Week 17 Monday Night Start Decisions and Rankings: Niners' Brock Purdy or Lions' Jared Goff? Should You Start Jameson Williams, Deebo Samuel, Isaac Guerendo and Others?

Week 17 of the NFL regular season wraps up with a clash between the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers. It’s not quite the matchup it was set up to be before the season got going, but it still should be a great matchup.

Let’s look at the top fantasy options from the game. I’ll provide rankings for the offensive players before we wrap up, in case you are looking to fill a flex or OP spot yet.

Looking for start/sit help? Be sure to check out the FantasySP Who Should I Start tool.

Quarterbacks

Brock Purdy leads the Niners into the game, while Jared Goff guides the Lions.

Purdy has been up and down in the latter portion of the season, with two 20-point fantasy outings and two under five points over the past four games. He’s coming off a 20-point showing in which he threw for 312 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Goff has scored 16 or more fantasy points in four straight games. He has 830 passing yards, eight touchdowns and no picks over the past two games.

It’s a pretty average matchup for Purdy, while Goff has a tougher test. In the weekly projections, Purdy is set for 18 fantasy points, while Goff is at 16.

Despite what the matchups say, I’m going with Goff over Purdy tonight. He’s been the more consistent fantasy performer all season, and I just trust him and this offense more than Purdy and the Niners. Both quarterbacks should have good fantasy showings, at a minimum.

Running Backs

Jahmyr Gibbs is the unquestioned leader in the Detroit backfield with David Montgomery out with an injury. Isaac Guerendo is off the injury report and should power the Niners’ backfield this week. 

Gibbs scored 25.4 PPR fantasy points in the first game without Montgomery around. He’s averaging 19.4 fantasy points per contest this season.

Craig Reynolds is likely to serve as the top backup. He had 23 total yards on five touches last week, but played just 10 snaps.

Guerendo missed last week with injuries, but had 17 and 20 touches in his last two appearances. He scored 26.8 PPR points in the first game and 11.5 in the second.

Patrick Taylor didn’t take advantage of the starting role last week, tallying just 3.5 PPR points. He’ll back up Guerendo.

It’s a pretty favorable matchup for Gibbs, while Guerendo and the Niners’ backs have a very tough test ahead. In the weekly projections, Gibbs is projected for 20 PPR points, while Guerendo is at 12. Taylor and Reynolds are at three points each.

Gibbs is easily the best fantasy back in this game, and in the favorable matchup, I like him the best of any player in this contest. Guerendo was a flex option for me this week (check my rankings to see how he stacks up against other players in this contest).

I like Reynolds over Taylor between the backups, but only would consider both in the deepest of leagues.

Wide Receivers

Detroit has Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and Tim Patrick as fantasy wideout options, while Jauan Jennings, Deebo Samuel Sr. and Ricky Pearsall are the top Niners’ options.

St. Brown has scored at least 10 PPR points in eight straight games. He scored 19 points last week and 37.3 the week before that.

Williams is averaging 13.7 PPR points per week this season, and has 12 or more in three straight. Williams tallied 26 PPR points last week.

Patrick has come on of late, but is coming off a zero-point fantasy outing. He had 13 the week before that and 22.3 in the week prior.

Jennings has faded a bit down the stretch, failing to score over 10 points in back-to-back games. He’s still averaging 14.2 points per game, but that’s heavily aided by a 46.5-point showing early in the season.

Samuel got back on track in week 16, tallying 25.1 PPR points. He hadn’t been over 10 points in the previous five games before that.

Pearsall scored 7.7 PPR points last week, his highest amount over the past five contests. He scored 4.1 combined PPR points in those five games.

It’s a more favorable matchup for the 49ers’ wide receivers, while the Lions’ wideouts have the toughest matchup in the league (at least coming into week 17). St. Brown is projected for 19 PPR points, while Jennings leads the Niners at 17 points. Samuel is at 15 points, while Williams is at 14. Patrick is set for seven PPR points, while Pearsall is at six.

Even in the tougher matchup, St. Brown is still the easy No. 1 fantasy wideout in this contest. You have to trust your fantasy stars to get the job done.

I’d take Williams second. All it takes is a big play or two for him to deliver a big fantasy score, and I like the Lions’ offense to keep rolling.

I’d take Samuel over Jennings this week, with last week’s outings being the decider there. I’m not super confident in either guy, but think both are still fine standard league options in this favorable matchup.

Patrick goes over Pearsall for me, but I wouldn’t want to play either in a standard league.

Tight Ends

Detroit’s Sam LaPorta and San Francisco’s George Kittle are the tight ends in this contest.

Kittle has been one of the top fantasy tight ends this season. He scored 18.6 PPR points last week and has at least 10 points in three straight.

After a disappointing season, LaPorta has been much better down the stretch, rewarding the fantasy owners who stuck with him. He’s scored 10 or more points in four straight contests.

It’s a brutal defensive matchup for each tight end in this contest. In the weekly projections, Kittle is set for 13 PPR points, while LaPorta is at 11.

I also like Kittle more, trusting him because of his season-long numbers. Both should be standard league starters in most cases.

Kickers

Jake Moody kicks for the Niners, while Jake Bates is the kicker for the Lions.

Bates is 23-of-26 on his field goal attempts and 58-of-59 on his extra points. Moody is just 23-of-30 on his field goals and has made all 25 of his extra points across 12 games.

Bates has the highest fantasy projection for kickers this week (nine points). Moody is at seven points.

I also would trust Bates more in this contest, even though Detroit isn’t as likely to give him field goal tries. I think the Niners are going to push the Lions in this contest, but I do have the Lions prevailing, so Bates will likely make a kick or two more, and be a better fantasy asset as a result.

Defenses/Special Teams

The Niners’ defense allows 304.3 yards and 23.3 points per contest. The Lions give up 338.9 yards but just 19.9 points.

Detroit has 22 takeaways and 13 giveaways this season. San Fran has 17 takeaways and 22 giveaways.

The Lions’ D/ST is projected for six points, while the Niners are at five. I’m not a huge fan of either D/ST in this contest, as I see a lot of points being scored. I do prefer the Lions’ D/ST slightly more.

Offensive Overall Rankings (OP or Flex Spots)

1. Jahmyr Gibbs

2. Jared Goff

3. Brock Purdy

4. Amon-Ra St. Brown

5. George Kittle

6. Jameson Williams

7. Sam LaPorta

8. Deebo Samuel Sr.

9. Jauan Jennings

10. Isaac Guerendo

11. Tim Patrick

12. Ricky Pearsall

13. Craig Reynolds

14. Patrick Taylor