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

This is it, folks.

It's 2022 now, and that makes it the year of fantasy football perfection. No more educated guessing and hoping our predictions come true; we're striving for consistent greatness and haven't missed a recommendation all year.

Kidding aside, we all know the stakes here. It's Week 17 of the 2021 NFL season. The difference between guessing right or wrong is no less than a fantasy title.

Let's get right to it, then, with rankings and a sleeper at every skill position.

Top 10

1. Josh Allen, BUF (vs. ATL)

2. Tom Brady, TB (at NYJ)

3. Patrick Mahomes, KC (at CIN)

4. Jalen Hurts, PHI (at WAS)

5. Aaron Rodgers, GB (vs. MIN)

6. Matthew Stafford, LAR (at BAL)

7. Justin Herbert, LAC (vs. DEN)

8. Dak Prescott, DAL (vs. ARI)

9. Joe Burrow, CIN (vs. KC)

10. Kyler Murray, ARI (at DAL)

Sleeper: Trey Lance, SF (vs. HOU)

In a perfect world, are you relying on a rookie quarterback with a single career start in Week 17? Not at all, but in a perfect world, you don't need a sleeper at this position in the biggest of big spots.

However, if Trey Lance makes this start—Jimmy Garoppolo is officially questionable—he could be a sneaky-good start, with his rushing raising his fantasy floor and his passing pushing his ceiling into legitimately interesting territory.

In his only start this season, he rushed 16 times for 89 yards and still finished with 29 pass attempts. The week prior (his only other significant action), he turned nine completions into 157 passing yards and two scores. He can put big numbers on the stat sheet, especially against a Houston Texans defense allowing the third-most scrimmage yards per game.

Top 10

1. Jonathan Taylor, IND (vs. LV)

2. Dalvin Cook, MIN (at GB)

3. Austin Ekeler, LAC (vs. DEN)

4. Alvin Kamara, NO (vs. CAR)

5. Najee Harris, PIG (vs. CLE)

6. Joe Mixon, CIN (vs. KC)

7. David Montgomery, CHI (vs. NYG)

8. Nick Chubb, CLE (at PIT)

9. Ronald Jones II, TB (at NYJ)

10. Aaron Jones, GB (vs. MIN)

Sleeper: Darrel Williams, KC (at CIN)

When Clyde Edwards-Helaire is missing in action, Darrel Williams belongs in your fantasy lineup.

CEH has been ruled out with a shoulder injury, which has green-lighted Williams to snag starting spots across the fantasy globe.

Edwards-Helaire missed five games earlier this season. Williams' average output in those contests was 13.8 rushes for 48.8 yards and 4.8  receptions for another 45.2 yards. He had three touchdowns during that stretch.

Top 10

1. Cooper Kupp, LAR (at BAL)

2. Davante Adams, GB (vs. MIN)

3. Justin Jefferson, MIN (at GB)

4. Stefon Diggs, BUF (vs. ATL)

5. Deebo Samuel, SF (vs. HOU)

6. Tyreek Hill, KC (at CIN)

7. Keenan Allen, LAC (vs. DEN)

8. CeeDee Lamb, DAL (vs. ARI)

9. A.J. Brown, TEN (vs. MIA)

10. Tee Higgins, CIN (vs. KC)

Sleeper: Amon-Ra St. Brown, DET (at SEA)

The Detroit Lions are determined to run through the tape, and their competitive closing stretch (2-2 in their past four outings) can be pretty closely tied to the rise of rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown.

In the past four weeks, he has set career highs in receptions and targets, set three career highs in receiving yards and scored the first three touchdowns of his career.

Why would the Lions look away from their fantastic freshman? They wouldn't, meaning it should be more of the same for St. Brown, which has meant 8.75 catches for 85 yards and 0.75 touchdowns over the past four games.

Top 10

1. Travis Kelce, KC (at CIN)

2. Mark Andrews, BAL (vs. LAR)

3. George Kittle, SF (vs. HOU)

4. Rob Gronkowski, TB (at NYJ)

5. Dallas Goedert, PHI (at WAS)

6. Dalton Schultz, DAL (vs. ARI)

7. Kyle Pitts, ATL (at BUF)

8. Zach Ertz, ARI (at DAL)

9. Dawson Knox, BUF (vs. ATL)

10. Mike Gesicki, MIA (at TEN)

Sleeper: Gerald Everett, SEA (vs. DET)

The Seattle Seahawks have been pretty quiet in recent weeks, but Gerald Everett is making all the noise he can.

He has at least four targets in four of his past five games. In the other, Seattle probably should have looked for him more since he caught both of his targets for 15 yards and a score.

The Lions have allowed the 10th-most fantasy points to tight ends, per Yahoo, and their red-zone defense is as exploitable as they come.