The Jacksonville Jaguars will face the Tennessee Titans in Week 17. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding TE Brenton Strange.
Is Brenton Strange Playing in Week 17?
Updated at 11:30 AM ET on Sunday, December 29
Strange is active for today's game
The Jaguars new TE1 was listed as limited on Wednesday’s estimated practice report with his shoulder injury. He continued that same designation on Thursday but was a full participant on Friday. He will be playing on Sunday.
We’ll continue to monitor the Jaguars’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Brenton Strange in Week 17?
Strange put up 18.3 PPR points on plenty of benches in Week 15 and then busted with a 2.2-point outing on Sunday in Las Vegas when we were ready to trust him.
Ugh.
I was ready to fire up “Ponzi Scheme Strange” as a nickname, and I still like the ring it has, but I don’t believe it. The fact of the matter is that the Jaguars simply didn’t view him as valuable in this spot.
One week after being on the field for 80.5% of Jacksonville’s offensive snaps, Strange’s role was reduced to 50.8%, resulting in just 15 routes run. When fully extended, we still have this trend from last week:
Strange’s production in four career games with 20+ routes:
- 12.4 PPR points per game
- 19.6% on-field target share
- 25% target rate in the red zone
I can’t pretend to know what is going on in the Jacksonville coaching rooms, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that scoring seven points on your final nine drives against the Raiders wasn’t the result they were hoping for.
The Titans allow the second-highest opponent passer rating when their opponents reach the red zone (112.7). I’m hopeful that Strange’s participation increases OR that the value of his routes improves — if we get both, that is how you walk into significant DFS value.
He’s too thin of a play for me in season-long formats, but I’m not fully selling in my stock just yet.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 17 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Brenton Strange’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 17
As of Sunday morning, Strange is projected to score 9.4 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 3.4 receptions for 34.2 yards and 0.4 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insight on the Titans' Defense
Similar to the Bears, the Tennessee Titans' defense looks like a talented unit that has finally begun to crack under the strain of supporting a non-functional offense.
Sunday's loss to the Colts resulted in a 66.0 (D) grade, the Titans' second-worst of the season. Tennessee's three lowest grades of the season have all come within its last four games.
Sunday brought a season-worst -0.29 EPA per rush allowed, which shouldn't be a surprise given that Indianapolis ran for 335 yards. Out of 480 games played to date this year, Tennessee's defensive performance ranked 467th in EPA per rush allowed.
Tennessee's defense hasn't been bad for most of the year, and it's helped the team win some games. Still, the overall results are below average. It's a good foundation for the new coaching staff to build on, but plenty of improvements remain for next season.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Brenton Strange’s Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 7:25 AM ET on Sunday, December 29. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Weekly Consensus Superflex Rankings.
Week 17 TE PPR Rankings
1) Brock Bowers | LV (at NO)
2) Trey McBride | ARI (at LAR)
3) George Kittle | SF (vs. DET)
4) Jonnu Smith | MIA (at CLE)
5) Sam LaPorta | DET (at SF)
6) Mark Andrews | BAL (at HOU)
7) Travis Kelce | KC (at PIT)
8) T.J. Hockenson | MIN (vs. GB)
9) Dalton Schultz | HOU (vs. BAL)
10) Pat Freiermuth | PIT (vs. KC)
11) Chigoziem Okonkwo | TEN (at JAX)
12) Tucker Kraft | GB (at MIN)
13) Dalton Kincaid | BUF (vs. NYJ)
14) Brenton Strange | JAX (vs. TEN)
15) Jake Ferguson | DAL (at PHI)
16) Hunter Henry | NE (vs. LAC)
17) Juwan Johnson | NO (vs. LV)
18) Stone Smartt | LAC (at NE)
19) Zach Ertz | WAS (vs. ATL)
20) Kyle Pitts | ATL (at WAS)
21) Mike Gesicki | CIN (vs. DEN)
22) Will Dissly | LAC (at NE)
23) Noah Gray | KC (at PIT)
24) Isaiah Likely | BAL (at HOU)
25) Grant Calcaterra | PHI (vs. DAL)
26) Cole Kmet | CHI (vs. SEA)
27) Austin Hooper | NE (vs. LAC)
28) Noah Fant | SEA (at CHI)
29) Ja'Tavion Sanders | CAR (at TB)
30) Foster Moreau | NO (vs. LV)
31) Tyler Higbee | LAR (vs. ARI)
32) Michael Mayer | LV (at NO)
33) Tommy Tremble | CAR (at TB)
34) Daniel Bellinger | NYG (vs. IND)
35) Dawson Knox | BUF (vs. NYJ)
36) Payne Durham | TB (vs. CAR)
37) Tyler Conklin | NYJ (at BUF)
38) Jordan Akins | CLE (vs. MIA)
Titans at Jaguars Trends and Insights
Tennessee Titans
Team: Tennessee has lost consecutive games when scoring at least 27 points – they had two such losses in their previous 86 games.
QB: Mason Rudolph isn’t leading an offense, but he’s getting rid of the ball – he has more touchdown passes (eight) than sacks this season (seven).
Offense: The Titans are seven-of-seven in the red zone over their past two games, which is great, but they have only converted one fourth-down pass since the beginning of November.
Defense: The Titans have allowed over 38 yards per drive three times this season – they’ve all come in December.
Fantasy: Calvin Ridley is the third Titan receiver over the past 20 years to have seven receptions and three touchdowns, gaining 30+ yards. The others? A.J. Brown (2019-20) and DeAndre Hopkins (2023).
Betting: Tennessee is 2-13 ATS. Unless they cover each of their final two games, they will finish as the worst ATS team of the 2000s up to this point (the 2007 Ravens and the 2014 Titans both finished 3-13 ATS).
Jacksonville Jaguars
Team: Jacksonville was embarrassed in Detroit (Week 11: 52-6 loss), but every Jaguar game since has been decided by seven or fewer points.
QB: Mac Jones completed his first 20+ yard pass of the season last week, which traveled 21+ yards in the air. It was a 62-yard Brian Thomas Jr. score.
Offense: Since Week 8, the Jaguars have turned the ball over on 18.1% of their offensive drives.
Defense: The Jaguars have not forced a turnover in five straight games (10 such performances this season).
Fantasy: Brian Thomas Jr. is one of three receivers since 2000 to post 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns through 16 weeks of his rookie season – and all came from LSU (Odell Beckham Jr. in 2014 and Ja’Marr Chase in 2021).
Betting: The Jaguars are just 3-9-1 ATS in their past 13 home December games.