Week 17 Wednesday Fantasy Football Takeaways: Justin Watson, Derrick Henry, Pat Freiermuth, John Metchie and More

Week 17 of the NFL regular season opened with a pair of Christmas games.

Let’s take a look at some fantasy football takeaways from the games. This is tailored to those of you still having to play in week 18, and some performances this week will help shape how the 2025 fantasy season looks.

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Game Stats

In the first game, the Kansas City Chiefs toppled the Pittsburgh Steelers 29-10.

Kansas City had 389 total yards of offense, with 320 passing yards and 69 rushing yards. The Chiefs didn’t turn the ball over, were called for nine penalties and did not take a sack.

Pittsburgh finished with 364 total yards, with 205 passing and 202 rushing. The Steelers took five sacks, turned the ball over twice and were called for four penalties.

In the second game, the Baltimore Ravens blasted the Houston Texans 31-2.

Baltimore had 432 yards of offense, with 184 passing and 251 rushing. The Ravens didn’t turn the ball over, took just one sack and got called for three penalties.

Houston went for just 211 yards, with 190 through the air and just 58 on the ground. The Texans had a turnover, got sacked five times and were called for five penalties.

Xavier Worthy, Justin Watson Step Up for Chiefs

It was a great day for several Chiefs’ pass catchers. Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson both had big days, and are the less-popular fantasy players, so let’s talk about them a bit.

Worthy had 79 yards and a touchdown on eight catches and nine targets, while rushing twice for an additional 10 yards. Watson had just two catches and targets, but they went for 60 yards and a score.

Worthy started the season with some up-and-down results, which is to be expected out of a rookie. He’s been trending up of late, and is starting to look like the No. 1 option for Patrick Mahomes for a long time.

He has at least five catches in five straight games. Over the past three games, Worthy has at least nine targets, six catches and 46 yards. He’s scored in two straight games, and also is involved in the run game at least twice in each of the past three contests. He has at least 75 total yards and a score in each of the past three games.

With the Chiefs locking up the No. 1 seed in the AFC with this win, you can expect the team to maybe not play all its regulars for the full game in week 18. I’d expect Worthy to be out there for a while though, giving him a decent fantasy outlook.

Watson has a much better fantasy outlook in week 18. He plays a decent amount of snaps every week, but isn’t as vital to the team’s offense as Worthy, DeAndre Hopkins or Travis Kelce are.

The catches on Christmas were Watson’s first in the past four weeks. He hadn’t been over 45 yards in a game coming into the day, and he only has one other touchdown.

But with plenty of regulars sitting next week, I’d expect Watson to be a sneaky good fantasy option for week 18. We’ll keep tabs on the Chiefs and listen to what coaches are saying throughout the week and help you make week 18 start/sit decisions, so check back for those stories!

Steelers’ Standouts

For only scoring 10 points, it wasn’t a terrible fantasy day for many Steelers.

Russell Wilson had 205 passing yards, no touchdown passes and a pick, but rushed for 55 yards and a score to at least deliver a decent fantasy score.

Najee Harris had 81 total yards on 15 touches, including two catches, to at least double digits in PPR leagues. Jaylen Warren was even better, tallying 121 total yards on 16 touches, including five receptions.

Tight end Pat Freiermuth led the pass catchers with 60 yards on seven catches and eight targets, but a fumble diminished his fantasy score a bit.

George Pickens had 50 yards on three grabs and seven targets in his return to the field. Calvin Austin had 31 yards on four grabs and five targets.

Those five skill position players are going to lead the Steelers’ offense. The team still has a chance at the AFC North crown, but the Ravens are now in control of their destiny. I’d expect Pittsburgh to play its regulars in week 18, and they’ll have a much better matchup against the Bengals, so many of them will be good starting options.

Derrick Henry, Lamar Jackson Carry Ravens Again

Kind of opposite the Steelers, not many Ravens had big fantasy days despite the lopsided win.

Lamar Jackson kept his name in the MVP hunt with 168 passing yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions on 10-of-15 passing. He rushed for 87 yards and a score on four carries.

Derrick Henry had 147 rushing yards and a score on 27 carries and 18 receiving yards on two catches and targets.

Jackson and Henry have been must-start fantasy players all season, and they remain that for week 18. Baltimore is going to depend on those two for as long as their season extends.

Mark Andrews had a good fantasy day despite just two grabs and targets. He had 68 yards and a touchdown. 

Zay Flowers was limited to just 31 yards on two catches and five targets. No other wideout or tight end had over 16 yards.

Andrews and Flowers are both pretty solid weekly starting options, but because the Ravens can win on the backs of Henry and Jackson, the pass catchers can become irrelevant at times and not produce a ton. That makes Andrews and Flowers above-average starting options, but not locked-in starters.

A week 18 clash with the Browns is going to make all the Ravens fantasy options pretty good ones.

Texans Struggle Mightily

Houston seems to be trending the wrong direction as the season is winding down. Their offense can’t get much going, and some of the poor fantasy performances are going to cost fantasy owners playoff matchups.

C.J. Stroud had 185 yards, no passing scores and a pick on Wednesday. Joe Mixon even struggled, rushing nine times for 26 yards and added two catches for 13 yards.

Nico Collins was held to 59 yards on three grabs and six targets. Dalton Schultz had just two catches across six targets. John Metchie had the most notable fantasy performance, going for 48 yards on five catches and eight targets.

The Texans should win against the Titans in week 18, but the defensive matchups are pretty tough across the board for Houston. Houston cannot improve its postseason seed, so I’m curious if the team will choose to rest its top players, or try to get some positive momentum built for the playoffs. Even if the regulars play, fantasy owners aren’t going to be too confident in any of them after what we’ve seen from this offense of late.

IDP Standouts

Kansas City’s Chris Roland-Wallace had 10 combined tackles on Christmas. He hasn’t played a ton this season, and did all his damage on Wednesday while playing only 67% of the snaps. Roland-Wallace should get some run in week 18, regardless if the Chiefs rest some players or not.

Chiefs’ Nick Bolton had eight tackles and a fumble recovery. He plays nearly every defensive snap every week and now has eight games with seven or more tackles. He isn’t an elite IDP option, but he’s a very, very good one.

Kansas City’s Mike Danna had two sacks among his five tackles. He plays around 60% of the snaps most weeks, and now has 41 tackles and  3.5 sacks, so he’s got a little IDP value in deeper setups.

Houston’s Eric Murray had nine tackles on Wednesday. He plays nearly every defensive snap, but has just five games with seven or more tackles. Murray is a solid IDP option, but a better play in deeper leagues.

Baltimore’s Roquan Smith had eight tackles and a sack. He’s a good/great weekly IDP option and has seven or more tackles in all but three games he’s played in.

Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey had seven tackles, a pass defensed and a forced fumble. With 63 combined tackles, six picks, 14 passes defensed and two forced fumbles on the season, Humphrey is a great IDP option every week. Keep playing him.