IDP Recap: Week 17
With Week 17 complete, let's get you up to speed with a recap of the biggest IDP headlines from each game.
That’s it! We’re done! (Except for you Week 18 championship degenerates.) All that remains is to bask in your excellence, or to manically obsess over the offseason what went wrong and what you can improve on to smash it in 2025.
Hopefully, I was able to provide some assistance in some way or even entertain you here in 2024. Thanks for rocking with us through this awesome fantasy season, and for one last time…
Let’s dive head first into who helped you bring home the hardware, or left you high and dry when you may have needed them most.
Chiefs 29, Steelers 10
I was critical of George Karlaftis earlier in the season, as he’d only had 4 sacks through 12 games and was looking like a shell of the player we saw last year. Well, he came up clutch for you not just this week, but through the whole fantasy playoffs, collecting 3 sacks and averaging 19.28 PPG across the 3 games.
He quieted down slightly in championship week, posting just 13 points (still very good), but Trent McDuffie was a league winner down the stretch. His 20.2 PPG in the playoffs was the #1 for all CBs thanks to 13 tackles, 5 PDs, 2 INTs, and 1 FF. Another player who came up clutch when you needed him most.
If you relied on a Steelers IDP in your title match, you were left wanting, as no Steeler reached double-digits (per Big 3 Scoring) at all in Week 17. T.J. Watt was the best of a mediocre bunch with 9.75 as he wrapped up his quietest 15+ games played season since 2018.
Cam Heyward, Patrick Queen, and Alex Highsmith were the other Steelers IDPs most likely started in this game and could have left a sour taste in managers’ mouths. Unfortunately, as is the case with fantasy sometimes, the dice rolls the other way and you throw snake eyes even when the matchups look great.
Ravens 31, Texans 2
Will Anderson: breakout season completed. The former #3 overall pick put the capstone on an excellent second year with half a sack and a 19.5-point performance against Baltimore. Anderson finished with 11 sacks through 14 games and at just 23 years of age has an exceptionally bright future. His partner in crime Danielle Hunter also had a phenomenal season; however, he fell at the final hurdle with a crushing sub-4-point output in the finale.
Nnamdi Madubuike came crashing back to earth from his unreal 2023 season with just half of his previous sack total at just 6.5 for the year. That didn’t mean that he couldn’t help you in the playoffs. He was rough in Week 15 against the Giants, but in the semifinal and final weeks, he averaged 16.83 PPG and could have been an important cog in a title run if you’d had the stones to play him.
Azeez Al-Shaair’s suspension was a crucial one, as he was gone for the entirety of the fantasy playoffs. It meant having to trust Henry To’oTo’o or Christian Harris, who finally returned from IR. To’oTo’o was solid in the first 2 games but slumped in your all-or-nothing. Harris boomed in the semifinal but also struggled mightily in the final, meaning both could have put you in a hole right from the get-go as this game was on Wednesday night.
Did you play Baltimore’s guys on Wednesday? If you did, chances were you came away happy. Marlon Humphrey, Roquon Smith, Kyle Van No,y and Odafe Oweh all finished their strong campaigns in style with 15+ point showings when you needed them. Kyle Hamilton saved you from pain by snagging a wayward Stroud pass to rescue what could have been a low-scoring night. Since his move to deep safety, his IDP performances dropped but the Ravens defense improved hugely, so that will bear watching for 2025.
Seahawks 6, Bears 3
Leonard Williams was back to his Week 12/13 form, terrorizing interior linemen on his way to a multi-sack game. Williams has 9 sacks on the season and 6.5 of them came in Weeks 12, 13, and 17. His monstrous 34.45-point showing did, however, cement his best IDP scoring season of his career, with his 247.3 points exceeding that of his 233.9 scored in his 11.5 sack season in New York in 2020.
I wrote earlier in the season about how Devon Witherspoon was underperforming for IDP, and rightly so. He had one 12+ point game leading into Seattle’s Week 10 bye. He wasn’t massively better post-bye, but he came up huge when it mattered with the second-best score of his season at 21.5 points in finals week thanks to Caleb Williams’ inability to sense pressure.
