Congrats to everyone who has made it to a dynasty fantasy football final! I am lucky to have made it into five finals across my ten managed dynasty leagues this year, so I hope to win at least a few championships. This has been a season of ups and downs, injuries, and a few surprise performances.
I appreciate every one of you who has read even one of the flex articles, and I hope you have also had a successful season! The nice thing about dynasty is that even if you don’t win this weekend, you can still keep trading and making your squad better all off-season in preparation for next year’s campaign.
For one last time, let’s look back at last week’s picks and see how they did!
Week 16 Hits
James Conner, RB ARI
Conner was a smash hit for the article last week, finishing as the RB4 overall in PPR scoring! When you see he only had 12 rush attempts for 45 yards and zero touchdowns, you might wonder how he managed that on earth. Thanks to the five receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown! Hopefully, you started Conner and are enjoying preparing for your dynasty championship game this week.
Terry McLaurin, WR WAS
It was as I feared for the Washington Commanders against the New York Jets last week. The Jets’ defense was too tough of a mountain to climb for Sam Howell, who got benched for a second week in favor of Jacoby Brissett. The Commanders put up more of a fight under Brissett, but McLaurin still couldn’t get a decent fantasy outing going. He finished with three receptions for 50 yards to give him just eight PPR points last week.
Tyler Lockett, WR SEA
Thankfully, Lockett came through for me after I went to bat for him for the second week in a row. A strong eight receptions on eleven targets for 81 yards was enough for 16.1 PPR points, even without a touchdown in your semi-finals. A solid flex return in almost any league.
Week 16 Misses
Jordan Addison, WR MIN
Sadly, injuries struck again as Addison had to leave in the second quarter against the Detroit Lions. We will never know what his final stat line may have looked like if he had stayed healthy, but as it stands, it was a very poor one reception on four targets for a measly two yards before he left the game. Unfortunately, we cannot know when or if players will get injured.
Devin Singletary, RB HOU
It was a close miss, but a miss nonetheless for Singletary last week. I knew it would be challenging, but I assumed he would get enough passing game work to make it worthwhile. Sadly, he only had three receptions for 19 yards. On the ground, he added nine attempts for 44 yards and, again, no touchdowns—a solid but unspectacular 9.3 PPR points when all is said and done.
Recap
During the penultimate week for the flex article, I finished with three hits, two misses for 44 hits, and 37 misses on the season. We have a 54% hit rate on the year going into finals weekend. As mentioned, I was aiming for much higher this season. But the rate and amount of injuries, especially at the quarterback position, has left even more volatility than usual in 2023. I will dig deep one last time and try to hit it out of the park for week 17!
As a reminder, I am using the FantasyPros Expert Consensus Ranking (ECR) as my guidelines each week. I will pick wide receivers and running backs outside their top 24 to discuss. I will give a couple I like and maybe one or two I don’t and brief reasons. Hopefully, these studs give you more than ten PPR points and will all end up in next week’s “hits” section.
Week 17
Adam Thielen, WR CAR (WR32) ⬆️
Thielen offers a reasonably safe floor and a decent upside. Over the last six weeks, the Jacksonville Jaguars have been a bottom-ten defense against fantasy wide receivers in many important statistical categories. When you combine that with the fact that the Panthers played some of their best football all season last weekend against Green Bay, I think Thielen is an excellent flex option for your finals.
Tyler Lockett, WR SEA (WR27) ⬆️
I am triple-dipping on a player for the first time in the article’s history. Lockett has pretty much everything you are looking for in a flex option for your finals. Volume! He has had a 26% target share over the last three weeks. His matchup is pretty challenging, but the Seahawks are in the playoff hunt. They should be looking to push the ball and hopefully get some juicy volume over to Lockett for your finals week. He is capable of a massive week but should give you a safe enough floor with the targets he has been earning.
James Conner, RB ARI (RB25) ⬆️
I think when it gets this late in the season, we need to be careful at focusing on season-long rankings. The Philadelphia Eagles were a top-five run defense for a big chunk of the campaign. However, when you look at the last six weeks, they have been in the bottom ten in several key statistics. Importantly for us, targets for the RB position are one of those categories. As we saw last week, even when Conner struggles on the ground, he always has the potential to get work in the passing game.
Drake London, WR ATL (WR31) ⬇️
It makes me sad to suggest benching London in your fantasy playoff finals. I don’t think I can recommend starting him in good conscience, given the state of affairs in Atlanta these days. It has been a constant game of musical chairs at quarterback for weeks, and Taylor Heinecke has been limited in practice this week. If he cannot go in Week 17, it would be Desmond Ridder back under center. We saw how that went already! Due to the overall uncertainty at quarterback and the agonizingly mercurial Arthur Smith, I would look elsewhere for my upside, if possible, this weekend.
Demarcus Robinson, WR LAR (WR40) ⬆️
I have not forgotten my beloved deep-league degenerates out there! I am in a 16-team league final where I will start Mr. Robinson in a flex spot, so I get it. You want upside when you are in the finals, especially in a deeper league. Robinson is certainly giving you some upside over the last few weeks. He has played 86%, 95%, and 93% of snaps in the previous three game weeks. He has also had six endzone targets since week 13. There is no guarantee he will score a touchdown, but with the Rams playing excellent football and Stafford being on fire lately, I think you can do much worse than putting Robinson in your deep league flex spot!
Conclusion
For the final time in 2023, these are my flex options for your consideration. It has been such a wild ride, and I am so honored to have shared this journey with you all. I hope you have the very best of fortunes in Week 17 and bring home those trophies. Unless, of course, you are playing against me, in which case I hope you enjoy your second-place prize money! Have a wonderful end to your fantasy season and a blessed new year!
If you want to chat fantasy football, you can always find me on X / Twitter @FFEvanlution. You can also check out my year-round dynasty fantasy football podcast (@DynastyDebates) on all major podcast listening platforms!
