Fantasy Football Week 17 Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: Omarion Hampton vs. Breece Hall
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For many fantasy managers, it all comes down to this week, with the fantasy championship on the line. With that, a couple of RBs that may be floating around as borderline start and sit fantasy championship plays are Los Angeles Chargers RB Omarion Hampton and New York Jets RB Breece Hall. Here is a breakdown of who to start and who to sit between the two in week 17 of fantasy football.
Breece Hall
The last three weeks for Jets RB Breece Hall have been extremely underwhelming. Over that span, he has not broken past 60 rushing yards and has also not found the endzone. This play from Hall has resulted in him being RB47 in fantasy football PPR formats from week 14-16, directly behind Kansas City Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco and Atlanta Falcons RB2 Tyler Allgeier. Hopefully, Hall can break out of this poor form and go back to putting up good numbers in week 17 against the New England Patriots.
One of the main concerns about Hall’s production as of late is that it has come against a couple of teams that are not considered good rush defenses. Both the New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins, who Hall has played in his last three games, are in the bottom third of the league for most rushing yards allowed per game–the Dolphins are allowing the seventh most rushing yards per game, and the Saints are allowing the 10th most. With that, Hall’s week 17 opponent, the Patriots, is coming into the matchup allowing the sixth fewest rushing yards per game in the NFL. They have been a stout rushing defense all year, but as of late, they have actually struggled.
In the Pats' last three games, opposing RB1s have combined for five TDs, and two out of three of them have had over 100 rushing yards. The two RBs to surpass 100 yards were Baltimore Ravens RB Derrick Henry and Buffalo Bills RB James Cook–Cook had 107 rushing yards, and Henry had 128.
Omarion Hampton
Chargers RB Omarion Hampton is coming off his best game since returning from an ankle injury that kept him sidelined for seven games. Against the Dallas Cowboys in week 17, Hampton had 16 rushes for 85 yards and a TD. He will carry this positive play into a Saturday bout against the Houston Texans.
Like Hall, Hampton will go from playing not-so-good rushing defense to one of the best rushing defenses in the NFL. The Cowboys this year are allowing the 13th most rushing yards per game, while the Texans are allowing the fourth fewest. In Houston’s last three games, one opposing RB1 found the endzone, and one of them had over 100 rushing yards. The other two RB1s that did not have over 100 rushing yards both had under 60 rushing yards.
Final Verdict
When it comes to who should start in fantasy football in week 17 between Hampton and Hall, Hampton should start, and Hall should sit. Both have similar matchups in playing two of the best rushing defenses in the NFL, who have both shown the ability to give up big fantasy outings to opposing RBs lately. The big separator is Hampton’s play of late, compared to Hall. With struggles against bad rushing defenses recently, playing Hall against New England in fantasy in week 17 is too big a risk to lock him into a lineup. Hampton, who looks to be in good form, coming off a good outing in week 16, is the safer and better play this week in fantasy.
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Gray Deyo is a Nashville-based sportswriter who graduated with a sports management bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has covered prep sports, college sports, the WNBA, and the NBA for the past four years. In addition to writing for SI, Gray also currently contributes to Prep Girls Hoops