Ernest Jones finished his tumultuous 2024 on a downer, averaging just 5.12 points through the semifinal and final. Getting traded twice in one year is never going to be easy on a guy, especially as late in the preseason as his trade was to the Titans, and his trade to the Seahawks happened mid-season. Jones now enters 2025 as a UFA, and whether Seattle brings him back, or he finds a good FA deal, a complete offseason will go a long way in 2025 for the young man.
Montez Sweat and Darrell Taylor both got home in the Thursday night matchup. For Taylor, it was his first sack since he opened the season in Week 1. Sweat hadn’t reached the QB since Week 12 against the Vikings, and his 8.7 PPG in 2024 was the lowest of his career after putting up a career-high of 14.83 PPG in 2023.
Tremaine Edmunds did what he’s done for the majority of 2024: put up around 6-ish tackles and 10 fantasy points. His 10.5 in the Seahawks game was right in line with his season average of 10.15 PPG. His running mate T.J. Edwards wasn’t the stud he was last year, but his 13+ PPG still has him as LB11 on the season and he was right there in the final week with 12 points against Seattle.
Chargers 40, Patriots 7
He’s King Derwin for a reason! Derwin James went bananas on the Patriots in their matchup, getting to Drake Maye twice and putting up his best single-game outing of the year in the final. DB scoring is massively volatile as we all know, but finding guys like Derwin, who when they’ve been healthy have given you over 13.5 PPG through their entire career… well, they’re a rarity worth holding onto, folks.
Both Tuli Tuipulotu and Khalil Mack were also in the backfield getting to Maye as both collected sacks to power strong games on Saturday night. Tuli finished with 8.5 sacks through the season and Mack with just 6 after his monumental year last year. Joey Bosa was unable to get home, and with both himself and Mack aging out, you have to think it will be Tuli’s team moving forward in 2025 and beyond.
If you played any Patriot player at all, it wouldn’t have been the most enjoyable time. Marte Mapu (8.25 points) and Kyle Dugger (9.75 points) were victims of DB volatility, and even Jahlani Tavai and his 10 total tackles only scraped together 10 points. Unfortunately, the IDP stud in that defense didn’t play for 66% of the playoffs, with Marcus Jones missing Week 16 and being placed on IR before the Chargers game in Week 17.
I can’t leave off Daiyan Henley. He was seen as a top 10 playable option this week and was averaging almost 10 tackles a game coming into the matchup. He played every snap until the Chargers rested their starters. He’s been so consistent this year, like clockwork almost, and if he was on your contending roster was probably an auto-start. Not a single hesitation in playing him. But he forgot to tell you, it wasn’t ham or turkey on the menu this Christmas. IT WAS GOOSE! That’s right, no points at all. Henley will go down in Championship infamy for 2024 as a Christmas Goose.
Broncos 24, Bengals 30
It is not hyperbole to say that Zach Allen won people their leagues. Allen had 3.5 sacks and 43 points, and it could have been so much more with at least 1.5 sacks being wiped out on penalties in the defensive backfield. Allen averaged 22.9 points in the playoffs, more than any other defensive lineman irrespective of DT or EDGE, and if you had him in your lineup in Week 17 and your opponent didn’t have Nick Bosa, Leonard Williams, or Mike Danna (?!), they were in trouble.
Joseph Ossai will be a hot name in 2025 as he picked up another sack fumble in Week 17, giving him one in back-to-back weeks, and 4.5 sacks on the season, all of which came in Week 11 or later. The only game after Week 11 Ossai didn’t get a sack in was their Week 15 clash against the Titans. The 2021 3rd-round pick will now enter free agency as a name to watch as his end-of-season form hot streak has been turning heads.
Riley Moss was a name I was throwing around early in the season for two reasons. First, he’s a cornerback of the paler persuasion, and Cooper DeJean wasn’t starting yet so it was for the bit. Second, he was balling and raking in fantasy points. Moss returned to action for the first time since Week 12 and the “Caunerback” lived up to his billing with 16 points on 14 total tackles.
