Week 17 Fantasy RB PPR Rankings: Must-starts, sleepers, potential busts

Jacob Camenker

Week 17 Fantasy RB PPR Rankings: Must-starts, sleepers, potential busts image

If you are in one of the few season-long fantasy leagues that holds its championship game in Week 17, you're in for a tough week at RB. There are plenty of options at the position, but injury concerns and workload splits are creating some very tough start 'em, sit 'em decisions this season. Our Week 17 fantasy RB PPR rankings are here to sort through the noise and recommend handcuffs and sleepers to trust.

For owners in PPR leagues, there is at least some extra value created because of the amount of great pass-catching backs that have emerged this year. That's certainly excellent news, especially when considering the long list of RBs that could be out this week, including, but not limited to, Christian McCaffrey, Joe Mixon, Damien Harris, Darrell Henderson, James Robinson, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

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

A few players -- Mike Davis (vs. Saints), Nyheim Hines (vs. Jaguars), and J.D. McKissic (@ Eagles) -- see pretty significant jumps and will be RB2s because of their high-volume of targets. Even with Davis and McKissic playing in relatively difficult matchups, they can be trusted as top-15 and (borderline) top-20 plays. Further down, Kareem Hunt (vs. Steelers) and James White (vs. Jets) both vault into the solid flex ranks because their primary roles are as pass-catchers out of the backfield. 

Owners in PPR leagues still need to be wary of teams out of playoff contention resting their starters, so check back often for updates on that. And those with members of the Chiefs on their team (Le'Veon Bell and Darrel Williams) will have to see just how much the Chiefs are planning on playing their starters after locking up the No. 1 seed in the AFC. All of their RBs should be considered risky plays until we know whether or not Andy Reid will give his starters any playing time.

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

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

Week 17 Fantasy RB PPR Rankings

These rankings are for full-point PPR leagues.

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