Every Saturday morning, I'll take a quick look at all the week's games, offering my own brief take on what I think will happen, as well as touching on significant injury news since our Weekly came out. I'll check in every so often over the course of the day to answer questions, too.
What follows is a brief look at all the games with how I'd react in my own lineups to injury developments or other news. The official rankings are the ones in the Weekly. Those are the ones that subscribers are paying for. Sometimes players are very close in the rankings, and if I get questions like that, I'll offer opinions. Sometimes I like certain players more or less than Ian, and sometimes I have different risk tolerance with injuries/weather issues, etc.
Some people actually playing in Week 17, and I won't rip it -- I have my daily games to keep me warm. It's weird having everything confined to Sunday, with no Thursday, Saturday or Monday games. But I guess there are some big college games and hanging out with the family and so forth. A busy Sunday; let's get to it.
Dolphins at Bills: Ryan Tannehill's last game for the Dolphins, shed a tear. Not much interest in the Miami offense in this one, they're apparently going to use three running backs to usher out the Adam Gase era. LeSean McCoy, however, looks appealing against a bad run defense. That's about the only start I can recommend (and he carries the stigma of having disappointed more often than not this year).
Lions at Packers: Green Bay's defense isn't any good but Detroit's offense is worse. I think Kenny Golladay is the only viable Lion, certainly not their committee of unappealing running backs. For Green Bay, Davante Adams is questionable. He's 2 catches away from Sterling Sharpe's team record, so some thought that he plays enough to get that mark and then sits. Or more likely he's perfectly fine and plays throughout. Aaron Rodgers and Jamaal Williams are the safe choices here, especially Williams I think.
Jaguars at Texans: Houston actually needs to win this game to capture the AFC South, so everyone should be playing. I doubt Jacksonville brings much defensive intensity to this one. Blake Bortles has more potential than Cody Kessler, so maybe the Jaguars generate some offense and throw a scare into Houston. I would go ahead with Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins, Lamar Miller too. Leonard Fournette isn't going to play, so David Williams looks like the best running back, with T.J. Yeldon in passing situations and maybe Carlos Hyde getting some work as Jacksonville pays some respect to the idea that they acquired him for some good reason. Risky guessing what they'll do here.
Jets at Patriots: Patriots need to win this game for a first-round bye, so they will, and I think you can start all the key guys. Granted New England might just run it a ton and win that way, but Jets have been pretty bad against the pass, too. For New York, Robby Anderson and Elijah McGuire look like the best bets.
Panthers at Saints: Gotta watch the inactives for this one, because it's hard to say whether Christian McCaffrey will play, or how much he'll play even if he's active. I'm not using him. Saints are holding out Drew Brees and three offensive linemen, which pretty much says all you need to know about risking using any Saints.
Cowboys at Giants: Cowboys say starters are playing, but nobody believe them. You can maybe try Rod Smith, I think there's some sneaky appeal to him against a bad Giants run defense. For the Giants, I'll sign off on the key starters, looking to go into the offseason with some nice production that makes it look like they're better than their record, which they actually probably are. Dallas doesn't care about this one, that's the key thing to remember.
Falcons at Bucs: Dirk Koetter, in his final game as Bucs coach, has floated some nonsense about giving Ryan Griffin a look-see at quarterback if the opportunity presents itself. Meaningless Week 17 game pretty much qualifies, so some risk in using Jameis Winston. A shame, because Winston would be pretty good. Peyton Barber and Mike Evans also look good, Adam Humphries as a cheap Daily play. Was all set to use Brian Hill, but apparently the Falcons will have Tevin Coleman playing through a groin injury (but I'd be afraid to use him, too). Matt Ryan and Julio look fine. Could be a high-scoring game but risky counting on full snaps from some players.
Browns at Ravens: There is a small part of me that thinks Baker Mayfield helps the Browns spring the upset. A small, small part of me. Having seen the Ravens frustrate Philip Rivers and company last week, I don't think it's likely, but possible. It would need to be like a bizarre, 16-13 type of win. Whatever; the game should be low-scoring and I'm not excited about using anyone from either team.
Raiders at Kansas City: Raiders on the road have pretty much been a no-show all season, and I don't expect that to change. Kansas City should be fine, put up big numbers, run some clock in the second half. I like Damien Williams best, and I think Patrick Mahomes will throw the 2-plus touchdowns he needs for 50.
Bears at Vikings: On the one hand, I think the Bears will play this one straight and try to win. They have to, at least for a while, because there's a bye at stake and just maybe the Rams get upset by San Francisco. But they're facing a really good Vikings defense, so I wouldn't want to use anyone anyway, if I knew for a fact they'd play four quarters. OK? I don't expect the Bears defense to be fully invested in things, but still seems likely to be lower-scoring. Not crazy about using Vikings, but I wouldn't be benching guys like Cook, Thielen or Diggs for just anyone either.
Bengals at Steelers: Joe Mixon for the Bengals. Pretty much everyone (including both James Conner and Jaylen Samuels) for Pittsburgh. Antonio Brown is questionable after picking up an injury in practice, so some small risk there (hence why I like JuJu a little more). Should be a big, very likely fruitless, offensive performance for the Steelers. Kind of a shame, since they'd be a better AFC playoff team than some of what we'll get instead.
Eagles at Washington: Eagles will be going all out to win, even though it's probably a waste of time. Washington's offense is so punchless there isn't much to invest in, just Jamison Crowder in PPR, and I suppose Adrian Peterson. Eagles have a committee backfield; Ertz and Jeffery are the best options.
Chargers at Broncos: As with the Bears, the Chargers need to come out trying to win. Also as with the Bears, I expect the Chargers to think about limiting snaps or pulling people altogether as soon as it becomes viable to do so. If you're not concerned about it and plan to use Rivers, Gordon et al, be my guest. Broncos will probably feature Royce Freeman, he's the most desirable option in this game, I think.
49ers at Rams: I like Jeff King as a full-time running back, and George Kittle as a go-to receiver. That be it for San Francisco. For the Rams, C.J. Anderson should have another very good game, and I'm OK using Goff and the main wideouts; Rams have to win.
Cardinals at Seahawks: Seahawks should also play to win, but that won't be hard because the Cardinals don't score any points. My concern would be Seattle scoring 20 first-half points and then coasting from there, getting guys like Carson and Doug Baldwin out of the game and ready for next week's playoff game at Dallas. But I'd probably use them, and Russell Wilson, and hope they put up their numbers before they get yanked.
Colts at Titans: Like most I expect the Colts to win this game, but some respect must be given to the fact that the game is in Tennessee, the Titans have a capable defense, and it's supposed to be raining throughout this one -- might favor rushing rather than passing, which favors Derrick Henry over Marlon Mack. If the Colts come into this one buying the hype that they're a shoo-in for the playoffs, they're going to get beat, even though the Titans may not have a fully healthy quarterback. I think you use Luck, and Hilton and Mack and Ebron if you have them, but this could easily be a 20-17 type of game where the home team pulls it out. NFL got lucky to have this game to flex into primetime. What would have been the second choice? Browns-Ravens most likely.
Enjoy the games.