Week 17 fantasy advice for Josh Allen, James Cook, Amari Cooper and more

The Buffalo Bills face the New York Jets in Week 17. Here’s fantasy football starting pitching advice for every veteran Bills player who has the potential to make a fantastic impact during the game.

Looking for more lineup tips? Visit our Week 17 fantasy starting sit cheat sheet where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.

Josh Allen, QB

I think from an analytical standpoint we can give Josh Allen a chance going into the final week. Of course, you can’t do that if his slow play against the Patriots would knock you out of the playoffs.

However, if you’re still playing a meaningful game this week, you shouldn’t have any concerns about going back to the MVP frontrunner, who was a top-two signal-caller in each of the three weeks leading up to Week 16.

The Bills showed us in Week 6 that they know how to beat the Jets (Allen had a rushing score, but he also completed 15 of 18 non-pressure passes for 148 yards and a touchdown), and I don’t see one Reason to believe that this time I can’t succeed in a similar way.

Jets pressure rates, 2024:

• Weeks 1-13: 39.9%
• Weeks 14-16: 24.8%

Don’t think about it too much.

James Cook, R.B

James Cook has 42 red zone touchdowns this season compared to 35 last year – he has scored 16 touchdowns this season compared to six last year. There’s a combination of luck and strong development at play in Cook’s breakout season, and that’s perfectly fine.

Buffalo’s leading back has nine top-12 finishes this season and could well improve on that this week against the Jets team that the Bills had no trouble running the ball against in Week 6.

Cook was inactive in this game, but this backfield ran 24 times for 131 yards, with 13 of those carries gaining at least five yards.

This is a deep backfield and that could be a problem if the Chiefs hold on to the top seed. If you play the Cook and Kansas City clinches, I wouldn’t automatically switch, but I would watch the beat reporters a little more.

Ray Davis, RB

Ray Davis has failed to reach 30 yards from scrimmage in five of his last six games, and with Ty Johnson playing ahead of him on passing throws recently, his status as a one-on-one backup to James Cook is anything but as safe.

He’s a variety defender, but if this offense forces Josh Allen to wear the cape, there’s really no reason to draft a secondary defender in Buffalo as they try to chase the conference’s top seed.

I think you can safely forget Davis’ name for the rest of 2024, but I would caution against doing so for 2025.

Amari Cooper, WR

Note for the future: Proceed with caution when a very good team makes an acquisition at the trade deadline.

Diontae Johnson’s situation in Baltimore was an absolute disaster. Although moving DeAndre Hopkins to Kansas City helped more than Mike Williams did in Pittsburgh, I overestimated the impact it would have in any case.

I think the process of analysis (and also acquisitions) was solid. These players fit either a need or a playing style and have proven they are capable of performing at this level. But I got over my skis – I apologize.

The cover boy for this is Amari Cooper, a receiver who was theoretically brought in to take the Bills’ offense to the next level. This is one answer for them moving on from Stefon Diggs this offseason. While it’s true that this offense looks as good as any since the deal, it has as much to do with me as it does with Cooper.

Not much.

A wrist injury led to some absences, but in his seven games with the team he only reached the expected 8.5 PPR points once. If I could, I would chalk it up to a learning curve, but the Bills just aren’t interested in him being featured. His snap percentage of 55.2% on Sunday was his highest since joining the franchise.

Even when he is on the field, his impact is minimal. We all remember the viral clip of Keon Coleman telling him where to run his route at the line of scrimmage, which resulted in a score in his debut. That was a funny clip, but now it’s a sad reminder of the last time Cooper saw a glimpse of the end zone.

This offense has improved without his help (one game with 70 air yards), and if they’re trying to get back into postseason shape, why should we expect that to change significantly this week?

It’s possible that Buffalo (and all those teams with talented receivers who do very little) will roll out a Cooper package in January and run through the conference. I’m not ruling it out because everything I said positively after the trade remains true. That could be huge for a #BillsMafia fan base hungry for a winner, but in terms of winning fantasy titles in 2024, I’d be surprised if Cooper played any role at all.

