Week 17: NFL Regular Season Fantasy Football Player Rankings

Sean E. DouglasJan 4, 2010

The San Diego Super Chargers are on a roll as they head into the playoffs, and it looks like they have a chance to go all the way this year.

As far as fantasy football goes the regular season is now over, and, unless you plan on playing a playoff version of fantasy football that means your waiting until next year for your next contest.

Below I have some observations from the 17th week of the regular season as I share with my final notes of the fantasy football season for this year and what to keep an eye out for heading into next season.

NFL Regular Season Week Seventeen

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Regular Season First Sixteen Weeks

Fantasy Football Regular Season Week Seventeen Notes:

Patriots Lose Wes Welker

It's not like the Patriots had nothing to play for in this game as the number three seed in the AFC hung in the balance. With a Patriots' loss and a Bengals win, the Bengals would have the number three seed in the AFC.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, their star receiver Wes Welker went down after trying to make a cut against a defender and went straight to the ground.

Even worse for Welker and the Patriots is that they've already received the news that Welker has a torn ACL and MCL in his knee.

Now, Welker is not only done for the season but will probably miss some time into next season as well. This is a horrible injury to have and it's even worse this late in the fantasy football season.

Welker is now clearly not a top twenty five receiver and we need to see just when he will be able to play again. Don't expect him to comeback and start catching ten footballs a game as this injury will take time.

Expect Welker to be his old self in 2011 but in 2010 he will probably struggle to help fantasy owners until he gets his full strength back.

Jamaal Charles Goes Off

There is just no doubt about the fact that Jamaal Charles will be the Chiefs starting running back heading into 2010. Not only that but it looks like Charles has turned himself into a clear top fifteen fantasy football running back heading into next year as well.

Charles ran for 259 yards on the ground and two touchdowns in this game and had strong consistent numbers all through the final games of the year.

For the season Charles had 190 carries for 1,120 yards rushing (5.9 ypc) and seven rushing touchdowns. Not only did Charles have strong rushing numbers, but he had 40 receptions for 297 yards and a touchdown catch as well.

All these numbers came in just ten starts, this season and that is why this kid has a very bright future.

The only knocks on Charles coming into next year is if he can run well from Week One to the end of the year and if the team will use a goal line back. In this game, the Chiefs used different running backs at times when the team got inside the five yard line.

Beyond those issues, this kid has a world of talent and has a chance to score on any play. It will be very interesting to see just how well this young runner does next fantasy football season.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com