NFL

The Perfect Lineup: Week 17's FantasyScore Team

JJ Zachariason  —  @LateRoundQB Dec 26th, 2014
You can pick any player you want on FantasyScore in Week 17, so the lineup is as good as it gets.

In Week 17, our friends over at FantasyScore.com are running an experiment -- you can pick any player you want without salary cap constraints. Every single player is worth $5,555 of the $50,000 cap.

Naturally, teams are going to look great, and it's now your job to choose the highest scorer at each position in order to win. Let's take a look at who our algorithms think you should use.

Quarterback

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
Brees' up-and-down season has a good chance of ending on a high note, as the Saints will face the hapless Buccaneers in Week 17. Tampa Bay, per our Net Expected Points (NEP) metrics, have the second-worst pass defense in the NFL, and have been generous to fantasy quarterbacks all season long. Brees should be great.

Running Back

Marshawn Lynch, Seattle Seahawks
Lynch's Week 17 opponent, St. Louis, doesn't present the best matchup in the world, but he's generally a matchup-proof player, especially at home. Beast Mode now has three weekly number-one performances at running back on the year, ensuring he has the ceiling you need in a week where you can have any lineup you'd like.

Le'Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers
A safer option at running back is Bell, who's had six top-two performances in PPR leagues this season, including three straight top running back games from Week 13 through Week 15. The Steelers get the Bengals, who have been gashed on the ground this season and rank 29th against the run according to our metrics. You can't avoid Bell when you have the entire field to choose from.

Wide Receiver

Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos
If you have issues using Demaryius Thomas this week, it's understandable. The Broncos offense has become a little more run-heavy, and Thomas had a complete dud just three weeks ago. But against Oakland, who rank 23rd against the pass per NEP, he should be fine.

Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants
Since Week 7, Odell Beckham has had six top-10 wide receiver games (66.7% of his contests), all while showing the NFL that his ceiling is just as high as anyone else's. He's now scored at least 30 PPR points in each of his last three weeks, and you'd be foolish to not roll him out against a mediocre Eagles secondary this week.

Tight End

Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots
Gronk is the best tight end in football, even during his down weeks. He's ranked in the weekly tight end top 10 (PPR) in each of his last eight games, failing to hit the double-digit mark in just one game this year. The Patriots will face a tough Bills defense, but Gronkowski's matchups simply don't matter.

Flex

Matt Forte, Chicago Bears
Forte's ranked lower than 10th in PPR leagues just five times this year, and proved last week against a tough Detroit defense that his opponent's strength doesn't matter. The Bears, back under Jay Cutler, face a Vikings team that was crushed on the ground last week and has been bad against the run all season long. Expect a big game from Forte to close out the year.

Kicker

Dan Bailey, Dallas Cowboys
Bailey should get plenty of opportunities to score points in a Cowboys defense that's now rolling. Given we can spend whatever we want on players, he makes for a good play at kicker.

Defense

Houston Texans' Defense
Defenses against Jacksonville have dominated in fantasy football this season, ranking as top-10 units in all but four games. The floor is safe for Houston, too, as Jacksonville's never posted a good enough offensive game to give an opposing defense a negative fantasy total.