Who Should I Drop for Week 17? Fantasy Football outlooks for Quinshon Judkins, Lamar Jackson, Jordan Mason, Nick Chubb, Chuba Hubbard, Jordan Love, Jacory, Croskey-Merritt, Breece Hall, Kimani Vidal.
Who Should I Drop? Who Should I Keep? Some of the most common Week 17 fantasy football cut candidates involve players like Quinshon Judkins, Lamar Jackson, Jordan Mason, Nick Chubb, Chuba Hubbard, Jordan Love, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Breece Hall, Kimani Vidal. However, don't worry, we are here to help you make the right waiver wire decisions and winning moves for Week 17. Once you decide who to drop, find your optimal fantasy football pickups for Week 17 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Pickup? tool helps make your fantasy football waiver wire decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to add... all free!
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Fantasy Football Drop Candidates
Read about fantasy football players to consider dropping for Week 17:
Quinshon Judkins, RB, Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns running back Quinshon Judkins (leg, knee) has been diagnosed with a broken leg and will miss the remainder of the 2025 season, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. He is also being evaluated for a knee injury. It's a devastating end to a promising rookie campaign for the second-round pick out of Ohio State. He finishes the season with 827 rushing yards, 171 receiving yards, and seven touchdowns through 15 games.
Judkins will now begin recovering in hopes of making a full recovery ahead of the 2026 season. If healthy, he'll rank as a fringe top-12 running back in next summer's fantasy drafts. As for the Browns' short-term outlook, Dylan Sampson (hand) has a chance to return in Week 17 and lead Cleveland's backfield the rest of the way. Raheim Sanders should also earn more touches out of the backfield.
Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (back) is considered day-to-day after sustaining a back bruise in the second quarter of Sunday night's loss to the Patriots. He took a knee to the back from Craig Woodson on a run in the second quarter and was unable to return.
He said he hopes to play on Saturday against the Packers, but his status is very uncertain after battling multiple injuries this season. Jackson and the Ravens are still chasing the Steelers for the top spot in the AFC North, but it isn't clear if they'll have Jackson or Tyler Huntley under center when they take on the Packers on a short week.
Jordan Mason, QB, Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings ruled out running back Jordan Mason (ankle) from returning to Sunday's game against the New York Giants. Mason sustained the injury on the opening drive of the game and was carted back to the locker room after returning to the sideline. He'll finish the day with two carries for five yards.
Luckily for Minnesota, it received good news on its other injured running back. Aaron Jones Sr. (ankle) also left the Vikings' first drive of the game, but was able to return later in the first half. Zavier Scott will back up Jones with Mason unable to play.
Nick Chubb, RB, Houston Texans
Houston Texans running back Nick Chubb (ribs) was back on the field Sunday during Houston's 23-21 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. The 29-year-old had six carries for 33 yards and had one catch for nine yards. Despite rookie running back Woody Marks (ankle) being ruled out, Chubb's workload was limited as Jawhar Jordan led the backfield with 15 carries.
Chubb has now gone six straight games without seeing double-digit touches and has only been able to find the endzone once during that stretch. It is worth mentioning that Chubb is coming off a rib injury, and the Texans could have been slow to roll him back into the offense. Chubb still profiles as a goal-line back that can still get work in the red zone. With Mark's availability uncertain for Week 17, Chubb is worth targeting off the waiver wire in deep standard leagues.
Chuba Hubbard, RB, Carolina Panthers
Chuba Hubbard had another quiet outing in the Carolina Panthers' 23-20 win against the Buccaneers. The Carolina RB had six carries for 27 yards while also adding one reception for seven yards. Hubbard finished the game with 4.4 PPR points, his lowest fantasy total since Week 11. Rico Dowdle also outperformed Hubbard with 43 scrimmage yards and 8.3 PPR points. Even though the workload was split between the two RBs,
Hubbard logged fewer snaps (41%). In Week 17, the Carolina Panthers will face the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle ranked seventh in Fantasy Points Per Game allowed to the RB position in the last four weeks leading up to Week 16. Due to the rough matchup against Seattle and inconsistent volume, Hubbard is off the fantasy radar for Week 17.
