With fantasy championship week upon us, congratulations if you’ve made it this far. Now, it’s all about how you can get any available edge over your final opponent for 2025. For championship week, we’ll identify a few flex options that have particularly attractive matchups or find themselves in favorable situations with numerous opportunities available, such as a player stepping into a larger role due to an injury. These generally will be Running Backs or Wide Receivers ranked outside of the top 24 at their position, or a Tight End who likely would be the TE2 on a fantasy roster.
Kenneth Gainwell, Running Back, Pittsburgh Steelers
Gainwell already found himself on this list heading into Week 15, but he can’t be ignored as another exceptional flex option for those who have made it to Week 17. Sure, Gainwell might not have another insane 45-yard touchdown reception like he did in Week 16 against the Lions, but the former Eagle has been tremendously consistent over the past month plus. The 26-year-old has hit double-digit PPR points in five of the last six games, including a 23.6 point performance last week and a 29.5 PPR point performance in Week 11. Gainwell isn’t just scraping by with 10 or 11 points per week, but he’s turning plenty of volume into plenty of fantasy points. Gainwell has 39 receptions since Week 9. Only Jahmyr Gibbs has more receptions among all Running Backs in that same time span, according to Heath Cummings of CBS Sports.
The Week 17 matchup for Gainwell and the Steelers is an attractive one for Running Backs. Bills running back James Cook ran all over them last week, and they’ve given up 27.4 fantasy points per game on planned rushes over the past four weeks, according to KC Joyner of The Athletic. With WR DK Metcalf suspended, it very well could lead to more targets and opportunities for Gainwell. The Steelers’ Wide Receiver room isn’t all that deep, even with Metcalf, and his absence could require offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to lean on Gainwell even more in Week 17. He currently sits at #21 in this week’s QB List RB rankings, placing him as a back-end RB2/flex option. More than likely, Gainwell was picked up on the waiver wire over the course of the season, and fantasy managers who did so may already have two viable Running Back options in front of him. In this case, which is potentially common for Gainwell managers, the Steelers’ ball carrier is the perfect fit as a flex option.
Tony Pollard, Running Back, Tennessee Titans
The former high-priced free agent has been a disappointment overall in 2025, but as of late has really turned things up a notch. Pollard has three straight 100-yard games on the ground, and now gets a Week 17 matchup against the Saints, who give up the seventh-most fantasy points to Running Backs, according to Fantasy Pros. The 28-year-old has all the reason in the world to muster up a strong performance this week, as he’s just 151 rushing yards away from a $250,000 bonus.
Pollard’s Week 16 bottom line wasn’t anything special as he wasn’t involved in the passing game, but last week was just the third time he went without a reception all season. He generally gets some production as a pass catcher, helping to bolster his floor. The former Cowboy forced eight missed tackles in Week 16, resulting in 41 additional yards accumulated, according to Next Gen Stats.
Even late into his seventh season and as a 28-year-old Running Back, the eight missed tackles show Pollard still has plenty of juice left in the tank. Now, if he can just find his way to paydirt or to some more involvement as a pass catcher, Pollard could outperform his #25 position in this week’s QB List’s RB rankings.
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