NFL Reactions: Week 17

-Mike Evans left Sunday's win over the Falcons with a knee injury that caused a fair amount of concern, but after the game Bruce Arians said that the Buccaneers have reason to believe the injury is not serious. Antonio Brown (11 catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 14 targets) and Chris Godwin (five catches for 133 yards and two touchdowns on seven targets) both kicked it into high gear in Evans' absence, and they might need to keep it going if Evans can't play against Washington in the wildcard round. Ronald Jones notably reclaimed the lead role in the Tampa Bay backfield, taking 12 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown compared to just five carries for 13 yards for Leonard Fournette.

-Russell Gage arguably had his most productive day as a pro against the Buccaneers, catching nine of 11 targets for 91 yards and a touchdown on a day where Calvin Ridley struggled to the result of eight catches for 52 yards on 12 targets. With one year left on his very cheap contract, Gage is a good bet to remain Atlanta's main slot receiver in three-wide sets in 2021.

-Justin Jefferson caught nine of 12 targets for 133 yards against the Lions, breaking the rookie receiving yardage record previously set by Anquan Boldin. Jefferson accumulated 1,400 yards on just 125 targets – his catch rate of 70.4 percent at 11.2 yards per target is truly remarkable, and he doesn't turn 22 until mid June.

-Jonathan Taylor torched the Jaguars for 253 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries Sunday. With that, Taylor finishes his rookie year with 1,169 yards rushing (5.0 YPC) and 11 touchdowns while adding 36 receptions for 299 yards and a touchdown on 39 targets (92.3 percent catch rate, 7.7 YPT). So much for the Trent Richardson comparisons.

-Derrick Henry predictably ran wild against Houston's helpless defense, totaling 250 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries. A.J. Brown (10 catches for 151 yards and one touchdown on 11 targets) was similarly impressive, especially considering Ryan Tannehill only completed 18-of-27 passes for 216 yards and one touchdown. Henry's remarkable season concludes with 2,027 yards and 17 touchdowns on 378 carries. It's a concerning workload for a running back's longevity, but you have to wonder if the beating wears on him less than other runners since he so often is the one delivering the hit.

-Brandin Cooks continued to finish the year on a tear, catching 11 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns on 16 targets against Tennessee. It got him over 1,000 yards receiving, something he's somehow done on four different NFL teams now. Cooks, Will Fuller and Keke Coutee should make up a potent wideout trio with Deshaun Watson in 2021, so long as they make a reasonable coaching hire (perhaps we shouldn't assume that).

-It's been a bit of a struggle for Jerry Jeudy in his rookie year, but he made an encouraging showing against the Raiders on Sunday by turning seven targets into five catches for 140 yards and a touchdown -- mostly propelled by a 92-yard touchdown. Even if it's Drew Lock or some other sketchy player at quarterback in 2021, the Broncos have enough potential firepower between Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick, Noah Fant and KJ Hamler to make for an explosive offense.

-Justin Herbert concluded his brilliant rookie season with yet another huge fantasy output, this time completing 22-of-31 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns while running for a fourth touchdown at Arrowhead. The Chiefs weren't playing for anything, but Herbert has thoroughly convinced as a rookie and he could especially go off going forward if the Chargers can reel in Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as head coach. In addition to Herbert the Chargers can be so threatening because of their deep and varied pass-catching options -- Hunter Henry is a very good tight end and it's easy to forget about him for stretches of games, and understudies like Tyron Johnson and Donald Parham have shown a lot of promise, too. Austin Ekeler might be capable of a Marshall Faulk-like season in an offense like that.

-The biggest names will understandably be Aaron Jones and to a lesser extent Chris Carson, but the most important free agent RB this offseason might be Gus Edwards. Edwards fits like a glove in the Baltimore run game, and undrafted player or not his production has been automatic in that capacity. That's a problem for the fantasy upside of the supremely talented J.K. Dobbins, who torched the Bengals on Sunday for 160 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries. Edwards is too good for the Ravens to just bench him permanently, so Dobbins investors should hope another team attempts to sign Edwards as a restricted free agent. Edwards was undrafted, so if the Ravens don't assign him a higher tender then another team would be able to sign him with no draft pick cost.

-With the more downfield-oriented Mason Rudolph replacing Ben Roethlisberger against the Browns the Steelers wideouts saw their target shares invert from what was the norm under Roethlisberger -- Diontae Johnson only saw four targets but was much more efficient than usual, catching three for 96 yards, while JuJu Smith-Schuster saw eight targets (six catches for 65 yards and one touchdown) and Chase Claypool saw 11 (five catches for 101 yards and one touchdown).

-Daniel Jones regained his composure a bit in Week 17, completing 17-of-25 passes for 229 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Although the jury is still out on Jones he should head into 2021 with decently favorable circumstances, especially if his offensive line improves by then. The pass catchers are solid between Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton and Evan Engram, and Dante Pettis (two catches for 43 yards and one touchdown on two targets against Dallas) might be an interesting third receiver project for the Giants going into next year.

-It's mostly been a rough rookie year for Tua Tagovailoa, and Sunday's loss to Buffalo was no exception. He completed 35-of-58 passes, but only for 361 yards (6.2 YPA) while throwing three interceptions compared to one touchdown. Despite the turbulence there's still reason to think Tagovailoa could prove a viable starter – the Buffalo defense is quite good, and the Dolphins offensive line is brutally bad. As long as rookies Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt improve and the Dolphins improve one of the other starting offensive line positions then the whole complexion of the offense could change pretty quickly to Tua's benefit. They might already be set for pass catchers between DeVante Parker, Preston Williams, Lynn Bowden and Mike Gesicki, and Myles Gaskin looks like the real deal too.

-John Brown was strong in his return to the Bills offense, catching four of four targets for 72 yards and a touchdown. With his speed on the field the Bills have as much firepower as any other non-Chiefs offense. Gabriel Davis (two catches for 107 yards and a touchdown on five targets) and Isaiah McKenzie (six catches for 65 yards and two touchdowns on nine targets) have proven themselves meaningful threats on the periphery, too. Davis looks like a potential star for Buffalo despite his modest current role.

-Cam Newton's stint as starter in New England was mostly a failure, but his big game against the Jets on Sunday gave some reason to ponder whether the Patriots offense more so suffered from a poor supporting cast rather than much to do with Newton specifically. The Jets corners are XFL types for the most part, making them more on the level of the Patriots pass catchers, and Newton completed 21-of-30 attempts for 242 yards and three touchdowns. No matter where the Patriots go at quarterback in the future, Jakobi Meyers is a keeper at wideout.