Merry Christmas to our DLF readers and subscribers who celebrate! Of course, along with a huge holiday week, it’s also a massive week on the fantasy football calendar! It’s championship week in our fantasy football and dynasty fantasy football leagues! It’s always an odd dichotomy for fantasy football managers. You’re with your family, traveling all over the country, celebrating the season and the holiday cheer. But, inside your head, your mind is 100% on your championship matchup! How are you supposed to partake in the festivities when you know your star running back only has 2.5 fantasy points through the first half of his game? No matter how you choose to balance the stress of the holidays and the stress of championship week, enjoy your time with your family, and good luck in your championship matchups!

The injuries really seem to be mounting up around the NFL as we approach everyone’s 16th regular season game. It’s really tough at this time of year for you to trust your fantasy players are going to make it through the full game! Lamar Jackson left his game early in the first half with a back injury. Jordan Love left with a concussion. Gardner Minshew and JJ McCarthy had to leave their games early as well, and all of that is just at the quarterback position. With the unique schedule this week, and teams preparing for the post-season, or the off-season, some of these injured players may take their time getting back on the field, so pay attention to the reports this week. Unfortunately for the NFL, the playoff races are getting determined early, so there are going to be a lot of meaningless games over the next two weeks. 

Speaking of meaningless games, let’s take a look at the Christmas Day slate of NFL action! These games are of course scheduled months in advance, so the NFL has to try to guess which games are going to be relevant for a national slate such as this one. Unfortunately, they chose wrong, and four of the six teams playing today are already eliminated. On top of that, the quarterback situations in these games are equally underwhelming. The action kicks off at 1 PM Eastern when the Cowboys travel to Landover, Maryland for a rivalry game against the Commanders. Then, the Lions have a must-win matchup in Minnesota, but even their playoff odds are minuscule, even with a win over this beat up Vikings squad. The Christmas day slate wraps up with the Broncos putting their one-seed on the line in Arrowhead. This should’ve been an outstanding game, even if it was a few weeks earlier. Unfortunately, the Chiefs are eliminated and they’re on their third-string quarterback. Primetime games in KC are always tough, especially for a division rival, but the Chiefs may be completely checked out of this one. 

The week 17 action continues with another double-header on Saturday. The Texans @ Chargers matchup is an important game for playoff seeding, but they’re likely both making the playoffs. Both of these teams have tough defenses to take advantage of, so your fantasy options on these teams may need to be avoided. That game is followed by the Ravens going to Green Bay to take on the Packers. Early in the week, both of these teams have injury issues at quarterback, but if Lamar Jackson and Jordan Love can play, this will be a fun matchup to watch. 

The Sunday slate is highlighted by the Eagles @ Bills matchup in the 4:25 PM ET slot. Once again, both of these teams are already in the playoffs, so the stakes are significantly lower than they would normally be. Despite that, this is a potential Super Bowl preview game, so eyes will be locked on this matchup. Sunday night’s game features two 11-4 teams jockeying for seeding in the NFC with the Bears travelling to the Bay Area to take on the 49ers. The week wraps up with the Rams travelling to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. 

Whether you’re playing for a championship, playing in the third-place game, or even if you’ve been eliminated for weeks, there is no off-season in dynasty fantasy football! Trim the waste off your bench, and load up on young lottery tickets that could see their value increase between now and the rookie draft. Dive into the trade market, if your league still allows it, and build your draft capital, especially if you can take advantage of desperate teams competing in the fantasy playoffs. Check out the DLF Expert Rankings to see where your players stand according to our experts. You can also plug your league into the My DLF League Sync Tool, where you can see your rosters, all of your leaguemates’ rosters, available players on the waiver wire, and grades for all of your positions. If you have some holes in your starting lineup, open up the rankings and you’ll easily be able to find the best available players for you to pick up. League sync also works for the Trade Analyzer Tool, if your league hasn’t passed its trade deadline yet. The championship is here, and whether you’re in the action or on the sideline, DLF is here to help you be the best dynasty manager in your league!

