Fantasy football rankings, Week 17: Running backs for standard, PPR leagues

Congrats for making it this far! Now get those backups ready...

If you're still reading this, that means you either really like me or you're in some sadistic league that scheduled their Championship to be played during Week 17. Either way, I'm sorry. But the rules from here on out are fairly simple: Know your playoff scenarios. After all, you wouldn't want to be forced into playing C.J. Anderson if the New England Patriots win during the morning games, or stuck starting DeMarco Murray if the Dallas Cowboys are left with nothing to play for. It doesn't appear after Google searches, sure, but ranking "motivation" might be your best bet for a title.

Take Devonta Freeman, for instance. Normally, he wouldn't sit anywhere near our Top 50. But since the Carolina Panthers allow the fifth-most yards per carry to opposing running backs, Freeman suddenly becomes a justifiable RB2/Flex in PPR leagues. The same goes for a handful of other opportunistic backs with everything on the line, including Matt Asiata (motivations to be named the starter in camp), Andre Williams (wants to start, in general), Branden Oliver (no Ryan Mathews, playoffs on the line), Juwan Thompson (vying for postseason carries if the Denver Broncos were to have the No. 2 seed secured by kick-off), Jonathan Stewart (win-and-in scenario) and Jeremy Hill (Giovani who?).

On the other hand, if someone like the Houston Texans were to gain a quick lead, you might see Arian Foster take a backseat in hopes of resting him for the playoffs. When your championship is being held in Week 17, these are the things to look for.

Like I said, I'm really, really sorry.

Running back rankings (standard), Week 17

(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; JD: John Daigle; SK: Scott Kaliska)

Rank	Consensus	Team	Opponent	DK	DC	JD	SK
1	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	CIN	1	1	2	1
2	Arian Foster	HOU	JAC	2	6	1	3
3	Matt Forte	CHI	@MIN	3	3	4	6
4	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	STL	5	4	3	5
5	Eddie Lacy	GB	DET	7	5	5	7
6	Jamaal Charles	KC	SD	6	9	7	4
7	Jeremy Hill	CIN	@PIT	8	7	6	9
8	LeSean McCoy	PHI	@NYG	9	8	8	8
9	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	@ATL	13	11	9	10
10	Joique Bell	DET	@GB	11	10	15	12
11	Alfred Morris	WAS	DAL	12	16	14	16
12	C.J. Anderson	DEN	OAK	4	2	--	2
13	Justin Forsett	BAL	CLE	21	13	12	14
14	Mark Ingram	NO	@TB	15	15	17	13
15	Matt Asiata	MIN	CHI	16	14	16	15
16	DeMarco Murray	DAL	@WAS	10	12	29	11
17	Fred Jackson	BUF	@NE	14	22	10	18
18	Andre Williams	NYG	PHI	17	21	11	19
19	Lamar Miller	MIA	NYJ	18	17	22	17
20	Tre Mason	STL	@SEA	24	18	19	22
21	Latavius Murray	OAK	@DEN	22	19	26	21
22	Dan Herron	IND	@TEN	23	23	21	23
23	Giovani Bernard	CIN	@PIT	26	27	18	26
24	Frank Gore	SF	ARI	19	24	31	25
25	Chris Ivory	NYJ	@MIA	20	29	28	24
26	Isaiah Crowell	CLE	@BAL	25	28	20	31
27	Branden Oliver	SD	@KC	31	25	25	27
28	Steven Jackson	ATL	CAR	27	31	34	20
29	Reggie Bush	DET	@GB	38	20	33	29
30	Joseph Randle	DAL	@WAS	28	37	13	43
31	Devonta Freeman	ATL	CAR	36	35	23	42
32	Toby Gerhart	JAC	@HOU	--	26	32	28
33	Shane Vereen	NE	BUF	42	30	35	34
34	Doug Martin	TB	NO	--	39	27	32
35	Chris Johnson	NYJ	@MIA	32	40	39	40
36	Jordan Todman	JAC	@HOU	29	36	--	38
37	Darren Sproles	PHI	@NYG	33	42	36	44
38	Trent Richardson	IND	@TEN	--	33	37	35
39	Bishop Sankey	TEN	IND	37	45	38	39
40	Pierre Thomas	NO	@TB	--	32	41	36
41	Kerwynn Williams	ARI	@SF	34	50	43	33
42	Stepfan Taylor	ARI	@SF	35	38	40	50
43	Jonas Gray	NE	BUF	--	43	47	30
44	C.J. Spiller	BUF	@NE	--	34	--	37
45	Juwan Thompson	DEN	OAK	49	--	24	--
46	Khiry Robinson	NO	@TB	30	--	--	--
47	LeGarrette Blount	NE	BUF	--	--	30	--
48	Terrance West	CLE	@BAL	40	--	44	--
49	Donald Brown	SD	@KC	43	41	--	--
50	Lance Dunbar	DAL	@WAS	39	47	--	--
--	James White	NE	BUF	--	44	--	46
--	Knile Davis	KC	SD	47	49	45	--
--	Bernard Pierce	BAL	CLE	44	--	--	47
--	Fitzgerald Toussaint	BAL	CLE	41	--	--	--
--	Ryan Mathews	SD	@KC	--	--	--	41
--	Chris Polk	PHI	@NYG	--	--	42	--
--	Marcel Reece	OAK	@DEN	45	--	48	--
--	James Starks	GB	DET	48	--	46	--
--	Shonn Greene	TEN	IND	--	--	--	45
--	Ka'Deem Carey	CHI	@MIN	46	--	--	--
--	Roy Helu Jr.	WAS	DAL	--	46	--	--
--	Charles Sims	TB	NO	--	48	50	--
--	Leon Washington	TEN	IND	--	--	--	48
--	Alfred Blue	HOU	JAC	--	--	49	--
--	Mike Tolbert	CAR	@ATL	--	--	--	49
--	Orleans Darkwa	NYG	PHI	50	--	--	--

