The Seattle Seahawks will face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 16. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Seahawks skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 16 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Geno Smith, QB
Week 9 was the last time Geno Smith finished inside of the top 20 at the position. Asking him to reverse that trend against the blitz-heaviest defense in the NFL is a tall order.
Seattle’s offense as a whole has been underwhelming of late. Five of the first six Seahawks games this season went over the betting total, but unders are 6-2 since.
I currently have Smith sitting outside of my top 20, ranking in the same range as the random number generator that is Anthony Richardson.
Kenneth Walker III, RB
Week 17 Status: OUT
Kenneth Walker III missed last week with an ankle/calf injury and his status for this week is TBD. Zach Chabonnet filled the full version of Walker’s role in Week 14 (29 touches and seven catches on seven targets) and seemed poised to do so again in Week 15, but the game with the Packers was never close enough to really get a feel.
I don’t think we have a changing of the guard in Seattle should everyone be healthy; the idea of this being a committee and/or hot-hand situation is certainly there.
Walker has had his health issues in the past, and it’s not as if he was overwhelmingly productive before getting banged up (Weeks 8-13: 31.1% below PPR expectations).
Keep an eye on every update coming out of Seattle this week. They are going to want to establish the run to help neutralize Minnesota’s aggressive playcalling, but how they go about that is to be determined. Should we get a clean bill of health for Walker, he’ll be ranked ahead of Charbonnet for me, but the gap won’t be nearly what it was a month ago.
Zach Charbonnet, RB
Week 17 Status: PLAYING
Zach Charbonnet is the most valuable Seahawks running back for the remainder of the season.
I feel fine in saying that with my chest for two reasons — he’s been great in Kenneth Walker III’s absence over the past two weeks, and even if the presumed starter returns to action, we could be looking at something close to a split backfield.
That means that we are looking at similar values the rest of the way if Walker is back this week while Charbonnet has the potential to fill the role that has seen him rank as RB2 over the past two weeks for at least another game.
The Vikings are a top-six run defense against RBs in terms of EPA, yards per carry, and rushing touchdown rate, making this close to a no-fly zone if we get whispers of a split situation nearing kickoff. I’m comfortable in one bell-cow Seahawk back posting top-20 numbers, as I think this offense will look to minimize Geno Smith’s volume, but if we are dividing a volume-based role multiple ways, I don’t see a way in which I rank either as a must-start for Week 16.
DK Metcalf, WR
DK Metcalf was on the field for 92.9% of Seattle’s snaps on Sunday night but saw just 27 air yards worth of targets, the second-lowest mark of his career. He’s been able to earn looks while Jaxon Smith-Njigba breaks out (6.5 targets per game over his past six), and in the past, that would be enough.
But, I’m not sure if you’ve heard, we live in the present, not the past.
Over that six-game run, Metcalf has been targeted on just 12.5% of his red-zone routes. For some context, he’s never had a season check in under 32% in that metric — this is where, historically, he’s paid the fantasy bills.
Geno Smith (he and Jameis Winston are tied for the most end-zone interceptions thrown this season with four — Smith had three in his career before this year) isn’t quite struggling like Kirk Cousins right now. In a vacuum, I’d take Metcalf over Drake London, but both of those receivers currently have a floor that I would have labeled as illogical two short months ago.
Smith’s knee injury should also be considered in this matchup, in which he is going to be asked to shift quickly. I’m not saying you bench Metcalf for any receiver on your bench with a pulse, but I’d be considering all options — he’s outside of my top 20 at the position this week, ranking alongside other struggling players like Jaylen Waddle and Deebo Samuel.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR
It’s official. Jaxon Smith-Njigba has arrived.
You might assume that it is because he is WR4 on a per-game basis since Week 9 (21.4 PPG, ranking ahead of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Puka Nacua over that stretch). You might assume that it is because he has a touchdown or 10 catches in four of his past five games.
I’m not saying those reasons are wrong, they just aren’t right.
As you might assume, we watch a lot of sports in the Soppe household. To call my wife a passive observer would very much be underselling the word “passive,” but whatever, she’s there for a lot of it.
She can now properly pronounce Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
That’s a surefire sign of stardom. This happened years ago with Giannis Antetokounmpo and she’s gotten there with Shohei Ohtani. And now, Smith-Njigba.
During that Week 9-15 window mentioned above, JSN has an on-field target share that is 5.7 percentage points greater than that of DK Metcalf and a red-zone target rate that is nearly triple of Seattle’s former WR1.
Yea, I did it. I went there. This is the Smith-Njigba show, and I don’t see that changing against a defense that is going to force Geno Smith to make decisions in a hurry.
Tyler Lockett, WR
The Seahawks often play in the late window, and that opens me up to seeing a higher percentage of their offensive snaps than an East Coast team that routinely plays in that crowded first wave of games.
I watch games with an advanced database in front of me, one that deprioritizes standard stats in favor of more detailed metrics. I love it, but as a result, I can lose track of the counting numbers in-game. It feels like, more weeks than not, Tyler Lockett will make an impactful play that grades out well and it sticks out in my mind. I think he’s still a reasonable piece to have on an NFL offense. But the target-earning abilities are all but gone, and we are in the business of chasing volume.
Lockett doesn’t have a five-target game on his résumé since mid-October, and Week 9 was his last top-65 PPR finish. He might make a play or two this weekend against an aggressive Vikings defense that is likely to put him in single coverage, but you’re asking for far too much if you’re considering him as a worthwhile Flex option.
This is a DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba-led passing attack that doesn’t have the desire to get a third party involved consistently.