Keon Coleman, WR

Keon Coleman was on the field for more than 60% of the snaps in both of Buffalo’s games following his wrist injury, and I would never rule out a player with that kind of role in a Josh Allen-led offense. However, there is a big gap between “counting a player out” and “actively making excuses for starting.”

The Jets have the third-best pro-play defense in the NFL this season and are the best unit at preventing deep touchdown passes (1% of such attempts; league average: 6.7%).

Read on and you’ll better understand why I think this is more of a Khalil Shakir week for the Bills than anything else, but that’s certainly part of it. Coleman is a talented boy with a bright future. I just don’t think the future is now for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. The rookie has caught just two passes on four targets (43 routes) since returning, production rates that aren’t worth considering by Flex this week in even deeper formats.

Khalil Shakir, WR

The mood among Khalil Shakir’s managers is not high, but I would encourage you to persevere. Buffalo as a whole was out of form last week against the Patriots (Shakir: two catches for 22 yards), but the volume was better than you’d expect from a 22-yard effort (six scores), and we have plenty of evidence of that this is an efficient tandem that you can bet on with a clear conscience.

Is it strange that using it last week gave me some encouragement? Obviously the production wasn’t there, but it’s clear he’s the receiver Josh Allen trusts the most, and that trust extends downward (season-high 106 air yards).

I don’t think Shakir will have a permanent vertical role in this offense, but it’s good to see he has a path to achieving some of these goals.

We had to endure a Shakir blindfold (two catches for 19 yards on an 8.7% target share) in Week 6, the first time these two teams met, without Amari Cooper on the roster. With Allen playing 4D chess these days, it’s always possible we see a repeat of him spreading the love (six Bills had more PPR points in the air than Shakir in that first contest), but I’m not worried about it too much worry.

Those long targets are nice, but Shakir will always make his money in the short-to-intermediate passing game, and I think the Bills have a good chance to win there with regularity this week. The Jets are the only team in the NFL to intercept a pass that travels no more than 15 yards in the air, and the 2024 version of Allen is in charge of the football.

I know last week was tough to watch and we had two of these games in December – don’t worry. I like our chances of returning to the 12-15 PPR point range with the potential for more if Buffalo’s offense returns to its Weeks 13-14 form.

Dalton Kincaid, TE

Updated at 11:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, December 29
Kincaid is active for today’s game.

The Bills got into a battle with the Patriots last week. One would think that this would mean Dalton Kincaid would be released to active duty on a limited basis a week after his return.

No dice. The second-year tight end was on the field for just 32.8% of Buffalo’s snaps (Week 15 DET: 47.1%), a usage pattern that scares me more than his target rate (seven on 14 routes), which I am encouraged in this regard. The season is entering the home stretch.

I don’t want to make absolute statements, but I think I will be more interested in this profile than you are. For next season. Kincaid was able to post a 30.4% target share in Week 6 against the Jets, which is proof of concept when it comes to winning against this defense. But Buffalo could be out of contention for first place at kickoff. Since motivation is limited, I’m not too optimistic that they’ll increase his snap share to a point where I’m comfortable.

Kincaid is currently my TE15 this week, checking in behind names like Chig Okonkwo and Brenton Strange, two options that you very well could have had (and perhaps still could have) without your waiver claim.

Dawson Knox, TE

Dawson Knox saw his last chance to add value this fantasy season without more than a whimper in Week 15 when Dalton Kincaid (knee) returned to action.

He had two big wins, something that seemingly everyone who attended the shootout between the Bills and Lions can claim. Other than that, it was a lot of nothing and certainly not enough to give me any level of confidence that his fantasy stock can survive if Kincaid is eased back into his full-time role.

Over the last three weeks, in which the Bills scored 114 points and Kincaid was either sidelined or not at full strength, Knox has turned 75 routes into 69 touchdown-less yards.