NFL Week 17 Fantasy Football Recap: Green Bay Packers vs. Minnesota Vikings

• Aaron Jones: 14 carries, 111 yards; 2 receptions, 2 receiving yards

• Jalen Nailor: 3 receptions, 89 yards, 1 touchdown

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Monitor Christian Watson’s health: Watson was active despite barely practicing this week with a hip injury.

Watson played his usual role on the first two drives, but Romeo Doubs took significant snaps from Watson over the rest of the half.
Watson took every snap on the Packers' first drive of the second half. He was then rotated in and out again to end the third quarter.
He played the majority of snaps on the first drive of the fourth quarter while Allen Lazard was rotated out. The fact that the rookie was still playing in the fourth quarter of the blowout was a good sign his hip wasn’t getting worse.
He did get rotated out at the end of the fourth quarter when the rest of the starters were taken out.
He ultimately only caught one of his five targets, but he was largely getting thrown uncatchable passes with a 25.8-yard average depth of target.
Doubs had been rotating in and out with Randall Cobb in recent weeks, but it seemed like the Packers were preparing for Doubs to play in place of Watson. This led Cobb to remain on the field in three-receiver sets more frequently than in recent weeks.
Watson will hopefully be more prepared for next week despite the bad stat line.

Keep an eye on Dalvin Cook: Cook gained 27 yards on nine carries, finishing third on the team in rushing yards.

He didn’t play as much as usual, which was largely due to the Vikings taking out their starters in the fourth quarter.
It was also because Alexander Mattison took the majority of snaps in the two-minute drill to end the first half. Cook had played 90% of offensive snaps in first-half two-minute drills prior to this week.
All of Mattison’s carries occurred in the fourth quarter or in the two-minute drill.
Cook’s PFF grade over the last two seasons hasn’t been nearly as high as the previous two.
His role in the Vikings offense will probably bounce back and be fine next week and in the playoffs, but there is at least a chance the Vikings spend a mid-round pick on a talented rookie running back in 2023. If this happens, we could see Cook’s playing time decline somewhat next season.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.