Fantasy starts and sits for Week 17

Week 17 always has a different feel to it in fantasy football. Most leagues aren’t even playing this week, but for those that have something on the line, history tells us that the safe approach when calculating lineups this week is “expect the unexpected.”

If you are submitting a lineup this week, it’s best to look at players who are on NFL squads that still have something to play for. Fortunately this year, that’s most teams. Fantasy-friendly teams like Arizona, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Green Bay and others all should be going “all out” to win this week, and that means positive things for fantasy football.

Normally we try to look at “outside-the-box” starters to consider for your weekly lineups, but in Week 17 we can expand out to look at teams and stars that have motivation to win this week, and should be under consideration in season-long and daily leagues in this final slate of the 2015 fantasy season.

Start

Matt Ryan, Falcons (vs. New Orleans) – Many weren’t surprised at Matt Ryan’s overall struggles in the first year commanding Kyle Shanahan’s system. Regardless, Ryan is an intriguing play in all fantasy formats this week. The Falcons host the record-breaking New Orleans Saints defense, which has allowed the most touchdown passes in NFL history. Also, it’s a stretch, but WR Julio Jones has an outside shot at NFL records for receptions and receiving yardage, so we could see Atlanta go all out trying to funnel extra shots to Jones, padding stats all around.

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Jody Smith is a 25-year fantasy football veteran and was FantasyPro’s Most Accurate Expert in 2012. Follow him on twitter @JodySmithNFL.