Fantasy Football Week 17 Start em' or Sit em' TEs feat. Dalton Schultz, Isaiah Likely, and more

Modified Dec 31, 2023 14:39 GMT

This is it—what we've all been playing for, it's championship week. And I'm here to bring you some good tight-end options for your title-bound team. This week we have a tight end reuniting with his star QB, a surging back-up, and two top-end options that you want to leave on the bench. Good luck this week guys.

Fantasy Football Week 17 Starts

Dalton Schultz

In the last few weeks, I've told you to sit with Dalton Schultz. For the most part, that has been solid advice considering that in two of those three weeks, he was outside the top 12.

This week I'm advocating for Schultz to be in your starting lineup because of the return of C.J Stroud. When Stroud and Schultz are on the same field, they really up each other's games. Schultz is averaging nearly two more points than his 8.92 career average for fantasy points.

This week, Schultz gets the Tennessee Titans and the league's best defense against TEs. The Titans are allowing 4.6 fantasy ppg and gave up more than double that amount the last time Schultz played them (9.8) in Week 15. Schultz has averaged 8 targets per game without Stroud this year. So it's not the quantity that's missing; it's the quality.

This week should be interesting, as Schultz should be priority number one for Stroud with Tank Dell out. This week, I'm putting a lot of stock in Schultz's strong start.

Isaiah Likely

Isaiah Likely has been a stud since becoming the starter for the Baltimore Ravens. Likely has 23 targets in the last four games and has put together quite a resume including two top-10 performances.

The Ravens have likely made him a big target in this offense and in each of the last three games, he's received at least one red zone target.

This week, the Miami Dolphins pose a unique challenge to the Ravens. Their defense has been really good so far and has been exceptional against the tight end position, allowing six fantasy ppg to the position.

This week's game has a big feel to it and if we remember last year's spectacle, then we know this could be the game of the week.

Fantasy Football Week 17 Sit em TEs

Dalton Kincaid

Dalton Kincaid has been such a stud this year that telling you to sit him feels dirty but if you've seen his stats in the last month, you'll understand why. He's only put up 17.6 fantasy points in the last month and that's equated to one top-12 performance.

It's been particularly rough for Kincaid these past 2 weeks, with him only seeing 4 targets during that span.

This week, the Bills will battle division rivals the New England Patriots. The Pats are the second-best team against the tight end position, allowing 5 fantasy ppg. I can't fully explain the drop-off other than that he's just not needed with the ascension of the Bills RBs. This makes him a major sit for me on championship week.

This week, our Start/Sit optimizer agrees that Kincaid isn't a good option,

Dallas Goedert

This week, Dallas Goedert is in a game where he might not be needed for long as the Eagles should have no problem handling the Cardinals. Considering he's mailed it in 4 of the last 5 weeks with only one top-12 performance during that stretch.

This week might not be the week you want to play Goedert, as his production hasn't been the greatest since his return. He's also burdened with being the third or maybe fourth option on his team (fifth if you consider the tush-push). This makes him sit for me on championship week.