Fantasy football rankings 2017: Tight ends for NFL Week 17

A quick note to fantasy football commissioners who have their league play meaningful games in week 17 - knock it off.

For those of you who are still fighting for a championship in the league’s final week, I’m sorry. It is going to be a headache deciding who you can trust and who will get enough playing time. I suggest checking Twitter Sunday morning and once again before the afternoon games get going. Gather what data you can and let the dice roll.

Here is a quick early week breakdown of how the real football playoff scenarios may affect your fantasy lineups in regards to tight ends:

Top-10 Tight Ends Likely To See Little Action

Zach Ertz entered the top-tier tight end club this season, but the Philadelphia Eagles have already locked up home-field advantage and don’t have much to play for. There is no guarantee he will be benched, but Trey Burton is looking mighty tempting. If you have Ertz, you may want to bench him this week and roll with Burton, who often has value even when Ertz is playing.

Travis Kelce finds himself in a similar position. The Kansas City Chiefs can’t improve their postseason position at this point, and Andy Reid has rested his starters in the past. I know it’s hard to sit Kelce during your championship week, but I suggest picking up Demetrius Harris and writing a mean letter to your commissioner.

Top-10 Tight Ends Still Worth Starting

Rob Gronkowski, Kyle Rudolph, Delanie Walker, Greg Olsen, and Jimmy Graham are all still in position to play most of the game or at least until their teams are holding a comfortable lead. Start them as you normally would and live with the consequences.

Daily Fantasy Plays

Like many degenerates, I will be enjoying the final regular season games with an eye towards daily fantasy. As mentioned above, I really like Burton if Ertz sits. Of course, Burton could find himself on the pine as well, but I think it is more likely he plays 80 percent of the game.

Jack Doyle has 18 targets over the last two weeks, which makes him a great play against the Houston Texans. He had eight receptions for 63 yards receiving against the Texans earlier in the season and could reach or exceed those numbers on Sunday.

Ben Watson finds himself in a good position to pay dividends. The Baltimore Ravens need a win, and the Cincinnati Bengals have given up a touchdown to a tight end each of the last three weeks.

A little farther up the road in New York, Vernon Davis will play the Giants, who have allowed the most fantasy points to tight ends this season. I fell into this trap back in Week 12 when Vernon had exactly as many receptions as my daughter that day. He did find the end zone last week, but I will avoid him this time around.

Finally, Charles Clay will likely be who I start in most daily fantasy lineups. He has 19 targets over the last two weeks, and I can’t resist a good revenge narrative. The Buffalo Bills could still make the playoffs with some help, so fire Clay against Miami, his former team.

Enjoy the final week of the regular season, good luck to you in those playoff pools and have a great winter, spring and summer!

(SK: Scott Kaliska; JG: Jeff Goldberg; DG: Derek Gordon; KB: Kyle Bennett; ZS: Zach Senvisky; JM: Jason Marcum)