Fantasy Football Week 17 Wide Receiver Start/Sit: Stefon Diggs, Emeka Egbuka, and More

This is what it all comes down to — Week 17, aka the fantasy football championship round. There's no worse time to have a dud in your lineup or a massive score on your bench. Of course, these outcomes are inevitable, especially at a high-variance position with wide receiver. But this start/sit article is here to help you avoid them if at all possible. 

First, however, a brief look back at Week 16's results: Jauan Jennings (15.6 half-PPR points) and Mike Evans (11.6) both had solid outings as Starts, but Xavier Worthy (5.1) was doomed as soon as Gardner Minshew went down. On the Sit side, Jaylen Waddle (9.7) had a fine enough outing, but I was right to fade Emeka Egbuka (4.5) and Michael Pittman Jr. (5.2). Overall, four out of six ain't bad, but it's not ideal, either.

That's enough introductions, as I'm sure you are all very busy with the holidays. Let's get right into the top wide receivers to start and sit for Week 17.

Use FantasySP's weekly projections to compare players and help make your toughest lineup decisions each week! 

Wide Receivers To Start Week 17

Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This one shouldn't take long, as Evans has clearly reasserted himself as a must-start receiver since returning to the Buccaneers' lineup. Despite being eased in in his first game back, he has averaged 13.9 half-PPR points on a 32% target share and a 48% air yards share. Even in a less-than-ideal matchup with the Dolphins, he should be in your fantasy championship lineups.

Jakobi Meyers, Jacksonville Jaguars

Like his fellow Florida wideout, Meyers deserves more respect for what he's done in recent weeks. Since his second game in Jacksonville back in Week 12, Meyers is the WR13 with 12.1 half-PPR points per game.

Even with Brian Thomas Jr. back, Meyers is still the Jags' clear WR1, averaging a 23% target share and a 23% air yards share over the last four weeks. Of course, those numbers are just good, not great. But with how well Trevor Lawrence has been playing of late, they're better than they may seem. Especially facing a Colts team that allows the third-most points per game to opposing wideouts, Meyers is a very solid option this week.

Stefon Diggs, New England Patriots

This is a very ironic pick to end my fantasy season on. Diggs has appeared in this article many times but exclusively in the Sit section. The veteran has spent multiple stretches this year as a legitimate part-time player in the Patriots' offense, and I've been more successful than not (albeit with a couple of big misses) fading him.

However, Diggs' usage skyrocketed last week. He led New England with a 78% route participation rate, up from below 60% in each of the previous three weeks. He saw 10 targets for a 23% target share and 21% air yards share, catching nine for 138 yards.

Of course, when a player sees uncharacteristically good usage in a particular week, there's always a risk that things return to normal in his following outing. But that risk is massively mitigated for Diggs by the fact that Kayshon Boutte (concussion) and Mack Hollins (abdomen) are both out this week. Even Demario Douglas (hamstring) is questionable. 

With no other options, the Patriots will be “forced” into playing Diggs, who has been their most efficient receiver all season. The only potential issue is that they won't have to pass much against the hopeless Jets, but Diggs will hopefully get his regardless.

Wide Receivers To Sit Week 17

Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Normally, I wouldn't pick on a player as borderline as Egbuka, who is down to just a 40% Start rate on ESPN. But that is genuinely nearly 40% too high. The first-round rookie's fall from grace reached its peak in Week 16: not only was he clearly behind the aforementioned Evans and Chris Godwin in the Buccaneers' offensive pecking order, but his 50% route participation rate landed him behind Jalen McMillan as well.

A 50% route participation rate and being the fourth WR on your team is essentially a guarantee of fantasy irrelevance. Egbuka is already outside my top 50 receivers in preliminary rankings for Week 17, and I'm more likely to move him down than up as we get closer to kickoff. Whatever you do, don't stake your fantasy championship on him.

Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins

To his credit, Quinn Ewers did complete 67% of his passes for 260 yards in his first NFL start in Week 16. But those numbers are a lot less impressive when we consider that they came in a blowout loss against the Bengals' historically bad defense. 

On the bright side, Ewers did fixate on Waddle. The Dolphins' clear top target finished with nine targets for a 30% target share and a 47% air yards share. But he also finished with a mediocre fantasy stat line of just five catches for 72 scoreless yards. 

Given that usage, you definitely can still start Waddle. But I'm nowhere near as confident in that recommendation as I would be for a player in any other situation who is likely to see that kind of usage. The Buccaneers' defense has a bad reputation, but it is actually a fairly mediocre matchup in terms of points allowed to WRs. Put it all together, and Waddle is more of a high-risk/high-upside option than a safe starter. 

All Colts WRs, Indianapolis Colts

Like the Dolphins, the Colts are coming off a game in which their backup quarterback provided a surprisingly decent stat line. Philip Rivers threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns against the 49ers on Monday night, helping Alec Pierce to an excellent WR4 overall finish and Josh Downs to a respectable WR31. Unfortunately, Michael Pittman Jr., the team's theoretical top target, finished as the WR60.

And that's really key to this recommendation. With these three WRs, Jonathan Taylor, and Tyler Warren, the Colts' offense is very crowded. That was fine(ish) when they were dominating teams with Daniel Jones under center. With Rivers at the helm, the combination of systemic risk and variance in usage distribution becomes too much to bear. I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of Pittman, Pierce, or Downs (in that order) has a solid outing this week…but I'm not confident enough of who it will be to trust any of them in fantasy championships.