Week 17 Fantasy Football PPR Rankings & Projections: Vikings Offense To End Year On A High Note

Week 17 is never a fun one for fantasy football. Teams will likely rest some of their players or change up their rotations. Kansas City has had early reports of doing so now that they have locked in the one-seed and have nothing to play for. There are still plenty of games that are must-wins for teams, especially in the AFC Wild Card race. The Colts need a win and a loss by the following, Tennessee Miami, Baltimore, and Cleveland. That means these teams are also in must-win games. The NFC East will come down to Washington and Dallas, while the Bears, Cardinals, and Rams are all in a battle for wild card spots. The game between the Cardinals and Rams could be with both teams starting backup quarterbacks due to injuries.

Week 17 Quarterback Rankings

Keeping more of an eye on teams with something to play for and also healthy quarterbacks, the rankings might change as the week goes on. Kyler Murray and Jared Goff now seem in doubt for Week 17, which downgrades the offenses on both sides. Patrick Mahomes might rest as the Chiefs have nothing to play for. Some guys who could creep into the top-ten because of that are Kirk Cousins against the Lions, who have allowed 26.9 points to quarterbacks this season. Ben Roethlisberger faces a Browns defense that has allowed the 7th most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks on the year. As far as solid locks this week, Lamar Jackson gets the Bengals, and the Ravens need a win to secure a playoff spot. He is one of the top arms on the slate.

Tom Brady and Matt Ryan square off again. Both put up above-average scores a few weeks ago. Atlanta allows the most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this season, and the Bucs are allowing the most over the past five weeks. Aaron Rodgers can lock up the one seed with a win and get the Bears, who have allowed the 6th most fantasy points to quarterbacks over the past five weeks, including a game against Rodgers already.

Week 17 Running Backs Rankings

You couldn’t ask for two better matchups for Dalvin Cook and Derrick Henry this week. Houston has allowed the most fantasy points to running backs, and Detroit has allowed the second most. Cook and Henry check-in as top options this week, to nobody’s surprise. Melvin Gordon without Phillip Lindsay is in for a truly featured workload and gets the Raiders, who have allowed the 3rd most fantasy points per game to run backs this season. Gordon should see 18+ touches this week and is in a strong spot. Jonathan Taylor continued his hot second half of the season and now faces the Jaguars, who are bottom-five against the run and have allowed the 4th most fantasy points per game to running backs this season. We will monitor the Saints workload for starters, but Alvin Kamara can tack on a few more touchdowns after six last week. He faces the Panthers, who have allowed the 8th most fantasy points to running backs.

Some middle-tier backs get a bump this week. David Johnson has been on a real roll of late, and he gets the Titans who struggle almost as badly as they do on the defensive side. Tennessee has allowed the 6th most fantasy points per game to running backs this season. D’Andre Swift is in a good spot this week. Minnesota has struggled against the run allowing 26.4 PPR points per game to backs this season.

Week 17 Wide Receivers Rankings

Houston and Tennessee stand out this week as Tennessee needs a win, and it doesn’t matter for Houston, given they don’t have their first pick to try and improve anyway. Both of these defenses are also god awful against the pass. Tennessee has allowed the second-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season, and Houston has allowed the 7th most. AJ Brown and Corey Davis will be in a dome and not snowy Lambeau FIeld this week against a bottom-five secondary. On the Houston side, they will be trailing as usual. Tennessee is an easy secondary to target, and while they are not top-ten options this week, Brandin Cooks and Keke Coutee both get a bump. Both Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen are in a great spot this week with the Lions allowing the third-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers. Jefferson can surpass Anquan Boldin for the all-time rookie record for receiving yards.

The Buccaneers and Falcons game last time out gave the Bucs a lot of volume in the second half in comeback mode. I wouldn’t bank on that again, and Atlanta has been mucking up games, making them a lot lower scoring than anticipated. This is still a good spot for most sides, but the Bucs group of wideouts is still hit or miss after Mike Evans. On the flip side of this game, Calvin Ridley had another 100+ yard game and continues to dominate with Julio Jones. The Buccaneers have allowed 55.1 PPR points per game to wide receivers in the last five weeks.

Week 17 Tight Ends Rankings

We will continue to monitor the Chiefs players and how they handle resting for this week. Travis Kelce would be in a great spot as usual, with the Chargers allowing ten touchdowns to tight ends this season. We can continue to rely on Mark Andrews against the Bengals, who have allowed 15.2 PPR points per game to tight ends. Andrews has been pretty solid down the stretch and should finish the season strong. Both the Falcons and Buccaneers are in the bottom ten in fantasy points allowed to tight ends this season. Rob Gronkowski and Hayden Hurst are both coming off touchdown-scoring weeks and are boom or bust options. While the quarterback situation is still poor in Washington, they face the Eagles, wh have allowed 13.7 PPR points per game to tight ends this season. Logan Thomas is a solid start again.

Week 17 Kicker Rankings

Kickers against the Broncos continue to be an easy bet, as they have allowed 10.1 fantasy points per game this season. Daniel Carlson has been money all season and should end the season on a high note. This game has an over/under of 50, and Carlson is a strong option this week. Rodrigo Blankenship is a guy I like as well this week. He faces the Jaguars, who have allowed the third-most fantasy points to kickers this season. With their defense in shambles, we should see plenty of chances for the Colts offense to move the ball. Justin Tucker is in a great spot with the Ravens implied total near 30 and the Bengals allowing 8.9 fantasy points per game to kickers this season. Harrison Butker, Ryan Succop, and Younghoe Koo are a few others.

Week 17 Defense Rankings

Kicking it off with Baltimore, hard not to like them this week as 11.5 point favorites against the Bengals. Baltimore needs to win to make sure they are in the playoffs, and this is certainly not a bad matchup to end the year on. Cincinnati has allowed the 7th most fantasy points per game to defenses this season. While Cincinnati’s offense moved the ball against Houston, every offense has. They have one of the lowest implied totals on the slate. The Rams would get a major bump on Kyler Murray’s defensive side, and you can give the Cardinals a bump as well if Jared Goff is truly out. Both of these defenses playing backup quarterbacks would get a projection boost. As mentioned above, the Colts need a win this week and are two-touchdown favorites against the Jaguars in a must-win game. Jacksonville’s offense continues to struggle, and we also continue to see Mike Glennon under center. Without James Robinson, they don’t have much to offer.