Germaine Pratt was electric to start the season, dropped off midseason, but came up huge for both the Bengals themselves and IDP managers in Week 17. His interception came late in the fourth quarter on a third-down pass and led to a Bengals go-ahead touchdown and an 18-point game for IDP managers.
Brandon Jones continued his strong run with a career-high 13 tackles against Cincy on 84 snaps. Jones’ 14.25 output was his lowest of the 2024 playoffs but was greatly welcomed all the same. Jones was only outscored in the playoff period by four other DBs: Brian Branch, Jessie Bates, Dane Belton, and Trent McDuffie.
Cardinals 9, Rams 13
“Aggregate Donald” (my nickname for the Rams D-line) was back at it again with Kobie Turner, Byron Young, and Braden Fiske all getting to Kyler Murray. Fiske is massively intriguing, though I’d love more consistency. (Who wouldn’t?) Here are the logs for his past 9 games: 26, 0, 29.05, 18.2, 1.5, 1.25, 2, 2.75, 27. You don’t know when to play him. The ceiling is high, but the floor is an underground bunker.
Budda Baker: thank you for not only showing up all season long but also when all the chips were down. Budda has been a revelation this season bouncing back to vintage form so much so that he posted the highest single-season point total of his career in 2024. In Week 17 he came through for you, to the tune of 15.75 points as the S13 on the week.
Unfortunately, not every manager with a Rams DL had a good championship week. Jared Verse has been on a cold streak since Week 14 and it continued in Week 17. With his 4 points scored just the second-highest point total in those 4 weeks. Verse is still a rookie, and is the current betting favorite for DROY, so I won’t be holding a 4 week patch against him, especially at a position like EDGE which is notoriously slow-burning. The future is bright for the young man.
Kyzir White didn’t win you your week, but he didn’t kill you either, and that’s probably the name of his season in summary. White’s 11 points were serviceable and were right in line with his season total of 11.98 PPG. If you were starting White in Week 17, it probably fell right in line with expectations.
Jets 14, Bills 40
The Jets were doomed from the moment they decided to walk out with a boombox on their shoulder listening to Gangsta’s Paradise. Who’s decision was that? On the topic of decisions, playing Will McDonald would have been a difficult one. McDonald was arguably the hottest DL through the first 7 weeks of the season, but like my golf game, his back 9 left a lot to be desired, Week 17 included. I won’t be too critical, as 10 sacks in Year 2 after barely playing in your rookie season should be celebrated. So here’s to 2025 for Old McDonald.
A good decision would have been to play a Bills DL against Aaron Rodgers. The NFL’s all-time most sacked QB was playing Santa Claus, handing out Christmas sacks to Von Miller (13 points), A.J Epenesa (23 points), Greg Rousseau (11 points), and Ed Oliver (26 points) in Championship Week.
Both Quincy Williams and Jamien Sherwood had you sorted out with both putting up 17-point performances in a week where LB choices were severely limited, thanks to a 10-tackle day each.
Titans 13, Jaguars 20
Neither Travon Walker nor Josh Hines-Allen had done much of anything in the playoffs, yet if you chose to play them based on matchup or were forced to start them, it paid off for you as both guys hit home with sacks.
A similar thing could be said about Foye Oluokun and Devin Lloyd. Oluokun had been playable in the past two weeks, especially with his 13-point game in the semifinals, and his 11-tackle, 16.75-point performance in the finals. I was forced to play Lloyd in two spots with Jewell getting ruled out late in the week and his first interception in 2 years supplementing his 6 tackles was a sight for sore eyes.
Jerome Baker hadn’t played in 4 weeks and it didn’t matter. Luke Gifford returned from concussion protocol and was adequate, but anyone who played Baker was sweating it out until midway through the 4th until he got home in a sack on Mac Jones, giving you a solid 17-point day.
Jeffery Simmons was quick to tweet at Zaire Franklin after the Colts’ loss and elimination from the playoffs. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as quick at getting to the quarterback. After having averaged 17.9 PPG in the 2 games prior, he was only able to put up a meager 7.25 points and no sacks in your championship game.
