Week 17 Fantasy Football Guide, Part 2: Wide Receivers, Defenses, and Kickers

Before you move any further, make sure to check out Part 1, if you haven't done so. I explain things in the intro. For our purposes on this post, however, there's no need to twiddle the thumbs. Let's dive in:

Wide Receiver

How about that Sunday night game for the Denver receivers? Last time around, they completely schooled the Chargers secondary. Now Eddie Royal has tons more experience under his belt, and Brandon Marshall is still just as talented. Both of them are in line for an obscene stat-line in what should be a shootout.

Only illegal formations by his teammates can stop Megatron. Yes, start Calvin Johnson in all formats. He's just too good to sit.

I'd avoid Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and Anthony Gonzalez, because of the fact that Jim Sorgi should be under center for the majority of the afternoon for the Colts. It's just too much of a gamble to try and predict where the touches go for Indy.

I'm a Bears fan, and I have absolutely no idea how they can do anything to remotely stop Andre Johnson. He's likely to go berserk. Again.
Antonio Bryant is a polarizing case. The Raiders secondary has had more than a few solid games this season, and Nnamdi Asomugha is one of the best players in the league. He's easily the best cover corner. On the other hand, the Raiders as a team aren't good and Bryant has been out of control recently on the fantasy scoreboard. I'd slot him as a low-end WR2. Some guys I'd rather have in the lineup: Dwayne Bowe, Donald Driver and Vincent Jackson.

Yep, Vincent Jackson. He's become the favorite target of Philip Rivers, and the offense is much more reliant on the pass than anyone thought they would be -- due to the surprisingly disappointing season of LaDanian Tomlinson. Get Jackson active across the board.

Stick with your Cardinals. They are getting to play at home against a bad Seahawks pass defense and desperately need some momentum heading into the playoffs. I expect Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston to perform well.

Hail Mary? Devin Hester. (yeah, yeah, I know ... homer)

Defense/Special Teams

The Steelers have been an awesome force as a fantasy D/ST this season, and now they get the hapless Browns at home. Those same Browns were shutout, at home, by the Bengals. The Bengals even threw in a defensive touchdown while they were at it. The Steelers are also likely a bit peeved after the way things went down in Tennessee last weekend. Needless to say, the Steelers are easily the top option.

They are not, however, the only elite option. The Ravens will receive a visit from the Jags. The Jags already suck enough, but now Maurice Jones-Drew is banged up. Expect Ray Lewis and his boys to lay a serious hurt on the Jags as they wrap up the 6-seed in the AFC.

The Bucs at home against the Raiders is a pretty juicy option as well.

You could have easily ridden the Colts defense to a fantasy crown, as it was spectacular down the stretch. This week, however, is a different story. Tony Dungy is a strong believer in taking it easy on his guys when the games don't matter. It doesn't matter this week, so you can't count on them.

Last week I gave you the Bengals as a Hail Mary option -- yes, this is me patting myself on the back -- and this week I'm gonna give you the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs are facing Ryan Fitzpatrick's Bengals. They were awful against the Dolphins in Week 16, but had been respectable for three straight weeks prior to that.

Kicker

This is easily most unpredictable position in any fantasy sport, so I wouldn't go out and start making kicker transactions right now. There's no reason to drop Jason Elam for Garrett Hartley after you've come this far with Elam. Still, it's nice to check out the matchups and actually do homework, though, isn't it?

Hartley has a team that will be able to move the ball on Carolina, but due to a possibly shaky run attack -- Pierre Thomas is questionable -- they could definitely stall in field goal range a few times. He's an elite option this week.

I believe Stephen Gostkowski, Elam, Rob Bironas, Mason Crosby, Matt Bryant and John Carney are weekly starters this season, so stick with those guys if you have them.

Hail Mary? I like Kris Brown against the Bears. The Bears run defense gets pretty tough deep in the red zone, but they shouldn't be stopping the Texans drives in their own territory often.