The Las Vegas Raiders‘ fantasy football outlook aims to give you an idea of the value of their receivers, while the Indianapolis Colts‘ fantasy preview discusses who you can trust on their roster as a whole.
What players from this matchup should you consider starting in Week 17?
Las Vegas Raiders at Indianapolis Colts
- Spread: Colts -3
- Total: 44
- Raiders implied points: 20.5
- Colts implied points: 23.5
Quarterbacks
Gardner Minshew II: We’ve seen Gardner Minshew II produce a few ceiling performances this season, and this isn’t a bad spot against a bottom-five defense in terms of completion percentage.
Given the path of Michael Pittman Jr.’s health status last week, it stands to reason that Minshew has his WR1 back for this game, and that paves the way to a reasonable floor/ceiling projection.
This Indianapolis Colts’ offense is built around the ground game, and with Jonathan Taylor active, the Las Vegas Raiders figure to approach this matchup like most: load up the box and take your chances.
Taylor’s efficiency splits are very different when it comes to an extra defender in the box, and if Vegas elects to take away Indianapolis’ greatest strength, Minshew could very well replicate something similar to what he did against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans earlier this month (over 7.0 yards per pass with multiple TD passes).
Running Backs
Josh Jacobs: With a one-year deal in hand and consecutive DNPs (quad/illness), it would appear unlikely that Jacobs returns to action this season. There’s no denying the steps back he took from a career year in 2022, but the soon-to-be 26-year-old figures to still draw some interest this offseason, and his landing spot will ultimately determine how much of a factor he is in our game.
He finished better than RB20 in just one of his last four games, and while there is some risk in investing in a running back, I’d imagine that a team takes a chance on him as their lead back in 2024.
Zamir White: After not getting much of a look as a rookie, White has impressed with consecutive top-15 finishes and 42 touches in Jacobs’ vacated role, per the Week 17 Cheat Sheet.
MORE: Zamir White Fantasy Waiver Wire Week 17
His limitations as a pass catcher date back to his days at Georgia, so there is unlikely to be true three-down upside in White’s profile like what Jacobs produced, but he runs hard and was able to pick up the needed yardage in the upset win over the Chiefs last week.
Assuming Jacobs sits, White should be viewed as a low-end RB2 who is worthy of starting in most formats.
Jonathan Taylor: With Zack Moss out (arm), JT filled the lead role as expected last week, but his 18 carries netted just 43 yards. He saved your day with a touchdown, his fourth in his past three games, but at under 4.0 yards per carry, we haven’t exactly seen vintage Taylor when active this season.
That said, he has still returned RB2 value at the very least in every game since his disappointing debut, and that should have him locked into your lineup. This is a plus matchup in terms of both rush efficiency and red-zone TD conversion rate, giving Taylor a nice ceiling to pair with his proven floor.
Wide Receivers
Davante Adams: There is no denying that this has been an underwhelming season for those who paid up for Adams in their draft, but at least last week was somewhat defensible.
The quality of targets is an issue for anyone on this team, so when you lock in a shutdown corner (L’Jarius Snead) on Adams, the projection can only be so optimistic. Add in a pair of quick defensive touchdowns, and Week 16 was the perfect storm for Adams to be a true bust (four yards on six targets).
I have some more hope in this matchup against a defense that has allowed four TDs to WR1s over their past five games. Adams has three top-10 finishes this season and seven games with at least 10 targets, a profile that, in my humble opinion, lands him in Super Bowl fantasy lineups.
Jakobi Meyers: The bottom was going to fall out sooner than later given the low target count and limited yardage upside, something we got a taste of last week against the Chiefs (three catches for 42 yards).
Are better times ahead? I’m not counting on it. Meyers has been held under 50 receiving yards in eight of his past nine games, so you’re banking on a touchdown in an offense that we hardly trust to score any touchdowns.
MORE: PFN’s FREE NFL Playoff Predictor
His last six positional finishes when failing to get into the end zone helps underscore just how low this floor is if you’re not willing to assume a touchdown:
WR69, WR92, WR67, WR39, WR51, WR60
I love Meyers as much as anyone, but I’m not playing him if I don’t have to this week.
Michael Pittman Jr.: The Pittman experience last week was a tough one for fantasy managers to follow, as he passed through concussion protocol as fast as anyone has all season but then saw symptoms surface following the flight to Atlanta and ultimately sat out.
The touchy nature of head injuries is obviously something that the league is keeping an eye on, and last week’s timeline suggests that we need to make sure to continue to monitor Pittman. At this moment in time, I’m expecting him to play and thus penciling him into lineups,
He’s been great all season (one catch away from his first 100-grab season and 21 yards away from a new career high in that department as well) and is a PPR beast who has proven to be capable of producing in just about any game setting.
He’s a big reason why you are sitting pretty at this point in the season, and I think you’ll have a good chance at having him back in your starting lineup for the finale.
Josh Downs: This is a good player to keep an eye on in the future but not right now unless Pittman sits again.
Downs earned a very respectable 25.7% target share last week, but the concerning part when it comes to his Week 17 projection is that, despite a strong role, he finished with 6.9 fantasy points.
Downs hasn’t reached 45 yards since Week 8 and hasn’t scored since Week 7 — you can do better with your season on the line.
Tight Ends
Michael Mayer: A toe injury kept Mayer out of action last week and is enough of a red flag to pass on streaming him even should he return to action this weekend.
MORE: Fantasy News Tracker
I’m just mentioning his name in this piece so that you don’t forget about him in August. There is upside in his pedigree after having a full season to acclimate to the professional game, even if his 2023 stat line is underwhelming. Don’t lose track of the Golden Domer this offseason when you’re trying to get a feel for the TE position.
Should You Start Zamir White or Ezekiel Elliott?
I go with White in this spot, thanks to his volume. We’ve seen nothing from Ezekiel Elliott to indicate that efficiency is on the horizon and while his role in the passing game is fantasy-friendly, the Raiders’ motivation to see exactly what they have in White gives him the role edge in a close decision.
Should You Start Davante Adams or Stefon Diggs?
I’m willing to overlook the stinker from Adams on Monday due to the matchup and will go after the 55 targets that he saw in his five games prior over the struggles of Stefon Diggs. Neither is nowhere near the fantasy asset that we thought they’d be this summer, but I do have both ranked as fantasy starters, albeit with lowered expectations.
I didn’t think we’d be in the fantasy Super Bowl with concerns over either of these one-time stars, but here we are.
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!