.

Nailor is another deep-league option, despite the favorable fantasy matchup. He and some other Minnesota pass catchers could surprise because of the matchup, and if Brosmer can complete some passes in what should be a play-from-behind game for the Minnesota offense.

Jefferson, Addison and Jones are really the only Vikings' offensive players I like in week 17 though. Hockenson, Nailor, Brosmer and others are just deep-league options.