Raiders 25, Saints 10
Robert Spillane, take a bow. 2024’s LB5 came in like a wrecking ball this week with 8 tackles and a sack. “Big Game Bob” was tied for the highest-scoring off-ball linebacker with Zaire Franklin in a week that needed it the most.
Is K’Lavon Chaisson finally putting it together? I mentioned him last week briefly, but he had another sack to give him 4 over the past 5 weeks, and he’s had extended playing time since Crosby hit IR. Might Chaisson be one of those former first-round pick reclamation projects we see pop from time to time in different schemes, ala Dante Fowler?
If you’ve seen the 90s film “Grumpy Old Men,” it looked a lot like Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis this past weekend. The duo got it done again, with both posting over 15 points in the process, and neither of them was happy about it. Every time I saw them on screen they were looking angry as hell, mind you I would be too if I had to play out my NFL golden years on the Saints.
Ugo Amadi looked like an absolute league winner when he moved into the slot in Week 8 for the Saints following Paulson Adebo hitting IR and Alontae Taylor moving to outside corner. He was averaging 14.8 PPG coming into the semifinals and had just put up 23 points against Washington. Then, regression and typical DB variance hit and he could only manage 6.8 PPG over the final two matchups, leaving you to try and make up the points elsewhere.
Colts 33, Giants 45
An argument could be made that the majority of the Colts defense didn’t get off the bus. Well, Zaire Franklin sure as hell did. He was the leading IDP linebacker (tied with Spillane) for the week. His 14 total tackles kept him at the top of the NFL leaderboard and have him beating his previous best-ever IDP year of 16.01 PPG in 2022, as he’s currently at 16.63 PPG. Not only that, he was elite when you needed it. Franklin was the third-best linebacker to have in the playoffs, as his 21 PPG scored through Weeks 15-17 was only behind Edgerrin Cooper and Kaden Elliss.
2024 has been a cursed year for Kayvon Thibodeaux. After posting 11.5 sacks last season, he was plagued with injuries this year and all-around poor play which resulted in more commercials made than sacks gotten. Then, after returning in Week 12 from injury, he looked like he was getting right in Week 14 with a strong performance. If you trusted him in Week’s 15 or 16 he burned you good, averaging just 2.25 points across the 2 games. This means you probably didn’t benefit from his best game all year except in best ball.
What a waiver-wire gem Dane Belton turned out to be after Tyler Nubin hit IR. He crushed it for you in Week 15, and even on a down Week 16 gave you 8+ points, to then come back and crush it once again in title week with his first interception in 2024 plus 8 tackles when it mattered most. He’ll be a guy I remember fondly for a few years to come.
I have no idea how to judge 2024 for Brian Burns. He only has 8 sacks on the year, but as he proved on Sunday, he doesn’t need them for a strong game as he put up 17.5 points by being a demon against the run and still getting to the QB just a second late (always score QB hits, folks). But history would say this is his second-best IDP season ever, possibly his best if he has an OK game against the Eagles in Week 18. Yet it hasn’t felt like it…
Cowboys 7, Eagles 41
I wanted to write something snappy like “Hey, there’s the vintage C.J. Gardner-Johnson we all know and love.” But the reality is this 36.65-point showing was the best IDP game of Ceedy Duce’s 6-year career, which is bound to happen when you score a defensive touchdown, and couple it with a second interception. If there was ever a week to put up your best-ever IDP game, it was championship week. We salute you CJGJ.
Unfortunately, if you started any other IDP assets from this game you were more than likely left wanting, as only Malik Hooker and Eric Kendricks scored 12 points outside of CJGJ’s monster performance.
Zach Baun didn’t kill you with his 9.75 points, but anyone left wanting more would be completely warranted to do so after Baun showed you the high life for the entire season up to this point. Still, a down game after the season he’s had illicit’s no ill will from me. I’m sure many of you would be in the same boat and might have finished much differently without Baun anchoring your IDPs.
Another guy who was red hot and just cooled off 1 week too early was Micah Parsons as he was unable to get to either Kenny Pickett or Tanner Mckee thanks to Lane Johnson and Jordan Maialata. Either way, it’s been a hell of a season for Parsons, putting up 9.5 sacks in 12 games (8.5 in his last 8) so far and leaving the Cowboys with a massive decision about what to do with him this offseason.
