Week 17 Fantasy RB Rankings: Must starts, sleepers, potential busts at running back

Jacob Camenker

Week 17 Fantasy RB Rankings: Must starts, sleepers, potential busts at running back image

If you thought that making start 'em, sit 'em decisions in Week 16 was hard, just wait until you see what Week 17 has in store for you. There are a lot of handcuffs and sleepers that have moved into starting roles this week, and our Week 17 fantasy RB rankings are a good demonstration of why most fantasy football leagues treat Week 16 as their championship week.

There are already enough banged-up RBs across the NFL in a normal week, but late in the year, teams that are out of contention tend to sit or limit players at the RB position whether they're hurt or not. So what does that mean for fantasy owners? It's going to be hard to find true RB2s and navigate the ever-changing RB landscape.

WEEK 17 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker

Here's what we do know. It's highly unlikely that Christian McCaffrey (thigh) and Joe Mixon (foot) will return to play in meaningless games for their team. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are likely to rest their starters with the No. 1 seed in the AFC wrapped up, so in addition to the absence of Clyde Edwards-Helaire (hip/ankle), the Chiefs may use a true committee approach with Darrel Williams, Le'Veon Bell, and Darwin Thompson to keep all three fresh and healthy. That will also render each hard to trust.

Some other top injuries include Damien Harris (ankle), James Robinson (ankle), and Darrell Henderson (ankle). Harris and Robinson's teams are both out of the playoff race, so their teams will likely approach their injuries with extreme caution, so that could open up starting roles for Sony Michel and Dare Ogunbowale again. Both would be at least flex plays if they're in action. Meanwhile, Henderson rolled his ankle late against the Seahawks and while the Rams could use him with Cam Akers (ankle) also banged-up, he might not be available.

WEEK 17 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker

In Week 17, it's important just to trust players that should get a high volume of carries. That often means rolling with players that are on teams playing for playoff spots and jockeying for seeding. If you're choosing between two options at the RB2 slot or the flex spot, play the guy that has more on the line. It may not feel great to go with Chris Carson (vs. 49ers) over Boston Scott (vs. Washington), but Carson and the Seahawks are playing for something. Scott and company are not. That can be the great tiebreaker at this point in the season.

Reminder: As always, we expect to make plenty of changes to these RB rankings throughout the week, so check back for updates.

Week 17 Fantasy RB Rankings (Standard)

These rankings are for non-PPR leagues.

RankPlayer
1Derrick Henry, TEN @ HOU
2David Montgomery, CHI vs. GB
3Jonathan Taylor, IND vs. JAX
4Melvin Gordon, DEN vs. LV
5Austin Ekeler, LAC @ KC
6David Johnson, HOU vs. TEN
7JK Dobbins, BAL @ CIN
8Alexander Mattison, MIN @ DET
9Myles Gaskin, MIA @ BUF
10D'Andre Swift, DET vs. MIN
11Josh Jacobs, LV @ DEN
12Aaron Jones, GB @ CHI
13Nick Chubb, CLE vs. PIT
14Wayne Gallman, NYG vs. DAL
15Antonio Gibson, WAS @ PHI
16Jeff Wilson Jr., SF vs. SEA
17Ronald Jones II, TB vs. ATL
18Sony Michel, NE vs. NYJ
19Chris Carson, SEA @ SF
20James Conner, PIT @ CLE
21Kenyan Drake, ARI @ LAR
22Nyheim Hines, IND vs. JAX
23Malcolm Brown, LAR vs. ARI
24Gus Edwards, BAL @ CIN
25Ezekiel Elliott, DAL @ NYG
26Ty Johnson, NYJ @ NE
27Boston Scott, PHI vs. WAS
28Zack Moss, BUF vs. MIA
29Giovani Bernard, CIN vs. BAL
30Darrel Williams, KC vs. LAC
31Dare Ogunbowale, JAX @ IND
32Ty Montgomery, NO @ CAR
33Rodney Smith, CAR vs. NO
34AJ Dillon, GB @ CHI
35J.D. McKissic, WAS @ PHI
36Samaje Perine, CIN vs. BAL
37Mike Boone, MIN @ DET
38Devin Singletary, BUF vs. MIA
39Tony Pollard, DAL @ NYG
40Leonard Fournette, TB vs. ATL
41Kareem Hunt, CLE vs. PIT
42Le'Veon Bell, KC vs. LAC
43Ito Smith, ATL vs. TB
44Jordan Howard, PHI vs. WAS
45James White, NE vs. NYJ
46Lynn Bowden, MIA @ BUF
47Chase Edmonds, ARI @ LAR
48Salvon Ahmed, MIA @ BUF
49Adrian Peterson, DET vs. MIN
50Brian Hill, ATL @ TB
51Kalen Ballage, LAC @ KC
52Todd Gurley, ATL @ TB
53Devontae Booker, LV @ DEN
54Benny Snell, PIT @ CLE
55Trenton Cannon, CAR vs. NO
56Jerick McKinnon, SF vs. SEA
57Buddy Howell, HOU vs. TEN
58Tevin Coleman, SF vs. SEA
59Royce Freeman, DEN vs. LV
60Ke'Shawn Vaughn, TB vs. ATL
61Trayveon Wiliams, CIN vs. BAL
62Justin Jackson, LAC @ KC
63Devine Ozigbo, JAX @ IND
64Dion Lewis, NYG vs. DAL
65Darrynton Evans, TEN @ HOU
66Jalen Richard, LV @ DEN
67Kerryon Johnson, DET vs. MIN
68Peyton Barber, WAS @ PHI

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.