Jordan Love, GB, Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said quarterback Jordan Love (concussion) is still in the NFL's concussion protocol, which is a "process that takes multiple days to get through." Love was forced to exit early from Green Bay's Week 16 loss to the Chicago Bears after suffering a concussion, and his availability for the team's Week 17 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens will remain up in the air until he can clear the protocol.
Across 15 games this season, the 27-year-old has completed 66.3% of his pass attempts for 3,381 yards, 23 touchdowns, and six interceptions. Love was replaced in Week 16 by quarterback Malik Willis (shoulder), who is dealing with a shoulder injury of his own. If neither Love nor Willis is available for Week 17, Green Bay would likely elevate quarterback Clayton Tune from the practice squad to the active roster.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Washington Commanders
Washington Commanders running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt saw a decreased workload in Week 16 with the return of teammate Chris Rodriguez Jr., but was still productive, scoring his second touchdown in as many games. Croskey-Merritt toted the rock just eight times (25 yards) in Washington's 29-18 loss to the Eagles on Saturday -- ten fewer carries than he sported a week ago in Rodriguez's absence.
However, he still played clearly ahead of Jeremy McNichols in the rushing attack, despite the latter pacing him in snaps 15-11. The 24-year-old may not garner the same upside he did at the beginning of the campaign, but fantasy managers in a pinch can turn to him for low-end flex production when Washington squares off with the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17.
Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets
New York Jets running back Breece Hall is coming off one of his worst performances of the season in last weekend's road loss to the Jaguars, but he will look to rebound against a porous New Orleans Saints rush defense in Week 16. The Nebraska native tied a season-low percentage of team plays last Sunday (54%) while totaling 35 scrimmage yards on 14 combined touches. It was a disappointing output for him, even in a less-than-ideal matchup.
Despite not missing any time in practice this week while designated with a knee injury, it's unclear if the issue played a part in his Week 15 workload. Fortunately, New Orleans presents as a much more favorable matchup, and he'll have a chance to bounce back against a unit that's yielded 130.6 yards per game on the ground to the opposition (seventh-most). Hall will still be a risky play with rookie Brady Cook under center, but slots in as a low-end RB2, and, officially, RotoBaller's PPR RB18 for this week's slate of action.
Kimani Vidal, RB, Los Angeles Charges
Los Angeles Chargers running back Kimani Vidal (neck) exited during the fourth quarter of Sunday's Week 16 contest against the Dallas Cowboys. He is officially listed as questionable to return. At the time of his departure, he had just five carries for 11 rushing yards. After a couple of weeks splitting touches with Omarion Hampton,
Vidal took on a smaller role this weekend while Hampton got more involved. Even if Vidal returns Sunday, he'll likely remain in a change-of-pace role. While he's sidelined, Hassan Haskins will operate as Los Angeles' No. 2 option out of the backfield.
Who Should I Pickup Tool
Trying to decide who to pick up off the waiver wire instead? Check the Who Should I Pickup tool here.
Week 17 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on finding replacements for specific players like Quinshon Judkins, Lamar Jackson, Jordan Mason, Nick Chubb, Chuba Hubbard, Jordan Love, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Breece Hall, Kimani Vidal.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Pickup? button to see who the recommended waiver wire pickups are based on fantasy football rankings, projections, and more.
Improvements For Who Should I Pickup? You may have noticed, our Who Should I Pickup? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win on the waiver wire in 2025. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football waiver wire rankings and projections based on their research, and updates them constantly throughout the week. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked.
Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Pickup
Once you decide who to drop, find your optimal fantasy football waiver wire replacements. Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Pickup tool for Week 17 for Quinshon Judkins, Lamar Jackson, Jordan Mason, Nick Chubb, Chuba Hubbard, Jordan Love, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Breece Hall, Kimani Vidal:
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