Panthers 14, Buccaneers 48
If Daiyan Henley is the Christmas Goose, Lavonte David wasn’t far behind with his gut-punch 1-point performance. This one might have even been worse than the goose to be fair. David is the LB6 on the season (even after this outing). He carried you here and stumbled at the final hurdle. At 35 years old, if he does retire after this season, I’d hate for this to be some players’ last memory of him after everything he did, both in this season and all the ones beforehand.
Josey Jewell was ruled out late in the week, so I hope you’d gotten your waiver claims in any way on Jacoby Windmon if he was still available. (He shouldn’t have been if you were reading Mike Woellert). His performance, though, in the semifinal and championship week cannot be understated. He took his 8 tackles, 1 sack stat line from Week 16 and almost hit copy/paste as he came through clutch with 10 tackles and half a sack. The rookie surely made a splash and will make 2025 interesting for sure with Trevin Wallace and Jewell still there.
I spent all season banging the drum for YaYa Diaby and his breakout because the underlying metrics were so good. It never materialized, but he did get to Bryce Young in Championship Week, so if you were riding dirty like me and had to start him in a matchup, you felt vindicated. (Well, at least I did anyway.) It was a quiet second year for Diaby on the whole, but I’ll be banging the drum for him come preseason in 2025.
Calijah Kancey consistently draws the Aaron Donald comp, but on his sack on Sunday, he actually looked like him on his line stunt. It was blistering speed coming through the A gap — Bryce Young never had time to react. Like Diaby, I’ll be super high on Kancey coming into the 2025 season, but while I might be on an island with Diaby, I’m sure that won’t be the case with Kancey.
If you were in a league that values tackles/assists highly, Xavier Woods and Chandler Wooten would have been stars for you this week. They combined for 26 tackles between them, on 77 snaps apiece.
Dolphins 20, Browns 3
I’d like to think Myles Garrett knows Week 17 is a big-time game for fantasy players: he’s averaging 24.16 PPG in Week 17 games since 2022.
Tyrel Dodson was a top 3 linebacker through the first 5 weeks of the season in Seattle Then Ernest Jones arrived and his play dropped, so he was cut by Seattle and picked up Miami midway through the season. His playing time had been sporadic, and his opportunities were few and far between. He made himself some free agency cash on Sunday. He stacked up a career-high 15 tackles and added an interception against the Browns finishing as LB3 on the week.
Devin Bush quietly could have helped a lot of LB-needy teams with championship aspirations in the last two weeks. He did have limited opportunities as a rotational guy behind Jordan Hicks, but his 14.37 PPG in Weeks 16 and 17 might have been exactly what the doctor ordered.
Jordyn Brooks was what he’d been all year: crazy consistent. His 13.75 points in Week 17 increased him to 8 straight games with at least 13.5 points or more and his 13th game of the season with double-digit points scored. It was also his 14th straight game with 7 or more tackles. That’s the sort of thing you can take straight to the bank.
Packers 25, Vikings 27
Ivan Pace Jr. returned to the Vikings lineup in a very limited usage role, and Blake Cashman didn’t miss a beat. His 11 tackles and 1.5 sacks could have very well propelled you to a fantasy title. He wasn’t just clutch in the finale alone, either. Cashman’s 20.3 PPG meant he was one of the top 4 scoring linebackers in the entire playoff period, making him the anchor to your championship run.
Well, it’s safe to say Keisean Nixon lived up to the hype and quite possibly exceeded it. Nixon’s Week 17 outing of 16.75 points was his 5th straight of 16.5 points or more, and he was the #2 CB through the 3-week playoff run at 18.9 PPG. His 2024 output also has him at over 1.5 PPG more than last season, as he’s CB01/DB02 on the season at 14.6 PPG.
Few players did more with less than Dallas Turner in the fantasy playoffs. Turner averaged 12.87 PPG through the fantasy playoffs while playing just 24 snaps a game on average in that time. For the 2024 rookie class, only Edgerrin Cooper, Jacoby Windmon, Jaden Hicks, and Chop Robinson had more points in the fantasy playoffs than Turner did and only Chop Robinson had more sacks, with 0.5 a sack more.
