Week 17 Fantasy Football Sneaky Starts & Sleepers

Dec 24, 2025

Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

All but the luckiest fantasy owners at some point need to find the proverbial diamond in the rough—a waiver wire or bench player capable of putting up some points in a pinch. This weekly feature is dedicated to that part of fantasy football. It's not pretty, but it's part of the game.

As of Week 4, we’ve been using 2025 data for our Hot Spots reports and aFPA rankings. It will continue to update as the season progresses, and we started using a rolling 10-week window in Week 12. Remember, the higher the number, the better the matchup.

Due to the compressed nature of this holiday week, I’m going to list these Sneaky Starts in shorter, bullet-point format.

Quarterbacks

Tyler Shough (@ TEN, 30) has scored at least 17.1 fantasy points in four straight games, and the Titans have allowed an average of 242 yards, 2.0 touchdowns, and 8.44 YPA to enemy quarterbacks since Week 7.
Jordan Love is in concussion protocol, so Malik Willis (vs. BAL, 12) seems more likely to draw the start even though he’s dealing with a shoulder injury. Last year, he averaged 19.2 fantasy points in two starts for the Packers, averaging 57 yards rushing and 0.5 touchdowns per game.
Geno Smith (vs. NYG, 29) has a nice matchup with the Giants, who have given up an average of 225 yards and 1.89 touchdowns to opposing quarterbacks since Week 7.
Kirk Cousins (vs. LAR, 17) is likely to face negative game script against the Rams, who have yielded an average of 251 yards and 1.78 touchdowns to quarterbacks since Week 7.