The Fantasy Life Staff highlighted a few players who are getting a bump up or down the ranks going into championship games in Week 17. 

There is no rule in fantasy that says we have to play until Week 17. But since we are, it's just as much outlasting your opponents as it is winning the league. Keeping up with the Weekly Rankings and using our Start/Sit Tool could be the difference between winning and losing the title. 

In 2021, when the NFL expanded each team's schedule to 17 games (and a bye), fantasy players didn't give much thought to expanding our own season by a game. More chances to get into the playoffs, one more week of this game we love — what's not to love? 

But there are a few problems that have popped up. 

One of the joys of The Old Way was getting your payout before Christmas, and having some extra cash for gifts. That's off the table with a Week 17 title game. While the final week of the season is still wrought with weird playing time and roster decisions, we're seeing some of that seep into Week 17, as well. 

Imagine a world where our title games are still in Week 16. That gives us two weeks at the end of the season to relax, watch playoff races unfold, prepare for postseason tournaments, and not ruin everyone's Christmas by snapping at grandma after a Joe Mixon 5-point performance.

Not saying we all have to do it; just that the option is still on the table to go back. 

Here are three Week 17 ranks that stood out to us. Click here for our full set of constantly updated expert ranks.

Week 17 Fantasy Football Rankings Updates

Tyjae Spears, RB, TEN (Ian's RB12)

This is why fantasy managers have been holding on to Spears, as Tony Pollard has been ruled OUT after coming down with the flu on top of an ankle injury that has been plaguing him of late. Up to the plate comes Tyjae Spears, and we've seen a preview of what he can do with a more featured roll with a pair of performances going over 20 fantasy points and scoring 4 total TDs the past two weeks. 

Coming off back-to-back UR scores of 7.6, Spears is set to smash against a Jacksonville D allowing the second-most fantasy points to RBs.
 

Tyreek Hill, WR, MIA (Ian's WR32, Charch's WR28)

Tyreek Hill has 6 total touchdowns and two 100-yard games this season — and one of those came in Week 1. In seven games since Week 10, Hill has managed just three performances of over 50 yards. While his matchup is fine (the Browns allow the 9th most FPPG to opposing WRs), Hill has been wildly inconsistent in his utilization and output:

And now, on top of the inconsistent utilization, he'll be catching passes from Tyler Huntley with Tua Tagovailoa tagged as doubtful. It's more difficult to find a scenario where you're benching Hill than one you're playing him, just be sure to adjust expectations, and don't be too surprised if he returns a disappointing box-score result.

Adam Thielen, WR, CAR (Charch's rank WR15)

Well, we know who Charch is playing in Guillotine League(TM) finals this week. Adam Thielen has been a revelation in the Bryce Young late-season revival, registering a UR score of 8.4 in Weeks 13-16, catching a pair of TDs and posting yardage totals of 99 and 102 yards, respectively. Now he gets the Tampa Bay defense allowing a fantasy points boost of 4.0 to WRs in a game with a 48-point total. Can you say boom performance for the veteran WR? 

Deebo Samuel, WR, SF (57.6 aggregate expert rank)

Last week against the Dolphins, Deebo Samuel caught 7 passes off 9 targets for 96 yards and a TD. It was his first 15+ point performance since Week 6 and his 9 targets were his most since Week 2. Is this momentum? Was it a fluke? Four of our rankers have Deebo in the 50s, with Ian Hartitz the low expert at 70. Samuel has a disappointing 5.2 UR Score on the season, and his last four weeks averages out to only 4.8, even with his Week 16 breakout (is that what we call it?) included. Keep in mind, Tua Tagovailoa was downgraded to Doubtful on Saturday afternoon. 

Jameson Williams, WR, DET (48 aggregate expert rank)

Imagine back in the summer before fantasy draft season, if a fantasy expert had popped up during a podcast and said Jameson Williams would be a must start in Week 17. We don't even want to picture the reaction. But Williams is definitely someone to picture in a championship lineup coming off a 5-143-1 WR4 performance last week. The Lions-49ers game will tilt some fantasy titles, and an 80-yard bomb to Williams could be just one of the plays to do so.  

You can see all our expert ranks here

To run your start/sit decisions through our tool, go here

Good luck to everyone! May your teams all be in matchups against rosters with a heavy Texans presence!