Week 17 Thursday Fantasy Football Takeaways: Zach Charbonnet, Noah Fant, Devon Witherspoon, D.J. Moore, D'Andre Swift and More

After a couple of games on Christmas, the week 17 slate of NFL regular season games continued with a Thursday night clash between the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears.

If you’ve seen the score and some stats, you know it was an ugly game, but I’m here to talk about some fantasy football takeaways anyways.

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Game Stats

Seattle won the contest 6-3. Jason Myers hit two field goals for Seattle, while Chicago was limited to just one Cairo Santos’ field goal.

The Seahawks scored in the first quarter and hit the game-winning field goal right before halftime. The Bears tied the game with just over two minutes remaining in the second quarter.

Seattle had 265 yards of offense, with 160 through the air and 122 on the ground. The Seahawks had a turnover, three penalties and were sacked three times.

Chicago finished with just 179 total yards of offense, with 122 passing and 103 rushing. The Bears were sacked seven times, turned the ball over once and had one turnover.

Seattle Leaders

Quarterback Geno Smith was 17-of-23 passing for 160 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He rushed for 19 yards on three scrambles.

This was a tough defensive matchup for Smith, and he failed to even reach 10 fantasy points in the contest. He’s got a more favorable clash with the Rams in week 18 if you are still playing fantasy games then. I’ll be curious to see what the Seahawks do with Smith after the season comes to a close.

Kenneth Walker was placed on injured reserve before the game, leaving Zach Charbonnet and Kenny McIntosh to handle the backfield work.

Charbonnet went for 57 yards on 15 carries and added 19 receiving yards on three catches and targets. I expected a lot more out of Charbonnet, but he at least hit double figures in PPR leagues. He’ll be a solid fantasy option for week 18 as well.

McIntosh did all his work on the ground, going for 46 yards on seven carries. He had an explosive 25-yard run.

He’s no more than a lottery ticket play for week 18, but if he delivers again next week, Seattle could maybe turn to Charbonnet and McIntosh instead of Walker going forward.

The team’s leading receiver was tight end Noah Fant, who had 43 yards on four catches and five targets. He’s more of a deep-league fantasy starting option, and this kind of outing would please a lot of fantasy owners in those leagues.

DK Metcalf had 42 yards on three grabs and targets. He failed to hit double figures for the fourth time in six weeks. Metcalf shouldn’t be starting in a lot of standard leagues that are playing in week 18.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 32 yards on three catches and six targets. It was a disappointing fantasy outing for him, but he still is the top fantasy pass catcher in Seattle. He’s the one I’d want to keep starting in standard leagues, and looks to be WR1 in Seattle for years to come.

Tyler Lockett had 20 yards on three receptions and four targets. He seems to be slowing down a bit, and it’ll be interesting to see how much longer he sticks in Seattle. He’s just a deep-league fantasy option at this point, and not a very good one.

Chicago Leaders

Quarterback Caleb Williams had another poor showing, completing 16 of his 28 passes for 122 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. He rushed for 37 yards on five scrambles.

It was an abysmal fantasy showing for Williams, who I liked as a possible streamer coming into the week. Some garbage-time stats have really propped up his numbers this season, and he appears to have a long way to go if he wants to become the next star QB in the league. Maybe a new coaching staff in his second year can do the trick, but he and the rest of the Bears’ fantasy options are not confident plays in week 18 against the Packers.

Running back D'Andre Swift had 53 rushing yards on 12 carries and 28 receiving yards on four grabs and five targets. He got into double figures as a fantasy performer for the first time in five weeks. Swift remains a very average fantasy option for week 18, and I’ll be curious to see if he sticks in Chicago after this season.

D.J. Moore was the top pass catcher, going for 54 yards on six receptions and eight targets. He also had eight rushing yards on two carries. Every week, the Bears seem to have a different leading receiver, and this week it was Moore’s turn. 

Keenan Allen disappointed with only 25 yards on five catches and eight targets. He had scored over 20 fantasy points in four of the past five games, so this was a major letdown for fantasy owners. 

Rome Odunze had just a 15-yard catch across four targets. It was his third straight single-digit fantasy performance, and fifth in the past six weeks.

All three wideouts are capable of leading the way any week, but their inconsistent performances make them shaky fantasy plays for week 18. I would assume Mooore and Odunze are retained and Allen walks after the season, but an infusion of talent across the roster is probably needed in Chicago.

Tight end Cole Kmet played 93% of the offensive snaps, but didn’t get a single target. His lone highlight was a tackle on the game-sealing interception in the final seconds. Kmet can be skipped in week 18 fantasy lineups.

IDP Standouts

For as bad as the offenses were, you’d think there would have been several defenders who had big games instead. Nope. Nobody had over six combined tackles, although seven players reached that mark.

Seattle’s Devon Witherspoon had six tackles and a sack on Thursday. He’s a young and promising cornerback, and a pretty solid weekly IDP option with 90 tackles on the season. He doesn’t get thrown at a ton, so his seven passes defensed and zero interceptions hold him back from being an elite IDP option.

Seahawks’ Leonard Williams had two sacks among his five combined tackles. It was the third time this season that he’s posted two or more sacks - he has one game with 1.5 sacks and one sack in another. With 59 tackles and a few other splash plays this season, Williams is a very good IDP option on the defensive line.

Chicago’s Kyler Gordon had six tackles, a pass defensed, a fumble forced and a fumble recovery on Thursday. It was a good fantasy showing with the splash play, but he doesn’t have many of those on the season. His 71 tackles are what make him a pretty appealing IDP option.

Bears’ Darrell Taylor had a sack among his four tackles and a forced fumble. He has 28 tackles and three sacks on the season - he’s right around where he typically is for tackles in a season, but his previous season-low sack total is 5.5, so he’s underwhelmed a bit in his first season with the Bears. Taylor spent the first three seasons of his career with the Seahawks.