Beyond the Boxscore: Fantasy Football 2023 Week 17 Lineup Advice from proven expert

Each week, we're going to go beyond the boxscore and dive into the most interesting situations from around the NFL and discuss how they might shape the Fantasy landscape for the upcoming week. My hope is that you leave this article feeling at least a little bit more confident in the reasoning behind your lineup decisions.

I'm going to give advice in this space and hope to be right more than wrong, but most importantly, I hope that you leave these columns with a clearer and fuller understanding of what goes into my rankings here on SportsLine. I'm excited to peel back the curtain a bit and invite you to start thinking about your lineup decisions in a less linear way. We're trying to move away from this player ranks two spots higher than this player, so he's the one to start – lineup decisions are almost always more dynamic than that!

I do my best to create space to answer lineup advice questions on Twitter throughout the week, you might catch me there. My goal is to be more present and available to help SportsLine members with their Fantasy lineup decisions this season. I can't get to every question, though, so I hope that these tiers and comparisons help you feel more confident in your start/sit decisions. Below, you'll find the situations that stood out the most to me when making important lineup decisions.

If you're doing your Fantasy football research or scouring the Internet for Fantasy rankings, you need to see what SportsLine's highly-rated expert Jacob Gibbs has to say. Gibbs uses a data-driven approach that has helped him consistently provide accurate rankings at every position. He has proven to be one of the nation's most accurate Fantasy rankers in recent years -- posting the eighth-most accurate results over the past few seasons, according to Fantasy Pros.

Now, Gibbs has projected every team's stats and shared his findings for Week 17 of the 2023 season. One player Gibbs is especially high on in Week 17: Patriots rookis slot receiver Demario Douglas. Gibbs has Douglas ranked as a borderline top-30 Fantasy WR, ahead of the likes of Brandin Cooks, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jakobi Meyers, and Gabe Davis. Gibbs is also all-in on an ascending young wide receiver! You NEED to see Gibbs' analysis before you lock in your lineup.

So who are the best under-the-radar players to start in Week 17? And which running backs are you likely better off avoiding? Join SportsLine here to see Jacob Gibbs' weekly lineup advice, all from one of the nation's most accurate experts as graded by FantasyPros!

Sorting out the fringe starter range at each position

Each week, we'll wrap up this start/sit journey by sorting out the fringe starter range of my rankings at each position.

QB 

C.J. Stroud (QB8), Matthew Stafford (QB9), Jared Goff (QB10), and Kyler Murray (QB11) mark the cut-off point for players I want to start at the position in Week 17. This week's "no questions asked" starters include Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Brock Purdy, and Patrick Mahomes. Beyond that, here's how I'm categorizing the position this week:

Group 1: Quarterbacks with question marks but upside to push well north of 20 Fantasy points

Tier 1 -- Justin Fields, C.J. Stroud
Tier 2 -- Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff, Kyler Murray
Tier 3 -- Tua Tagovailoa, Jordan Love, Derek Carr
Tier 4 -- Bryce Young, Jaren Hall, Jacoby Brissett

If you're looking for upside, these are your guys.

Implied point total for each quarterback's team:

25 -- Stafford
24.5 -- Goff
24.5 -- Stroud
22.25 -- Love
22.25 -- Hall
21.5 -- Tagovailoa
20.25 -- Fields
20 -- Carr
18.75 -- Murray
18.5 -- Brissett
15.5 -- Young

Group 2: Quarterbacks who feel like safe bets to post a score that doesn't hurt your lineup

Tier 1 -- Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith
Tier 2 -- Gardner Minshew, Trevor Lawrence
Tier 3 -- Jake Browning, Mason Rudolph, Tyrod Taylor

RB 

This week's "no questions asked" starters include Christian McCaffrey, Kyren Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs, Rachaad White, Bijan Robinson, Travis Etienne, Alvin Kamara, D'Andre Swift, and James Cook. Beyond that, you can find how I'm sorting out the position below.

Group 1: There's definitely upside!

Tier 1 -- Kenneth Walker, Jonathan Taylor
Tier 2 -- Aaron Jones, Derrick Henry, Raheem Mostert
Tier 3 -- Ty Chandler, Austin Ekeler, David Montgomery, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, James Conner
Tier 4 -- De'Von Achane, Zamir White, Gus Edwards

Group 2: Safe starters if you don't have a higher-upside option you prefer

Tier 1 -- Joe Mixon, Ezekiel Elliott, Saquon Barkley
Tier 2 -- Tony Pollard, Chuba Hubbard, Devin Singletary
Tier 3 -- Najee Harris

Group 3: Plays that make sense in theory, but I'm not excited by their projection

Tier 1 -- Jaylen Warren
Tier 2 -- Tyjae Spears, Justice Hill, Antonio Gibson, Javonte Williams, D'Onta Foreman
Tier 3 -- Tyler Allgeier, Chase Brown, Roschon Johnson, Jaleel McLaughlin, Zach Charbonnet, Kenneth Gainwell, Miles Sanders, Brian Robinson, Khalil Herbert

WR 

The Week 17 must-start group of wide receivers ends with Chris Olave, Brandon Aiyuk, Nico Collins, Mike Evans, Rashee Rice, Puka Nacua, and DeVonta Smith as the WR7-WR13. Here's who comes next:

Group 1: I think we can trust these players

Tier 1 -- Ja'Marr Chase
Tier 2 -- Michael Pittman, Stefon Diggs, Davante Adams, Cooper Kupp, Zay Flowers
Tier 3 -- Chris Godwin, Diontae Johnson, Adam Thielen
Tier 4 -- Demario Douglas, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Jayden Reed

Group 2: Mystery Box

Tier 1 -- Tee Higgins, D.J. Moore, Calvin Ridley
Tier 2 -- George Pickens, Tyler Lockett
Tier 3 -- Brandin Cooks, Noah Brown, Gabe Davis, Demarcus Robinson, Rashid Shaheed
Tier 4 -- Josh Downs, Romeo Doubs, Curtis Samuel, D.J. Chark, Michael Wilson, Quentin Johnston

Group 3: Desperation Plays

Tier 1 -- DeAndre Hopkins, Terry McLaurin, Drake London
Tier 2 -- Jakobi Meyers, K.J. Osborn, Odell Beckham Jr.
Tier 3 -- Jonathan Mingo, Darius Slayton, Jameson Williams, Jerry Jeudy

TE 

Travis Kelce, Trey McBride, George Kittle, Sam LaPorta, Evan Engram, and Jake Ferguson are the tight ends I consider must-starts for Week 17.

Group 1 -- Upside shots

Tier 1 -- Dallas Goedert, Gerald Everett, Isaiah Likely
Tier 2 -- Darren Waller, Kyle Pitts, Hunter Henry, Cole Kmet (Q)
Tier 3 -- Taysom Hill, Dalton Kincaid

Group 2 -- I'm just looking for eight points, honestly

Tier 1 -- Dalton Schultz, Tucker Kraft, Pat Freiermuth
Tier 2 -- Chigoziem Okonkwo, Cade Otton, Logan Thomas

Good luck with your lineup decisions this week!

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