I'm going to miss Chip Kelly. He was a lot of fun to have in the NFL. It's kind of funny to me Kelly is fired after one losing season, but guys like Jeff Fisher continue to have a gig in the NFL. I guess if you lay low long enough people will just accept you as a real coach. Kind of like the way James Franco floats through Hollywood. Sure, he's been around for a while, and he's been in a ton of movies. But are there any performances that really stand out to you? I know you might immediately think of "127 Hours" but the rock was the true star of that movie.
Maybe I'm being too harsh, though. I did like "Pineapple Express" and "This is the End" an awful lot. Perhaps those are his get the Titans to the Super Bowl moments.
In any event, I'm still going to miss Kelly for the upcoming year. I would imagine a lot of NFL teams will shy away from him. The Titans (as tweeted above) will be the popular conjecture. And while Kelly did recruit Mariota to Oregon (or at least he was the head coach when Marcus agreed to go to Eugene), Mark Helfrich was his coach for his final two years, including his Heisman Trophy-winning campaign. So let's stop with that nonsense.
We all know he's going to Dallas. Which will be amazing. I mean, Chip needs a strong leader and a general manager who will be stern with him. That sounds like Cowboys GM Jerry Jones, right? This would be the best pairing since Seth Rogan and Franco teamed up for "The Interview". What could possibly go wrong?
I guess we should move on.
A lot of my advice today will focus more on DFS values. I'm tempted to go with a huge Eagles stack this week. If the players really hated him that much, I would expect the Eagles to play their most inspired football of the season. Or they just don't give a (expletive) and will mail it in for the final game. But I'm going with the former.
Let's get started.
You want to stack a lot of your teams with players who have a lot to play for. The Jets are in a win-and-in situation. Powell has played well over the last month, with three touchdowns in four games. He's had at least 80 scrimmage yards in those games. Most of these DFS leagues are PPR so get him in your lineup ASAP.
A quick side note here. There will be no Like/Dislike this week. I know, contain your disappointment. Here's the deal. I would love to write it. But my poor editor, the Franchise needs a little bit of a break. He doesn't need to spend his New Year's Eve sorting through my usual talking points of the WWE, "Star Wars" and how much Peyton Manning is done.
But I had planned to focus my attention on the fact Aaron Rodgers looked like hot garbage last week against Arizona. And I've noticed all of those "Aaron Rodgers is the best QB in the league" people have gone pretty silent in recent weeks. Well, they surface long enough to make excuses for Rodgers. He has no line, no receivers, etc. Which is fine. But look at what Cam Newton has worked with this year. Look at what Tom Brady has worked with through the entirety of his career. Just stop it, people. Rodgers is fine, but he's not even the best of his generation.
All right, where was I?
Again, you want a quarterback who will play for something. He's had 13 touchdown passes in his last five games.
He's averaged more than 12 fantasy points in his last four games. He's even better in PPR leagues.
He won a lot of people fantasy titles in Week 16. The matchup against the Falcons is pretty good. Atlanta has allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to running backs.
This could get dicey if Jon Stewart finds his way on to the field. But if CAP is the solo back, he's a rather nice option as the Panthers have spent the last week loathing the fact they lost the perfect season. I wouldn't want to be Tampa Bay right now. And as a side note, it's going to be important to avoid Cardinals players if possible. Their game becomes moot if the Panthers win that early game.
Again, follow the theme here; the Bengals have something to play for. And you kind of had to be impressed with AJ McCarron on Monday night. The QB seems a little overconfident, but don't you want that in a QB? He obviously out-kicked his coverage when he selected his bride. So how does that not translate? In any event, Jones is a nice play because the Ravens just won their Super Bowl last week and will go back to being awful.
He's had 30 targets in the last two weeks, which is the most in the NFL. My only fear here is Bradford realizes he won't get a new contract while checking down to the tight end.
The Bears placed Alshon Jeffery on IR Tuesday morning, so Miller becomes the top option in the passing game. He's going to make Martellus Bennett expendable in the offseason. And this Bears fan hopes he can develop into our Greg Olsen next year. Dare to dream, right?
Who the (expletive) is going to be the quarterback for the Colts this week? Josh Freeman? Ryan Lindley? This is hilarious. And the Colts do have something to play for. But Freeman, bruh.
I don't play in DFS leagues with kickers. But if I did, I'd go with Santos because the Raiders have allowed the second-most fantasy points to kickers this year.
In the latest episode of the NFL Fantasy LIVE podcast, the gang weighs in on some Week 17 matchups they like and don't like and talk about some lessons that they have learned during the 2015 fantasy season. Don't forget to subscribe to the show or download each episode HERE!
-- You can hit Rank up for more advice or let him know how lousy his picks are on Twitter @adamrank. Don't be thrown off by his # wars, though.