This is it, the final fantasy football weekend of the 2018 season, though in fairness, quite a few you might have finished up already. Odd things happen in Week 17, and the truth is that some of the players listed below might not play at all. Several teams have clinched their playoff seeds. Myriad others saw reasonable postseason hopes eliminated weeks ago. This week is tough to forecast, and that is why so many finish up in Week 16.
Anyway, this is one analyst's best guess as to the top running backs, wide receivers and tight ends in one tidy package as of Wednesday afternoon. There will be changes, and if you are still playing for something important, please follow the news as the week continues. Best of luck to all, and happy holidays!
1. Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants: And a rookie shall lead them. Barkley has had a tremendous season and there is little reason for statistical concern this week against a team with little on the line. In fact, Barkley could end up as the No. 1 fantasy RB this season depending on whether others participate.
2. Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons: He will not end up as the No. 1 receiver, but what a terrific season. There is no whining about touchdowns anymore.
3. Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers: Another magnificent season, and certainly his team will be looking to pile up points on Sunday.
4. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans
5. Melvin Gordon, RB, Los Angeles Chargers: Could play, could sit, but the Chargers could still earn a bye week. I think he plays.
6. Chris Carson, RB, Seattle Seahawks: No bye week here, but Carson is playing great and facing a weak defense.
7. Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay Packers
8. JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
9. C.J. Anderson, RB, Los Angeles Rams: For the record, I did not rank Todd Gurley II because I do not think he is going to play. Anderson, mere days after joining the Rams, ran wild in Week 16. He should do so again.
10. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers: If I thought he would play the full game, I might rank him first overall. Since he has already broken the record for catches in a season by a running back, there is a growing possibility he sits this one out, so prepare.
11. Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals: He will play, and he performed nicely in the last Steelers meeting.
12. Jamaal Williams, RB, Green Bay Packers: Solid player certainly wants to make his mark, as we presume he is behind Aaron Jones on the future depth chart.
13. Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
14. T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts: The last game of the season and the Titans allow quite a bit of fantasy points to receivers.
15. Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
16. Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns: Slight concern here, as the Ravens are playing for something and they stop the run.
17. David Johnson, RB, Arizona Cardinals: Things have to improve around him next season.
18. Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans: Scored 4.6 PPR points in first meeting with Colts. Hard to believe he could be so average for three months and still end up a top-10 RB.
19. Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
20. Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings: Eagles fans certainly hope the Bears play all four quarters. Minnesota passing game has not thrived in December.
21. Brandin Cooks, WR, Los Angeles Rams
22. Robert Woods, WR, Los Angeles Rams: Rams would like a bye, and they need to win. Jared Goff should do well.
23. Leonard Fournette, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars: Odd season and tough matchup, but volume could prevail.
24. Tarik Cohen, RB, Chicago Bears
25. Damien Williams, RB, Kansas City Chiefs: Seems unlikely that Spencer Ware suits up, and frankly, Williams looks a lot better anyway.
26. James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers: Speculative ranking since he has not played in a while. One would think he would do whatever possible to suit up for this, since there might not be more games this season.
27. Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
28. Stefon Diggs, WR, Minnesota Vikings
29. Dalvin Cook, RB, Minnesota Vikings: Again, the Bears are good. Only the Titans permit fewer fantasy points to running backs. The Bears should care, too.
30. Royce Freeman, RB, Denver Broncos: No Phillip Lindsay for this one, so Freeman, whom everyone liked more back in August, including the Broncos, gets a chance to shine.
31. Robby Anderson, WR, New York Jets: Playing great of late, but quiet in first Patriots meeting. Patriots still with plenty to play for since they last played in the first weekend of the playoffs when Steve Grogan was QB. OK, some hyperbole there.
32. Julian Edelman, WR, New England Patriots
33. Alshon Jeffery, WR, Philadelphia Eagles: See, Nick Foles loves all his receivers. And winning big games.
34. Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles
35. Jarvis Landry, WR, Cleveland Browns
36. Marlon Mack, RB, Indianapolis Colts
37. Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints: My guess is he can do enough damage in the first half alone to be a worthy flex choice, but it sure is a gamble.
38. Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints: Could be Teddy Bridgewater and Taysom Hill throwing him the ball. Or he might not play at all.
39. Sony Michel, RB, New England Patriots
40. Kenny Golladay, WR, Detroit Lions
41. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys: Is 10 carries enough to make it worth our while? Cowboys cannot risk him getting hurt.
42. Elijah McGuire, RB, New York Jets: Decent volume option, even against the Patriots.
43. Doug Baldwin, WR, Seattle Seahawks: He could really use the week off.
44. Tyler Lockett, WR, Seattle Seahawks
45. George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers: Great season, and he might be the No. 3 tight end in 2019 drafts, too.
46. Corey Davis, WR, Tennessee Titans: The problem has not changed. He is good, but volume is lacking, regardless of QB.
47. James White, RB, New England Patriots
48. Gus Edwards, RB, Baltimore Ravens: Oh, he is playing. Solid statistical floor, too.
49. Kenyan Drake, RB, Miami Dolphins: Seems like he needs to play for another franchise next season.
50. Calvin Ridley, WR, Atlanta Falcons: Solid rookie season alongside Julio Jones, but then again, rarely were each productive in the same game.
