Sidney Rice has your back in Week 17. (Icon SMI)

Fantasy Football Start Sit

FREE weekly fantasy football who to start & sit advice

Our weekly "Who to Start and Sit" column is part of FootballDocs In-season content. All of FootballDocs In-season content is 100% free.

After starting your studs (typically players ranked after week 5 in the top ~15 RBs, top ~ 10 WRs, top ~ 10 QBs, top ~3 TEs, top ~5 Defenses, and top...wait, no kicker is a fantasy football stud), the Docs will help you decide who to start and sit as we recommend players in our fantasy football start sit column that are not clear studs and can step in with a big game for your team this week. Consequently, we will not recommend who to start and sit with the top few players at each position in our weekly fantasy football start sit advice (given starts every week); however, we may occasionally recommend players ranked 15 - 25 overall due to some teams out there that will have multiple players at one position in this range but can only start one.  If we recommend such a player it does not mean we think they are not a stud, we are just trying to help those folks out there that may be in such a situation. We also recommend players to bench, so our fantasy football start sit column is sometimes referred to as fantasy football start bench column. Additionally, we offer Fantasy Football Weekly Rankings to help even further with some of those more difficult start sit decisions. Last, be sure to check us out every Tuesday as we do a Wrap-up on our advice - both good and bad.  In fact, every wrap-up is kept and posted as a permanent, public record of what we called and how good or bad the calls were. Why?

Three reasons: 
1.  Accountability.
2.  Confidence in our analysis and recommendations.
3.  Because the Docs take winning every bit as seriously as you do.

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Week 17 is anything but normal as NFL teams often rest starters in preparation for their playoffs. Given these circumstances, there are not as many obvious "studs" to toss into the line-up, and many fantasy football teams find themselves without the service of their horses that carried their team all season long. With that in mind, our fantasy football start / sit column is a little different this week, as we recommend benching proven studs, while starting others, and sprinkle in a few random players here and there. Best of luck to all fighting for your league title this week, and please, PLEASE petition your league to move your championship game to Week 16 to try to avoid some of this mess!

Ray Rice, RB, BAL - Ray Rice and the Ravens have a lot to play for this week. If they win against the Raiders, they are in the playoffs. Rice had a costly fumble last week. This week he will redeem himself. Controlling your own destiny is a great position to be in. The Raiders aren't a bad target to have lined up either.

Chris Johnson, RB, TEN - Johnson will be running for 2,000 yards. Expect him to have a solid game because he is the only thing the Titans have left to smile about since their season is over. Nothing like garbage stats in week 17 to pad a fantasy season.

Frank Gore, RB, SF - Gore has been on a fire to end the season. If you've been riding this horse to your title, don't stop now. Another very favorable match-up is on the slate facing the wet tissue paper defense of the Rams.

Donald Brown, RB, IND - Brown should see plenty of action with the Colts in "rest our starters" mode. Having missed a large portion of the season with an injury, Brown has fresh legs and is ready to go. The Colts should want to feature him to help dust off some of the rust from his lack of playing time prior to the start of the playoffs.

Tony Romo, QB, DAL - Romo can win the NFC East and secure a home playoff game with a win. After all of the struggles the Cowboys have had in the past, it finally looks like Romo is ready to put those late season swoons to rest. Romo has been on fire and that should help make this Eagles/Cowboys game a high scoring affair.

Jay Cutler, QB, CHI - Cutler has been anything but reliable in 2009 and a nightmare for his owners. Last week he turned in a big performance under the bright lights of Monday Night Football. It is asking a lot to say we think he can do it two weeks in a row, but few things on earth are as fantasy friendly as the Detroit Lions. They lead the league in passing TDs allowed, and are tied for first in number of passing plays surrendered of over 40+ yards.

Vince Young, QB, TEN - Young played terrible in week 16, and now the Titans are forced to think about 2010. With that in mind, Young will need a solid week 17 to convince the Titans he is their QB of the future moving forward. It's hard to see a big game here, but we think Young will come through with a decent game given the circumstances and the favorable match-up with Seattle.

Eli Manning, QB, NYG - The Vikings secondary is getting picked apart as we approach the end of the season, and the Giants will be seeking revenge after their embarrassing loss last week. While Manning was a turnover machine last week and turned in a sub-par fantasy performance at the QB slot, he had previously averaged 300 passing yards and nearly 3 TDs per game over weeks 13, 14, and 15. He will get back on track this week and will finish the season strong.

Miles Austin, WR, DAL - Being a believer in Romo in week 17 means being a believer in Austin in as well. Austin has big game ability and he has been a fantasy stud for most of 2009. That should continue in week 17.

Brandon Marshall, WR, DEN - Denver still has some playoff hopes and they have the Chiefs on the slate for this week. Marshall has been a beast all season. Look for him to try and leave a good taste in the mouth of his future employers. It is all about the ca$h! Marshall is one of the few elite WRs that still has something to fight for in week 17.

Devin Aromashodu, WR, CHI - Aromashodu was the hero in the big win over the Vikings last week, and things are lined up nicely for him to carry that momentum into week 17. With both Johnny Knox and Devin Hester hurt and facing the extremely porous secondary of Detroit, Aromashodu stands a very good chance at turning in a nice game.

Sidney Rice, WR, MIN - Rice came up huge for the Vikings last week and made the big catches when they needed them most. Minnesota is anything but a well oiled machine approaching their playoffs, and this will be the week to iron out the wrinkles. Playing inside the dome against a Giants' secondary that has been vulnerable to the big play is a recipe for success for Rice.

Vernon Davis, TE, SF - Davis and the 49ers don't have much to play for, but he should still post solid numbers. You know the 49ers were never a playoff contender, but Davis has been solid all season. Alex Smith is playing for a starting gig in 2010. He will use his best weapon of 2009 to help build his case.

Nate Kaeding, K, SD - Kaeding is kicking in nice weather in Southern California and his team moves the ball pretty well.

Baltimore Ravens Defense - Why not go for this motivated defense against the Raiders? The Raiders have been a mess for most of the season and their slight resurgence is not enough to scare anyone away from them in week 17. The Ravens will muster up one last fantasy performance for the 2009 season.

Brandon Jacobs, RB, NYG - Jacobs has disappointed this year, and he will go ahead and continue that trend to end the season on a disappointing note. He has been particularly abysmal towards the home stretch, and now facing the Vikings and their ultra tough run defense, this could get ugly.

Peyton Manning, QB, IND - The Colts have given up on the regular season and will bench their starters at any moment during a game. Don't trust them with your championship on the line.

Carson Palmer, QB, CIN - The Bengals are getting ready for the playoffs and face the brutal defense of the Jets this week. No thanks on Palmer in Week 17.

Reggie Wayne, WR, IND - The Colts have given up on the regular season and will bench their starters at any moment during a game. Don't trust them with your championship on the line.

Chad Ochocinco, WR, CIN - The Bengals don't have much to play for this week, so we would like to avoid their playmakers.

Dallas Clark, TE, IND - The Colts have given up on the regular season and will bench their starters at any moment during a game. Don't trust them with your championship on the line.

For an expanded list of players to help with weekly fantasy football start sit line-up decisions, be sure to check our our Fantasy Football Weekly Rankings, which are released every Thursday during the regular season.