Last week in this section, I wrote about a “generational” college prospect who finally started to look like a “generational” player in Kyle Pitts. This week, we’ll do it again with Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence! In the last six games, Lawrence has finished as a top 13 QB or better in fantasy, including a QB1 and QB2 finish in the past two weeks combining for 75.4 points. He’s thrown for multiple touchdowns in five straight games, and he’s also run for a touchdown in two straight. With two games left this season, he’s less than one fantasy point away from his career-high, and he already has a career-high of 26 passing touchdowns. He’s the number four quarterback on the season, but is he a QB1 going forward for dynasty leagues? We’ll analyze the player value and help you take stock of your quarterback position heading into the fantasy football off-season. 

Lawrence was the clear number one pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, but he’s struggled to live up to that billing. He’s only finished the season as a top 12 QB once, back in 2022, and last year he bottomed out with a QB27 season. This year, with Liam Coen running the offense, Lawrence is finally looking like the player the Jaguars hoped he would be when they drafted him. He’s running a clean and efficient offense, and he’s gone four straight weeks without an interception! Despite that, his ADP is still pretty close to his career low. He’s going at pick 150 in December Dynasty ADP, QB17 overall. He’s going just after CJ Stroud and Jared Goff, just before Brock Purdy and Cam Ward. The DLF Expert Rankings also have him at QB17, but he’s pushed up the board to 101 overall off the board. 

Taking a look at the quarterback rankings, it’s really tough to push Lawrence too much further up the board. Over the past couple of seasons, the league has been inundated with young, talented quarterbacks that have to be ranked over Lawrence in dynasty fantasy football leagues. With that being said, I still think that Lawrence is ranked too low. Personally, I would push him up into the QB 11-13 range, around where Jordan Love, Baker Mayfield and Bo Nix are being drafted. I trust this offensive play-caller, and they’ve invested a ton of money and draft capital into the wide receivers with Jakobi Meyers, Brian Thomas and Travis Hunter here long-term. I’m buying Lawrence if he is still being considered QB17, but I expect the public to value him higher than that this off-season, coming off of a top 5 fantasy finish.

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THREE TIGHT ENDS YOU NEED TO ACQUIRE THIS OFF-SEASON

If you wait until tight ends “break out” to go after them, you’re almost always paying retail. Dynasty and deep redraft value is made a year early, not a year late. Heading into this off-season, three names stand out as buy-now options before their price catches up to their role and talent: Tucker Kraft, Harold Fannin, and Gunnar Helm.

Each is in a different spot on the development curve, but all three have a realistic path to being every-week fantasy starters in 2026 and beyond. The numbers already point in that direction; the market just hasn’t fully reacted yet.

Tucker Kraft, GB

Before the ACL tear cut his 2025 season short in week nine, Kraft was doing exactly what managers hoped he’d do: turning the corner from “interesting young tight end” into a weekly difference-maker. In eight games, he put up 32 catches for 489 yards and six touchdowns, good for about 14.7 PPR points per game. That PPG number is behind Trey McBride’s absurd 19.7.

Kraft is the best yards after the catch tight end in the league, consistently turning short throws into chunk gains. The Packers use him as more than just a big body around the goal line; he’s used on crossers, leaks, and screens designed to take advantage of those YAC skills, where he can run through defenders and assert his physical dominance on his opponents. His 10.75 YAC/R leads the entire tight end position in 2025.

Use any trepidation about his ACL tear to take advantage of managers who are open to selling this premium asset. His current timeline has him on track to be ready for 2026 with a chance to once again be the #1 target in the Green Bay offense.

Harold Fannin, CLE

Fannin has gone from “interesting rookie” to “future focal point” in a hurry. Through 15 games, he’s already at 70 receptions, 701 yards, and five scores, which is impressive enough on the surface for a first-year tight end. Layer in the context, and it looks even better: he’s commanding a significant target share (28.5% since week 12) in an offense that was supposed to run through more established weapons.