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Should I pickup Dylan Sampson or Raheim Sanders as fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 17 of 2025? Read our fantasy football waiver wire outlooks.
The Cleveland Browns' backfield is beset with injuries heading into their Week 17 AFC North clash against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and a clear starter has yet to emerge.
On Monday, rookie running back Quinshon Judkins (ankle, leg) underwent season-ending surgery after suffering a fractured fibula and a dislocated ankle in the team’s Week 16 loss against the Buffalo Bills. Running back Jerome Ford (shoulder) was placed on IR before Week 15, and rookie running back Dylan Sampson (hand) was ruled out before Weeks 15 and 16 without logging a practice in each week. There is some optimism that Sampson will suit up against the Steelers, but head coach Kevin Stefanski seems to trust rookie running back Raheim Sanders and veteran Trayveon Williams as substitutes.
Should you pick up Sampson or Sanders ahead of Week 17? Let's figure this out.
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Dylan Sampson Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Outlook
Sampson is a rookie running back out of Tennessee and should be a familiar name for fantasy managers, as he had limited success early on in the 2025 season. In Week 1, before Judkins’ debut the following week, Sampson shared the backfield with veteran Ford, turning his 12 rush attempts into just 29 yards, but hauled in all eight of his targets for 64 yards, surprising fantasy managers in PPR leagues.
Sampson eventually lost snaps to the more dynamic Judkins and was edged out in third-down and passing situations by Ford as the season progressed. The rookie running back has not seen double-digit rush attempts since that Week 1 performance. Sampson has the most snaps and touches this season compared to Sanders and Williams, but he has been dealing with a calf and a hand injury, the latter kept him out of Week 16, for the past few weeks.
Shedeur's first career TD pass! Sampson runs 66 yards for the score.
CLEvsLV on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/fzAH0Ml9ep
— NFL (@NFL) November 23, 2025
Between Weeks 10 and 14, when Sampson, Judkins, and Ford were healthy, Sampson played ahead of Ford as a change-of-pace back and saw 28% of third downs. During that span, Sampson’s playtime was roughly 26%, and he averaged five touches for 25 total yards per game, which was more than Ford but far behind the bell cow Judkins. If he is healthy for Week 17, we could see a repeat of his Week 1 performance to bookend the fantasy season.
Raheim Sanders Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Outlook
Undrafted rookie free agent running back Sanders led the Browns’ backfield after Judkins went down with his injury in Week 16. Sanders substituted in as the early downs back and turned his 11 rushing attempts into 42 yards. He also brought in one reception for four yards, but running back Williams saw the majority of the backfield’s passing opportunities.
This was Sanders’ first on-field appearance since Week 1, when he carried the ball three times, twice at the goal line, for three yards and a touchdown. In Week 16 against the Bills, Sanders was once again the preferred short-field option, logging four red zone rush attempts, with one on the goal line, but failed to reach the end zone.
Raheim Sanders evens the score for the Browns
CINvsCLE on FOXhttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/dUvXJJkvvM
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2025
Sanders has similar physical attributes to Judkins and is likely to slot in as the early downs and goal-line bruiser in his stead. However, his lack of involvement in the passing game makes him less appealing for PPR leagues even if Sampson misses this game. Moreover, the Browns are 3.5-point home underdogs this week against the Steelers, a game with the lowest projected point total of the slate at just 34.5. This is shaping up to be a low-scoring, AFC North slugfest with a potentially negative game script for Sanders.
Should I Pickup Dylan Sampson or Raheim Sanders For Fantasy Football?
While neither option looks particularly reliable or appetizing for fantasy managers heading into Championship Week, both backs are primed for additional opportunities with Judkins out for the season. If Sampson suits up in Week 17, we expect him to re-take his passing-down and change-of-pace role, leading the Browns’ backfield, warranting fringe RB2/Flex consideration.
With Sampson active, Sanders will probably be a low-end, touchdown-dependent RB3/Flex, reliant on volume and a neutral game script. Of these two options, Sampson is probably better for all league formats, and Sanders demonstrates value in standard scoring leagues. However, the more intriguing option if Sampson were to miss Week 17 is the veteran running back Williams. With Ford and Sampson out the past two weeks, Williams has seemingly assumed both their roles, playing more than 30% of the snaps and running double-digit routes in each game.
After Judkins left early in Week 16, Williams caught all four of his targets for 38 yards and ran the ball three times for 17 yards, but saw fewer rush attempts than Sanders. Cleveland is likely to face a negative game script against Pittsburgh in Week 17, which should benefit Williams more than Sanders.
Fantasy managers in a pinch this week and interested in this backfield should closely monitor the Cleveland Browns' Week 17 injury reports to gain further insight into Sampson’s status. If Sampson practices and plays this week, the backfield could turn into a dreaded three-headed committee, hindering production from all three backs. In the event Sampson misses his third straight game, Sanders and Williams will get slight bumps and enter deep-league RB2/Flex consideration, the latter mainly in PPR formats.
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Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Pickup
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Pickup tool for 2025 for Raheim Sanders, Dylan Sampson, Michael Carter, Kyle Monangai, Kenneth Gainwell, and Jacory Croskey-Merritt:
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