Week 17 is always a tricky week to assemble a roster since some playoff teams have absolutely nothing to play for and will likely rest players. In addition to that scenario, teams that are completely out of the playoff picture sometimes let younger players get additional playing time. Let’s go ahead and take a look at some options to ignore for Week 17.
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Quarterback
Blake Bortles (JAC): $7,500 at TEN
Blake Bortles has been amazing down the stretch of this 2017 season, with at least 21 FanDuel points in four of his last five games. However, the Jaguars have absolutely nothing to play for in Week 17 since they are locked into the three seed. The Jaguars have not announced if Bortles will play and even if they announce he will, it is not guaranteed he will play a full game. For this reason, I will be completely fading Bortles in all of my lineups.
Running Back
Todd Gurley (LAR): $9,800 vs. SF
Todd Gurley had another absolute monster game in a difficult matchup against the Titans. Gurley has now risen to the level of Le’Veon Bell where you have to consider him every single week, regardless of price or matchup. The only exception is this week since the Rams are locked into the three seed. Gurley is more than capable of producing enough points if he only ends up playing a half. However, I’m never a fan of using a player if there is a possibility he does not play the entire game.
Kareem Hunt (KC): $8,100 at DEN
Here we have another situation where a team has nothing to play for this week. The Chiefs are locked into the four seed and have already announced that they will be resting Alex Smith and giving Patrick Mahomes his first NFL action. The Chiefs have not yet said anything about resting other players and if they don’t, we cannot assume that Kareem Hunt will play the entire game.
Wide Receiver
Alshon Jeffery (PHI): $7,500 vs. DAL
Another team who has everything locked and has nothing to play for this week are the Eagles. The Eagles locked up the number one seed this past Monday night with a victory over the Raiders. Doug Pederson has not announced whether or not he will be resting any players and if that is the case going into Sunday, we cannot assume Alshon Jeffery will be playing the entire game.
Stefon Diggs (MIN): $7,600 vs. CHI
The Vikings are locked into the two seed of the NFC. Similar to the previously mentioned players, the Vikings have not announced whether they will be resting any players. Stefon Diggs is someone who does have an injury history, so he is definitely a candidate to not play the entire game this week.
Tight End
Travis Kelce (KC): $7,400 at DEN/ Zach Ertz (PHI): $7,100 vs. DAL
I already mentioned the Chiefs and Eagles situations this week. Therefore, two of the top tight end options on the board will be completely off of my radar since there is no guarantee both players will play a full complement of snaps.
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Kaz is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Kaz, follow him @DraftStars_Kaz. You can find more of Kaz’s work at DraftStars.net.