Fantasy Football Week 17 wide receiver rankings: Sunday morning injury updates

You can trust at least 20 receivers for Fantasy championship week, but then..

By Chris Towers

Jan 2, 2022 at 11:45 am ET • 2 min read

Andrew Nelles / Tennessean.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

The lack of depth at WR has been a recurring issue throughout the 2021 Fantasy season, but I think you can probably get into the 20s this week before running out of options I feel pretty good about this week. A.J. Brown's return from IR came at the perfect time if you were still alive in Week 16, and it also coincides with what might be the best the WR position has looked in a while.

Of course, that includes the likes of Amari Cooper, D.J. Moore, MIchael Pittman, and DK Metcalf, who have been pretty iffy of late, but if I've got any of those players on my roster this week, I'm probably going to ride with them in the championship game. There's still too much upside – and some pretty good matchups – for me to get away from them.

However, you've probably got some pretty tough decisions to make either way, especially with players like Mike Evans, Brandin Cooks, and Cole Beasley coming back from the COVID list. Here's what we're watching in terms of injuries Sunday morning:

Out: Adam Thielen (ankle), Jerry Jeudy (COVID), Tim Patrick (COVID), Nelson Agholor (concussion), Jamison Crowder (calf), Tre-Quan Smith (chest), Josh Reynolds (COVID), Tajae Sharpe (COVID), Kalif Raymond (COVID), Kadarius Toney (shoulder), Jaelon Darden (COVID), Darius Slayton (COVID), Emmanuel Sanders (knee)
Legitimately questionable: Marquise Brown (illness), N'Keal Harry (hip), Jakobi Meyers (thigh), Rondale Moore (ankle), Devin Duvernay (ankle)
Expected to play: Mike Evans (hamstring), Antonio Brown (ankle), Courtland Sutton (illness)

Evans is expected to play but will likely be on a snap count if he does. He was apparently having trouble with his conditioning after coming down with COVID during practice, so expect them to use him sparingly, likely in the red zone primarily. That makes him a boom-or-bust WR3 for me. Antonio Brown is a top-10 WR if he plays, though there is apparently more concern than there was last week after a mid-week setback. He is expected to play, however, per early Sunday reports.

Marquise Brown is the biggest question here, because he would be a top-20 WR for me if he plays, but there is certainly risk that his conditioning may not be where it needs to be. However, he had 14 targets for 10 catches in his previous game with Tyler Huntley starting and should be a good PPR option if he plays.

Gabriel Davis is still a viable starter with Sanders out, by the way. Don't overlook him.

Here are my top 48 wide receivers for Week 17 to help you make those decisions. To see the rankings from Jamey Eisenberg, Dave Richard and Heath Cummings, make sure you head here.