Running back rankings (PPR), Week 17

(DK: Daniel Kelley; DC: Dan Ciarrocchi; JD: John Daigle; SK: Scott Kaliska)

Rank	Consensus	Team	Opponent	DK	DC	JD	SK
1	Le'Veon Bell	PIT	CIN	1	2	1	1
2	Matt Forte	CHI	@MIN	2	3	3	2
3	Arian Foster	HOU	JAC	3	4	2	4
4	Marshawn Lynch	SEA	STL	7	5	4	6
5	Jamaal Charles	KC	SD	5	7	6	5
6	Eddie Lacy	GB	DET	6	6	5	7
7	Jeremy Hill	CIN	@PIT	8	8	7	11
8	LeSean McCoy	PHI	@NYG	9	9	8	8
9	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	@ATL	14	11	9	10
10	Joique Bell	DET	@GB	10	10	16	9
11	Fred Jackson	BUF	@NE	12	20	10	12
12	Matt Asiata	MIN	CHI	13	13	15	13
13	C.J. Anderson	DEN	OAK	4	1	--	3
14	Justin Forsett	BAL	CLE	18	14	12	15
15	Alfred Morris	WAS	DAL	15	17	14	18
16	Mark Ingram	NO	@TB	16	15	18	16
17	DeMarco Murray	DAL	@WAS	11	12	30	14
18	Lamar Miller	MIA	NYJ	17	18	22	19
19	Andre Williams	NYG	PHI	20	22	11	25
20	Latavius Murray	OAK	@DEN	25	16	23	17
21	Tre Mason	STL	@SEA	22	19	19	21
22	Giovani Bernard	CIN	@PIT	24	24	17	27
23	Dan Herron	IND	@TEN	23	23	27	23
24	Reggie Bush	DET	@GB	36	21	26	20
25	Branden Oliver	SD	@KC	31	25	25	26
26	Isaiah Crowell	CLE	@BAL	29	29	20	32
27	Chris Ivory	NYJ	@MIA	19	30	33	30
28	Steven Jackson	ATL	CAR	27	31	32	22
29	Frank Gore	SF	ARI	21	27	35	31
30	Shane Vereen	NE	BUF	37	28	21	28
31	Darren Sproles	PHI	@NYG	26	33	31	38
32	Devonta Freeman	ATL	CAR	35	37	24	40
33	Joseph Randle	DAL	@WAS	34	43	13	49
34	Toby Gerhart	JAC	@HOU	--	26	39	24
35	Pierre Thomas	NO	@TB	--	32	38	29
36	Jordan Todman	JAC	@HOU	28	36	--	36
37	Chris Johnson	NYJ	@MIA	32	40	37	42
38	Doug Martin	TB	NO	--	42	29	37
39	C.J. Spiller	BUF	@NE	--	34	43	34
40	Trent Richardson	IND	@TEN	49	38	36	39
41	Stepfan Taylor	ARI	@SF	33	39	42	--
42	Kerwynn Williams	ARI	@SF	42	49	45	33
43	Bishop Sankey	TEN	IND	39	46	40	46
44	Jonas Gray	NE	BUF	--	35	--	35
45	Donald Brown	SD	@KC	43	41	--	41
46	Lance Dunbar	DAL	@WAS	38	47	--	43
47	Juwan Thompson	DEN	OAK	--	--	28	--
48	Khiry Robinson	NO	@TB	30	--	--	--
49	Marcel Reece	OAK	@DEN	41	--	41	--
50	LeGarrette Blount	NE	BUF	--	--	34	--
--	Terrance West	CLE	@BAL	44	--	44	--
--	Roy Helu Jr.	WAS	DAL	--	45	--	45
--	Fitzgerald Toussaint	BAL	CLE	40	--	--	--
--	James White	NE	BUF	--	44	--	47
--	James Starks	GB	DET	46	--	46	--
--	Knile Davis	KC	SD	45	50	49	--
--	Ryan Mathews	SD	@KC	--	--	--	44
--	Charles Sims	TB	NO	--	48	--	48
--	Ka'Deem Carey	CHI	@MIN	47	--	--	--
--	Chris Polk	PHI	@NYG	--	--	47	--
--	Jacquizz Rodgers	ATL	CAR	48	--	--	--
--	Alfred Blue	HOU	JAC	--	--	48	--
--	Benny Cunningham	STL	@SEA	50	--	--	--
--	Jonas Gray	NE	BUF	--	--	50	--
--	Marion Grice	ARI	@SF	--	--	--	50

Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1wFgLCh