Fantasy Football Week 17 Rankings: Final Season Position-by-Position Review

With Week 17 upon us, those leagues that save their fantasy championships for the last week of the NFL season are left to be decided. But the Week 17 championship is particularly complicated.

For instance, many of my fantasy rankings this week reflect the likelihood that certain players may play but likely won't see extensive time on the field in meaningless games. That's the unfortunate aspect of having a championship game in Week 17; many fantasy stars either won't play or will play limited snaps, especially for those teams that have their playoff position already determined.

Hopefully, my rankings will help you navigate such complexities. Now go out there and win a championship, folks.

Quarterback

Rank	Player	Team
1	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers
2	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints
3	Tom Brady	New England Patriots
4	Matt Ryan	Atlanta Falcons
5	Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks
6	Andrew Luck	Indianapolis Colts
7	Matt Stafford	Detroit Lions
8	Kirk Cousins	Washington
9	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers
10	Ben Roethlisberger	Pittsburgh Steelers

If you have Drew Brees, well, you are probably going to be in luck. The last time he faced Atlanta, he notched 25 fantasy points (376 passing yards, three touchdowns), and the Falcons give up 18.1 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks per week, 31st in the NFL.

Frankly, in a game likely to be a shootout—the Falcons are playing for a first-round bye, so they won't sit starters—having either Brees or Matt Ryan could be enough to lead you to a fantasy title.

Of course, it's unlikely anybody will be better than Aaron Rodgers. Nobody in the NFL has had a better December, and for fantasy owners, he's provided 20 or more points in eight of his last 10 games.

The injuries to Derek Carr and Marcus Mariota somewhat depleted the quarterback position, but in general, it's been the deepest position in fantasy this season. There's no reason you can't find a solid starter for Week 17.

Running Back

Rank	Player	Team
1	David Johnson	Arizona Cardinals
2	LeSean McCoy	Buffalo Bills
3	Devonta Freeman	Atlanta Falcons
4	Tevin Coleman	Atlanta Falcons
5	DeMarco Murray	Tennessee Titans
6	LeGarrette Blount	New England Patriots
7	Jay Ajayi	Miami Dolphins
8	Jordan Howard	Chicago Bears
9	Thomas Rawls	Seattle Seahawks
10	Le'Veon Bell	Pittsburgh Steelers
11	Spencer Ware	Kansas City Chiefs
12	Melvin Gordon*	San Diego Chargers
13	Mark Ingram	New Orleans Saints
14	Frank Gore	Indianapolis Colts
15	Isaiah Crowell	Cleveland Browns
16	Latavius Murray	Oakland Raiders
17	Jeremy Hill	Cincinnati Bengals
18	Paul Perkins	New York Giants
19	Chris Ivory	Jacksonville Jaguars
20	Todd Gurley	St. Louis Rams

If quarterback is an easy position to find points from, finding points at running back is like looking for a needle that's trapped in a haystack on a planet made entirely of hay. OK, OK, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but it sure has felt like it at times this season, right?

There's no reason not to trust Thomas Rawls if he's healthy, however, considering the San Francisco 49ers give up 25.9 fantasy points to opposing running backs per week, easily the worst mark in the NFL. The Niners have given up a whopping 26 touchdowns to the position and 100 or more running yards to opposing backs 11 times this year.

Rawls should feast. If you start him, so will you.

Wide Receiver

Rank	Player	Team
1	Jordy Nelson	Green Bay Packers
2	Odell Beckham Jr.	New York Giants
3	Mike Evans	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4	T.Y. Hilton	Indianapolis Colts
5	Brandin Cooks	New Orleans Saints
6	Davante Adams	Green Bay Packers
7	Tyreek Hill	Kansas City Chiefs
8	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons
9	Doug Baldwin	Seattle Seahawks
10	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers
11	Michael Thomas	New Orleans Saints
12	Golden Tate	Detroit Lions
13	Demaryius Thomas	Denver Broncos
14	Emmanuel Sanders	Denver Broncos
15	Michael Crabtree	Oakland Raiders
16	Amari Cooper	Oakland Raiders
17	Julian Edelman	New England Patriots
18	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys
19	Tyrell Williams	San Diego Chargers
20	DeSean Jackson	Washington

If Rodgers is bound to have another big game—and given the way the Packers have been playing, we all know Rodgers has another big performance in the cards—you have to like his primary targets quite a bit, Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams.

It's not enough they have the NFL's hottest quarterback or that they are each top-eight fantasy wideouts this season themselves. No, they also have a tasty matchup against a Detroit Lions defense that has given up 87 fantasy points to opposing wideouts over the past three weeks.

Oh, and the last time these teams played, Nelson and Adams combined to score 30 fantasy points.

Don't sleep on Golden Tate on the other sideline, however. The Packers are giving up an NFL-worst 26.7 fantasy points to opposing wideouts per week. Tate is a sneaky WR2 option this week and a player who could blow up with a playoff berth—and for fantasy owners, a championship—on the line.

Tight End

Rank	Player	Team
1	Travis Kelce	Kansas City Chiefs
2	Greg Olsen	Carolina Panthers
3	Jimmy Graham	Seattle Seahawks
4	Charles Clay	Buffalo Bills
5	Delanie Walker	Tennessee Titans
6	Zach Ertz	Philadelphia Eagles
7	Martellus Bennett	New England Patriots
8	Jordan Reed	Washington
9	Kyle Rudolph	Minnesota Vikings
10	Antonio Gates	San Diego Chargers

Tight end has been a brutal position this year, so just stick with whichever player has served you well to this point. If you don't have a Travis Kelce or Greg Olsen, well, good luck.

One piece of advice: Even without Tyrod Taylor under center, I like Charles Clay against a New York Jets defense that has given up four touchdown passes to opposing tight ends over the past two weeks and seven touchdowns to the position over its past four games.

Don't be afraid to keep him in your starting lineup.

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Team
1	Minnesota Vikings
2	Denver Broncos
3	Arizona Cardinals
4	Philadelphia Eagles
5	Kansas City Chiefs
6	Baltimore Ravens
7	Seattle Seahawks
8	Houston Texans
9	Pittsburgh Steelers
10	New England Patriots

Kickers

Rank	Player	Team
1	Justin Tucker	Baltimore Ravens
2	Matt Bryant	Atlanta Falcons
3	Dustin Hopkins	Washington
4	Adam Vinatieri	Indianapolis Colts
5	Matt Prater	Detroit Lions
6	Caleb Sturgis	Philadelphia Eagles
7	Sebastian Janikowski	Oakland Raiders
8	Wil Lutz, NO K	New Orleans Saints
9	Nick Novak	Houston Texans
10	Graham Gano	Carolina Panthers

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter. All fantasy stats and points-against totals via ESPN.