Week 17 Fantasy WR Rankings: Must-starts, sleepers, potential busts at wide receiver

Jacob Camenker

Week 17 Fantasy WR Rankings: Must-starts, sleepers, potential busts at wide receiver image

We're heading into Week 17 and most fantasy football leagues are finished with their season. However, a handful of leagues still play on into Week 17, and if you're one of them, there are likely some questions you have at the WR spot. Between the injuries to Michael Thomas (ankle), Kenny Golladay (hip), Julio Jones (hamstring), and DeVante Parker (hamstring), among others, our Week 17 fantasy WR rankings are a bit thinner than usual, and there may be a few more players that end up missing the final week of the season.

One of the issues with playing into Week 17 is that some teams have nothing to play for at this point in the season. This year, that would constitute all teams that have been eliminated from the playoffs and the Kansas City Chiefs, as they have locked up the AFC's No. 1 seed already. The Chiefs and some of the eliminated teams could opt to rest their starters because of injury risk, so that will be something to watch this week.

WEEK 17 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker

Though there may be some absences, WR seems like a position that is still deep. There are some teams playing in big games with good matchups that will need their wideouts to step up, so that should help owners to find viable options. This includes the Steelers' trio of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Chase Claypool, and Diontae Johnson (vs. Browns), Marquise Brown (@ Bengals), T.Y. Hilton, Zach Pascal, and Michael Pittman Jr. (@ Jaguars), and many more.

In terms of risky starts, the Rams WRs Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, and Josh Reynolds would qualify. They are in a fine matchup against the Cardinals, but they will either have Jared Goff throwing to them while he deals with a thumb injury or John Wolford throwing to them. Wolford has zero NFL pass attempts, so there's reason for concern about those players if he starts. They may not be outright sits, but if you have comparable options, steering clear of them wouldn't be a bad move. (UPDATE: Kupp is now a definite sit, as he is out for the week after testing positive for COVID). 

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

As always, the goal at this point in the year is to start players with teams that still have something to play for, as they are the safest options to produce given the need of their teams to win and either improve their playoff seeding or make the playoffs. 

Week 17 Fantasy WR Rankings (Standard)

These rankings are for non-PPR leagues.

Rank Player
1 Davante Adams, GB @ CHI
2 Mike Evans, TB vs. ATL
3 Adam Thielen, MIN @ DET
4 A.J. Brown, TEN @ HOU
5 Justin Jefferson, MIN @ DET
6 Chris Godwin, TB vs. ATL
7 Calvin Ridley, ATL @ TB
8 DeAndre Hopkins, ARI @ LAR
9 Stefon Diggs, BUF vs. MIA
10 Brandin Cooks, HOU vs. TEN
11 Marvin Jones, DET vs. MIN
12 Allen Robinson, CHI vs. GB
13 DK Metcalf, SEA @ SF
14 Marquise Brown, BAL @ CIN
15 Amari Cooper, DAL @ NYG
16 T.Y. Hilton, IND vs. JAX
17 Terry McLaurin, WAS @ PHI
18 Diontae Johnson, PIT @ CLE
19 Robert Woods, LAR vs. ARI
20 Corey Davis, TEN @ HOU
21 Tee Higgins, CIN vs. BAL
22 Jarvis Landry, CLE vs. PIT
23 Tyler Lockett, SEA @ SF
24 Nelson Agholor, LV @ DEN
25 JuJu Smith-Schuster, PIT @ CLE
26 DeVante Parker, MIA @ BUF
27 Emmanuel Sanders, NO @ CAR
28 Antonio Brown, TB vs. ATL
29 CeeDee Lamb, DAL @ NYG
30 D.J. Moore, CAR vs. NO
31 Jakobi Meyers, NE vs. NYJ
32 Sterling Shepard, NYG vs. DAL
33 Tyler Boyd, CIN vs. BAL
34 Keke Coutee HOU vs. TEN
35 Robby Anderson, CAR vs. NO
36 Jamison Crowder, NYJ @ NE
37 Chase Claypool, PIT @ CLE
38 Josh Reynolds, LAR vs. ARI
39 Mike Williams, LAC @ KC
40 Tim Patrick, DEN vs. LV
41 Mecole Hardman, KC vs. LAC
42 Rashard Higgins, CLE vs. PIT
43 Russell Gage, ATL @ TB
44 Curtis Samuel, CAR vs. NO
45 Jalen Reagor, PHI vs. WAS
46 Jerry Jeudy, DEN vs. LV
47 Darius Slayton, NYG vs. DAL
48 Kendrick Bourne, SF vs. SEA
49 Tyron Johnson, LAC @ KC
50 John Brown, BUF vs. MIA
51 Michael Pittman Jr., IND vs. JAX
52 Michael Gallup, DAL @ NYG
53 Demarcus Robinson, KC vs. LAC
54 Darnell Mooney, CHI vs. GB
55 Danny Amendola, DET vs. MIN
56 Lynn Bowden, MIA @ BUF
57 Marquez Callaway, NO @ CAR
58 Dez Bryant, BAL @ CIN
59 Allen Lazard, GB @ CHI
60 Willie Snead, BAL @ CIN
61 Henry Ruggs III, LV @ DEN
62 Zach Pascal, IND vs. JAX
63 Cam Sims, WAS @ PHI
64 Breshad Perriman, NYJ @ NE
65 Marquez Valdes-Scantling, GB @ CHI
66 Hunter Renfrow, LV @ DEN
67 Greg Ward Jr., PHI vs. WAS
68 Donovan Peoples-Jones, CLE vs. PIT
69 Damiere Byrd, NE vs. NYJ
70 Larry Fitzgerald, ARI @ LAR
71 KJ Hamler, DEN vs. LV
72 Isaiah Ford, MIA @ BUF
73 Van Jefferson, LAR vs. ARI
74 A.J. Green, CIN vs. BAL
75 Isaiah Wright, WAS @ PHI
76 N'Keal Harry, NE vs. NYJ
77 Denzel Mims, NYJ @ NE
78 Chad Hansen, HOU vs. TEN
79 Laviska Shenault Jr., JAX @ IND
80 Scotty Miller, TB vs. ATL
81 James Washington, PIT @ CLE
82 Mohamed Sanu, DET vs. MIN
83 Jalen Guyton, LAC @ KC
84 Alex Erickson, CIN vs. BAL
85 Anthony Miller, CHI vs. GB
86 David Moore, SEA @ SF
87 Gabriel Davis, BUF vs. MIA
88 Laquon Treadwell, ATL @ TB
89 Keelan Cole, JAX @ IND

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

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.