I’ve buried the lede a little up until this point. I’ve mentioned Edgerrin Cooper briefly when talking about others. But the fact of the matter is the young rookie in Green Bay was a bonafide IDP stud in the fantasy playoffs and Week 17 was no different. Cooper was the LB5 in Week 17 with 24.25, and when you couple that with his 40-burger in Week 15, not one single IDP scored more points in the playoffs than Cooper did. His 26.4 PPG cleared all IDPs by at least 3.4 PPG, and of non-QB offensive players, only Brian Thomas Jr., Jahmyr Gibbs, and Tee Higgins were more valuable over the playoff stretch. Call Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper because “A Star is Born.”
Falcons 24, Commanders 30
The player who was 3.4 PPG behind Cooper across the playoff run? It was Kaden Elliss, whose 21.45 point showing was his 5th straight game of 20+ points since coming out of Atlanta’s Week 12 bye. Push that 3 game playoff sample size to 5 games, only Leonard Williams scored more points than Elliss in IDP, and no player was more consistent.
I mentioned how good Dane Belton and Brandon Johnson were throughout the playoffs. Well, Jessie Bates was better. Thanks to his 12-tackle, 22.6-point game against Washington, only 1 DB was a better asset to have in the playoffs than Jessie Bates (and I’ll talk about him soon). Bates’ 20.9 PPG through the fantasy playoffs had him as the 6th best overall IDP asset in that span, and while his 2024 campaign at 13.08 PPG didn’t match his 2023 run of 15.4 PPG, he still was there when you needed him most.
Matt Judon started the season well with 1.5 sacks in his first 2 games and then went ice-cold. He then went on a run to end the fantasy season with 4 of his 5.5 sacks coming in Week 11 or later. Thanks to his 19-point game against the Commanders on Sunday night, Judon finished as the DL8 in points through the fantasy playoffs. I don’t know who started him outside of best ball leagues, especially with a 1.25-point game in Week 15. But if you did, you stuck gold.
Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler were both strong plays on Sunday night as they managed to get to Michael Penix for a sack each, giving them at least 16.5 points a piece. It was only Armstrong’s 5th sack for the year in what has been an underwhelming campaign. However, for Fowler, it got him over the 10 mark for the season, marking his best IDP season since 2019 with the Rams.
Quan Martin had a stellar game on Sunday, picking off Penix on the Falcons’ first drive and then leading the Commanders in total tackles. It also gave him just shy of 20% of his season-long fantasy points scored with the 26.4-point game being the first 20+ point game of his career.
Lions 40, 49ers 34
Hopefully, Nick Bosa’s 40-burger in Championship Week might erase some of the memories from what has been his worst year aside from his 2020 injury-shortened campaign. His 9 sacks are the lowest since his 2019 rookie season, though he will have only played 14 games if he plays next week. And still, none of that matters, because the man may have single-handedly won you the week with a 40 burger! Only Zach Allen, Drew Lock, Joe Burrow, and Baker Mayfield outscored Bosa this week. What’s even crazier is, that no other 49ers player reached double digits in Week 17. Bosa was truly a one-man band.
Kerby Joseph was one of my favorite players to write about in the early stages of the season, not just because he was going pick-for-pick with Xavier McKinney for the interceptions lead, but because early on, all of his INTs were in the endzone, putting his clutch factor through the roof. Well, thanks to Brock Purdy, Joseph has the league lead again for interceptions, as hit hit Joseph twice on Monday night to give him 8 on the season and a 30-point night for IDP managers.
As my final point of the 2024 fantasy season recap, I’ll save one of the best for last. He missed Weeks 4 and 5 through injury and a bye week, and yet, through Week 7, there was nigh on no player hotter or more consistent than this guy. And then, as is bound to happen, regression stuck and he went cold. Well, Brian Branch re-ignited in Week 15 and stayed in the flames through the whole playoffs, and with his 18-point game on Monday night, was the highest-scoring DB in the playoffs, and the 5th-highest scoring IDP in that stretch with 21.8 PPG.
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