💥 The STUDS and DUDS of Week 17

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It's The Touchdown Press Newsletter. Your #1 source for all things fantasy football, DFS, and sports betting, along with 15,000+ fellow degenerates.

I hope you won your league championship this weekend. Here’s one final look before we turn the page to Week 18.

Today in 5 minutes or less, you’ll learn:

• The Studs and Duds of Week 17 🔥 

• The BEST DFS links for the week ahead ✅ 

• More NFL player news and notes 🏈 

STUD QB: Lamar Jackson (BAL)

There’s no other option this week.

The Ravens solidified their AFC dominance with a shellacking of the Dolphins on New Year’s Eve, and Jackson was the driving force. He passed for 325 yards and a whopping 5 TD passes, and has now finished as a top-10 fantasy QB in 5 of the last 6 weeks.

Surely Lamar had a hand in winning a few league championships.

DUD QB: Patrick Mahomes (KC)

I’ll never knock Mahomes for his talent or his competitive effort, but this is a fantasy sports newsletter, and there were championships on the line this weekend. Mahomes threw for just 1 TD and lost a fumble in the New Year’s Eve win against the Bengals, which just isn’t enough production for our overall QB7.

The Chiefs have had some slightly rougher outings lately, and it will be interesting to watch as they head into the playoffs.

STUD RB: Kyren Williams (LAR)

With apologies to the Cam Akers drafters, Williams has been a revelation in 2023 right up through Week 17. The Giants’ run defense didn’t disappoint as they allowed Williams to find the end zone 3 times, despite holding him to under 100 yards for just the 2nd time in the last 6 weeks.

Fantasy Life’s Advanced Rushing Stats have Williams ranked 3rd of all NFL RBs in yards before contact per attempt, which is partly thanks to his own shiftiness and party thanks to the Rams’ O-Line.

DUD RB: James Cook (BUF)

Cook certainly could have been better against the Patriots, even though New England does have a strong run defense. He averaged just 3 yards per carry on 16 attempts, and his lone reception went for -4 yards.

This is now 2 weeks in a row for Cook where he’s been dangerously close to falling outside of the top 50 PPR backs of the week. That’s just not useful for fantasy or DFS.

STUD WR: CeeDee Lamb (DAL)

It’s been a career year for Lamb who is now the PPR WR1 after 17 Weeks of play. Saturday night’s controversial win over Detroit was an absolute monster. CeeDee hit his season high in targets (17), receptions (13), and yards (227) while also adding a TD for good measure. It was irrelevant that he lost a fumble.

CeeDee is now WR5 in total receptions and WR3 in total yards heading into a crucial stretch for Cowboys fans.

DUD WR: Chris Olave (NO)

The game just didn’t pan out quite the way I had predicted, and Olave had his lowest fantasy output since Week 4 and his second lowest of the entire season. He couldn’t even find the end zone to help offset the disappointment of his 26 receiving yards. It seemed like he should have gotten more against Tampa’s vulnerable secondary for championship managers.

Despite the quiet game, Olave is still 2nd in the NFL in his team’s air yard percentage, according to Fantasy Life’s Air Yards tool.

STUD TE: Juwan Johnson (NO)

Johnson got the Olave production in this one, turning 12 targets into 8 receptions for 90 yards and a TD. He was able to take advantage where the Saints’ WRs couldn’t.

Johnson’s been on a nice little run, with finishes as the TE9, TE4, and TE2 over the last 3 games. The question is whether or not fantasy managers had the foresight to start him in the championship.

DUD TE: Travis Kelce (KC)

Just 4.6 PPR points from Kelce in Week 17 is not what we expected or hoped to see. It was his 3rd straight game failing to get into the double digits, and his 2nd-lowest fantasy score of the year. It’s also the 1st time he’s fallen out of the top 30 tight ends of the week, and just his 5th time out of the top 10.

Poor timing.

📈 The Latest on the NFL Playoff Picture with 1 Week Left

🐬 Torn ACL Means HUGE Hit to Miami’s Pass Rush 

🤷‍♂️ QB Lamar Jackson’s Status for Week 18 Still Unknown

🦬 Josh Allen Dealing with New Injury After Win vs. Pats

💪 Pickett Cleared to Play, Clouding Steelers’ QB Situation

🦁 Coach Campbell and Lions to Use Frustration as Motivation

🦵 Rams to Return to Old Friend in Kicking Game

🐎 Broncos Announce Starting Quarterback for Week 18

🐆 Jaguars Lose a WR, Look Forward to Another’s Return

🏈 New Football League to Compete With NFL

🚨 With No. 1 Seed Secured, 49ers Announce Rests

🤕 Falcons’ QB Trying to Stay on Field in Season Finale

🧀 Packers’ WR Reed Unsure of Week 18 Status

🦅 Eagles’ WR Smith Dealing with Ankle Sprain

🩼 QB Tagovailoa Sustains 4th-Quarter Injury on Sunday

🐏 Dislocated Shoulder for Rams’ TE Higbee in Week 17

👩‍🍳 Mayfield Has Soreness; Will he Play in Week 18?

It’s sad to think we’re heading into the NFL’s final regular season week. Time to get psyched for the playoffs!

The Touchdown Press is a must-read for every NFL fan — pure signal, highly actionable, and one-liners funny enough to make you pee a little bit.

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