Week 17 Fantasy Rankings: Every QB Ranked with Analysis on the Top 5 Plays

Figuring out who the best quarterback plays are from week to week is a little easier than doing so for running backs or wide receivers, but by no means is it simple, especially in Week 17 with a few playoff implications to consider and some teams possibly sitting their starters.

That's why those of us in the fantasy industry put together these lists—to give the reader a gauge of what to expect from their players on any given Sunday.

With that, here are the weekend's top 35 quarterbacks, along with some detailed analysis on the five best plays for the week.

35. Joe Webb (vs. Chi)

34. Charlie Batch (at Cle): Likely To See Just One Half of Action

33. Kellen Clemens (vs. SF) 

32. Aaron Rodgers (vs. Det): Likely To See Only About One Quarter of Action

31. Seneca Wallace (vs. Pit)

30. Blaine Gabbert (vs. Ind) 

29. Josh McCown (at Min) 

28. Tarvaris Jackson (at Ari)

27. T.J. Yates (vs. Ten)

26. Matt Moore (vs. NYJ) 

25. Alex Smith (at StL)

24. Josh Freeman (at Atl)

23. Rex Grossman (at Phi)

22. Matt Flynn (vs. Det): Could See as Much as Three Quarters of Action

21. Matt Hasselbeck (at Hou)

20. Ben Roethlisberger (at Cle): Could See a Little More Than One Half of Action

19. Mark Sanchez (at Mia) 

18. Andy Dalton (vs. Bal)

17. Christian Ponder (vs. Chi): Expected To Start

16. John Skelton (vs. Sea)

15. Joe Flacco (at Cin)

14. Dan Orlovsky (at Jax)

13. Kyle Orton (at Den)

12. Ryan Fitzpatrick (at NE): Sleeper Candidate

11. Carson Palmer (vs. SD): Sleeper Candidate

10. Tim Tebow (vs. KC)

9. Philip Rivers (at Oak)

8. Matt Ryan (vs. TB): Potential bust. If Detroit wins, the Falcons may take him out early.

7. Drew Brees (vs. Car): Potential bust if Saints decide to take him out early

6. Matthew Stafford (at GB): Potential bust if Lions decide to take him out early

The Top Five

5. Michael Vick (vs. Was)

This game may not look like it means anything, but to Michael Vick and the Eagles, believe me, it does.

After being dubbed the “Dream Team” due to all their high-profile signings in the offseason, Philly came out and pretty much fell flat on their face, starting off the year with a 1-4 record.

It hasn’t gotten much better since, but they at least have a chance to save face this Sunday by beating the Redskins and pulling off an even 8-8 record.

Vick crash-landed as well in 2011, as he’s fallen off in every statistical category from last season while disappointing his fantasy owners to no end.

Yes, it seems he’s gotten a bit back on track over the last couple of weekends, but it’s likely been a little too late for most.

That said, Vick’s pride will force him to do everything he can to end his (rotten) season on high note and soothe the Eagles management for extending him that 100 million dollar contract.

4.  Tony Romo (at NYG, Sunday night)

Everything usually gets tossed out the door when it comes to inter-divisional rivalries like this, but you can’t ignore the fact that the Giants defense has allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing QBs this season, along with six 300-yard games and three four-TD games.

One of those big games came just a few weeks ago, when the Cowboys’ Tony Romo threw for 321 yards and four TDs against them.

This should really be no shock at all to those who know Romo, as out of his six career games throwing for four or more TDs, three of them came against this same New York Giants team.

In an exciting end to the season for both teams, look for the baby-faced QB to have one last good one for his fantasy owners.

Oh, and lastly, don’t worry about his bruised hand, as most top athletes tend to play a little bit better when dealing with an injury.

3. Eli Manning (vs. Dal, Sunday night)

This one’s for all the marbles, as they say.

In probably the biggest game of 2011’s final weekend and certainly the most meaningful game of the season for the Giants, I expect Manning to come out gunning and not stop until the final whistle blows.

In their first matchup just a few weeks ago in Dallas, Eli threw for 400 yards and two TDs en route to a 37-34 win for New York.

Though it would turn out to be one of his best fantasy outputs of the year, Manning is certainly no stranger to doing well against Dallas, as two of his top-four fantasy games last season were also against Dallas.

With this game expected to be a shootout as usual (this rivalry has averaged a combined 63.8 points the last five games), look for a big fantasy performance out of the NFC Pro Bowler.

2. Cam Newton (at NO)

Though this game means absolutely nothing to the Panthers, you can bet your ass it means something to Cam Newton.

When a player first comes into the NFL as a rookie, numbers tend to mean a little more to them than they do to the veterans.

From what I’ve seen out of Newton this year, stats seem to mean even more to him than they do for the usual rookie, so I expect him to do everything he can to pad them a little bit in his final game of 2011—especially since he was kept off the Pro Bowl team (even though he says he doesn’t care).

1. Tom Brady (vs. Buf)

Tom Brady and the Patriots will be playing in one of the few truly meaningful games this Sunday, which is only part of the reason why I have the Stetson Man as my top-ranked QB for the week.

First of all, with a victory over the Bills, the Pats will secure the all-important home-field advantage throughout the playoffs—an asset both Brady and Bill Belichick know very well to be valuable.

Second, though maybe slightly less important, is the NFL passing yards record. I guarantee both Tommy and his coach know how close he is to snatching that record away from Drew Brees and Dan Marino.

At this moment, Brady is 186 yards behind Brees in passing yards this season, which might seem like a lot to overcome, but if the Saints decide to sit their starters in the second half of their game, it might not be.

Strangely enough, this record could come down to how the St. Louis Rams play against the 49ers because if the ‘Niners lose and the Saints win, New Orleans will have themselves a first-round bye.

If San Fran wins, however, the Saints will be locked into the three-seed.

Since the ‘Niners should win that game, I cautiously expect Drew Brees to sit the second half out, which would give Brady a shot at the record if he can toss up about 350 yards.

Believe me; he’ll be gunning for it.

Click here to see the Week 17 Rankings for RBs, WRs and TEs

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