Fantasy Football Week 17 Start 'Em And Sit' Em: DJ Moore Vs. Jakobi Meyers
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Welcome to a new wide receiver Start ‘Em and Sit’ Em decision for Week 17!
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at whether fantasy football owners should be starting DJ Moore against the San Francisco 49ers or Jakobi Meyers against the Indianapolis Colts. Both players have had similar seasons to this point, so we've got our work cut out for us with this decision.
Shawn Childs has a great Week 17 wide receiver projections article that dives into the numbers behind this decision (and others!), but let’s go through the decision and see if we can come up with our own thoughts on DJ Moore vs. Jakobi Meyers this week.
WR DJ Moore, Chicago Bears
DJ Moore comes in ranked as our WR20 this week, and is WR35 on the season after 16 weeks. While Moore hasn't quite had the season his fantasy football owners had been hoping for, he's come on strong as of late and has back-to-back games with 20-plus fantasy points. He's still not seeing huge volume, but Moore has seen 12 total targets over his last two games combined and has scored three touchdowns during that span.
A large part of Moore's success has stemmed from the absence of Rome Odunze, so we'll be keeping a close eye on Odunze's practice status leading up to Sunday's game (he didn't practice on Wednesday). If Odunze sits again this week, Moore will operate as Caleb Williams' top receiver and should be positioned for another strong game.
Moore has a decent matchup this week against the San Francisco 49ers as the 49ers are the 11th-worst defense in the league in terms of fantasy points allowed per game to opposing wide receivers. The 49ers' defense has been injury-plagued this season, and they just gave up a big game to Alec Pierce in Week 16.
WR Jakobi Meyers, Jacksonville Jaguars
Jakobi Meyers is WR30 through 16 weeks of the fantasy football season, and comes in as our WR22 this week. Meyers has been incredibly consistent since being acquired by the Jacksonville Jaguars, and has scored double-digit fantasy points in five of seven games with the team.
Meyers is more or less operating at Trevor Lawrence's WR1 ahead of Brian Thomas Jr., and is averaging 8.3 targets over his last three games. While he hasn't had a 100-yard receiving game with the Jaguars (or all season, for that matter), Meyers has scored three touchdowns in his seven games with the team.
Meyers has a great matchup this week as the Jaguars take on the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers, and are coming off a game in which they gave up five passing touchdowns.
The Verdict
Rome Odunze's practice availability will be a major factor in this decision, but we're going to ride the hot hand unless we hear that Odunze is fully ready to play on Sunday. While Meyers is a solid play this weekend, Moore has a bit more upside if he's the main option in Chicago's offense again.
Unless it wasn't obvious, I’m locking in DJ Moore over Jakobi Meyers for Week 17. Good luck in your fantasy championships!
Once a top-ranked fantasy gamer on ESPN, Nick Raducanu has been playing fantasy sports for over 25 years. His written fantasy coverage includes stops at Rotoworld, Rotowire, and The New York Times.