51. Allen Robinson, WR, Chicago Bears: Jury remains out on his quarterback.
52. Sterling Shepard, WR, New York Giants: No Odell Beckham Jr. in the rankings because ... why would he play now? Shepard really has not stepped up consistently.
53. Mark Ingram II, RB, New Orleans Saints
54. Peyton Barber, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
55. Tevin Coleman, RB, Atlanta Falcons: Left the Week 16 game prematurely, but apparently he is going to play this week anyway.
56. Jeff Wilson Jr., RB, San Francisco 49ers: No more Matt Breida. Wilson looks like he can produce big numbers, but this is not an easy matchup.
57. Adam Humphries, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
58. Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
59. DaeSean Hamilton, WR, Denver Broncos
60. Jared Cook, TE, Oakland Raiders: Raise your hand if you thought he would approach 1,000 receiving yards. Stop it, nobody can truthfully raise a hand.
61. DJ Moore, WR, Carolina Panthers: Kyle Allen will QB this week. Does not mean Moore cannot get some numbers. Cam Newton was not exactly Dan Fouts, you know.
62. Lamar Miller, RB, Houston Texans: Possible he can play. Texans could not run at all last week.
63. Kalen Ballage, RB, Miami Dolphins
64. Jaylen Samuels, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers: If Conner sits, as I suspect he will, then sure, Samuels is a legit RB2.
65. Jordan Howard, RB, Chicago Bears: Remember when we thought he could catch passes or the team would let him. That was cute.
66. Dion Lewis, RB, Tennessee Titans
67. Mohamed Sanu, WR, Atlanta Falcons: Matt Ryan is the No. 3 QB for the season. He can support multiple weapons.
68. Amari Cooper, WR, Dallas Cowboys: No bye for this team, so why would Cooper play a lot?
69. Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals: If this is it for this class act, it was one terrific ride.
70. Eric Ebron, TE, Indianapolis Colts: He is in concussion protocol, but the Colts need the game. He is likely to play.
71. Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England Patriots: Some will say this ranking is ridiculously low. Others say the opposite. He caught nary a pass in Week 16 and he did play. This ranking is probably generous.
72. Jalen Richard, RB, Oakland Raiders
73. Doug Martin, RB, Oakland Raiders
74. Kenneth Dixon, RB, Baltimore Ravens: He can do so much more, but the Ravens are winning.
75. Theo Riddick, RB, Detroit Lions: Kerryon Johnson should be good next season, but he did not help us this December. Riddick has not helped us much, either.
76. Zach Zenner, RB, Detroit Lions
77. Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos
78. Golden Tate, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
79. Adrian Peterson, RB, Washington Redskins: One of eight with 1,000 rushing yards, but 16 at his position have more PPR points.
80. Darren Sproles, RB, Philadelphia Eagles: Looked great in Week 16, but cannot count on touchdowns.
81. Brian Hill, RB, Atlanta Falcons: The fellow to get if Coleman cannot play.
82. Alfred Blue, RB, Houston Texans: The fellow to get if Miller cannot play.
83. Mike Williams, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
84. Josh Reynolds, WR, Los Angeles Rams
85. Dede Westbrook, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars: Yep, back to Blake Bortles. Uh-oh.
86. Robert Foster, WR, Buffalo Bills
87. Mike Davis, RB, Seattle Seahawks
88. LeSean McCoy, RB, Buffalo Bills: What a disaster of a season.
89. Chris Thompson, RB, Washington Redskins: Another disaster. Staying healthy is a skill.
90. Josh Adams, RB, Philadelphia Eagles: Perhaps not as good as people think.
91. Tim Patrick, WR, Denver Broncos
92. Chris Hogan, WR, New England Patriots: You thought the loss of Josh Gordon meant great things for Hogan, but he saw nary a target in Week 16.
93. Jordy Nelson, WR, Oakland Raiders: Punchline much of the season but four consecutive games with double-digit PPR numbers now.
94. John Ross, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
95. Rex Burkhead, RB, New England Patriots
96. Trenton Cannon, RB, New York Jets
97. Nyheim Hines, RB, Indianapolis Colts
98. Duke Johnson Jr., RB, Cleveland Browns: Whiff.
99. Dwayne Washington, RB, New Orleans Saints: If Kamara and/or Ingram sit, and they might, learn this name.
100. Justin Jackson, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
Others: John Kelly, RB, Los Angeles Rams; Curtis Samuel, WR, Carolina Panthers; Jamison Crowder, WR, Washington Redskins; Randall Cobb, WR, Green Bay Packers; Jimmy Graham, TE, Green Bay Packers; Chris Conley, WR, Kansas City Chiefs; Zay Jones, WR, Buffalo Bills; DeSean Jackson, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Tyrell Williams, WR, Los Angeles Chargers; Wendell Smallwood, RB, Philadelphia Eagles; John Brown, WR, Baltimore Ravens; Michael Crabtree, WR, Baltimore Ravens; Taylor Gabriel, WR, Chicago Bears; Kenny Stills, WR, Miami Dolphins; Donte Moncrief, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars