Fantasy Football Early Week 17 Waiver Wire: James Robinson, Miles Sanders injuries could change the game

Week 16 hasn’t been a perfect week for Fantasy – just ask people with Jonathan Taylor or Matthew Stafford on their team about that – but it’s certainly been a much better week than Week 15 was for offense. Or at least, it feels like that way, especially if you were relying on one of the big injury replacements this week.

Chase Edmonds had 26 PPR points in Saturday’s game against the Colts and Justin Jackson had 36 and Ronald Jones and Alexander Mattison had 16 in their respective games, as all four stepped up in a big way to help Fantasy players advance to the championship. Obviously, we’d rather have seen the likes of Dalvin Cook, Leonard Fournette, and Austin Ekeler – especially if you weren’t able to add one of those replacements – but the thing about injuries is, they often create opportunity, as well.

And there are going to be a few more opportunities in Week 17. We don’t know if Mattison, Jackson, and Edmonds will have the same roles next week, but injuries to James Robinson, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and Miles Sanders could create similar opportunities next week, even if expectations won’t be quite that high. 

Ogunbowale likely has a more obvious path to Fantasy relevance after James Robinson left Sunday’s game with an Achilles injury. If, as feared, it’s a torn Achilles, Robinson’s season is over and we’ll just hope we can see him in training camp – a devastating outcome for an undrafted free agent who starred last year before having to deal with the mercurial (at best) Urban Meyer this season. However, it would likely put Ogunbowale in position to play a significant role in Week 17. It’s a less than ideal matchup against the Patriots, but Ogunbowale might be in line for something similar to Sunday’s 17 carries and four targets, and that could make him a viable starter for the championship week. 

Edwards-Helaire’s injury, which forced him to miss much of the second half of Sunday’s game against the Steelers, likely pushed Darrel Williams into the starting role for the Chiefs, but it won’t be an every-down role. The Chiefs have shown a willingness to trust Derrick Gore, and he has, in turn, showed skills as both a pass catcher and runner. The two will likely split work, with history suggesting Williams is more likely to see whatever goal-line work exists. That’ll make him the better option, but both should be in the RB3 range for Week 17 against the Bengals. 

The hole Sanders’ hand injury may leave in the Eagles offense is a bit less clear. Before Sunday, I would have bet on Jordan Howard stepping up into a bigger role, but he ended up with just nine carries for 37 yards (along with two catches for 19), while Boston Scott was actually the lead back, rushing for 41 yards on 12 carries with the team’s lone touchdown against the Giants. 

Scott figures to have a bigger role in the passing game moving forward while splitting rushing work with Howard, though Howard would probably be more likely to score a touchdown next week. With a matchup against Washington on the way, I figure both would likely be in the RB3 discussion if Sanders is out, and I may even prefer Ogunbowale to both. 

We’ll find out more about those two and other injuries from Week 16 Monday and Tuesday, but for now, here’s who looks like an early waiver-wire target for Week 17: 

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