Welcome to the fantasy playoffs! This is the league’s first year with keepers. We saw half of the league sell their elite talent in exchange for future high value picks, creating quite an arms race among the top seeds. In this landscape, you either buy to contend, or sell for the next season.
Now, onto this year’s contenders. This preview will cover the following for each playoff team:
Tweet Recap
A tweet-sized summary of the teamRoster Feature
Breakdown of player situations that could either bolster or threaten the team’s chance at the throneChampionship Odds
Odds of sitting on the fantasy championship throne
Playoff Bracket
Playoff Preview
1 Kong (Lucky Ducky)
Record: 12–1
1st Round Matchup: BYE
Tweet Recap: Flames
Like Dany, Kong wasn’t accepting surrender, instead opting to give into his madness and scorch the league for chance at a repeat championship. The 2015 champion’s 12–1 season record stands as the best record in history.
Featuring: Kong’s WR Dragons
- Since Ben’s return, A. Brown (Elite WR1) has averaged 22 points per game, while scoring 4 TD’s in the past six weeks. Brown has topped 75 yards or scored a TD in all but two games.
- M. Evans (High-End WR1) has grown into a high-end starter, as one of the league’s most-targeted receivers. Winston has been looking his direction since Vincent Jackson has gotten injured, and Evans has turned those targets into 3 multi-TD games in the past seven weeks.
- T. Hilton (Solid WR1) bust rate is low. He has only scored under 13 points in 4 games the whole season.
Championship Odds: 40%
2 Josh (Leegion of Boom)
Record: 9–4
1st Round Matchup: BYE
Tweet Recap: Resurrection
Once sitting at 4–4 with questionable playoff hopes, Josh ripped off 5 straight wins with angry momentum heading into the playoffs, and with first round bye!
Featuring: Dragonglass Endurance?
- J. Jones (Elite WR1) was diagnosed with turf toe after week 13’s game. Coming off a hot streak, Josh is happy to have a bye for Julio’s toe to hopefully be in a better place. Before the turf toe injury, Julio had posted 20+ point games in 4 of the last 7 weeks. If Julio can’t suit up for Week 15, Josh would have to start Redskins P. Garcon (WR3/4) who is averaging 12 ppg.
- S. Diggs (High-End WR2) has become a legitimate starter, after beginning the season as a WR3. Much of this rise in ranking is due to Diggs double-digit target potential. In weeks 8–9, Diggs saw 12+ targets per week. However, he too has been battling his own injuries (knee).
- Josh’s running backs, L. Murray (Solid RB2) and ageless D. Sproles (FLEX), are both adept as receivers and sneaky sources of points. Combined, they average 12.08 receiving ppg. And since his return from injury, Latavius has averaged a solid 19 ppg to squash any concerns about where his health stands.
Championship Odds: 25%
3 Danny (DEZert Eagle)
Record: 9–4
1st Round Matchup: Gordon
Tweet Recap: Danny loaded up on wildfire by trading several picks for playoff explosives: DeMarco Murray, Lamar Miller, Doug Baldwin, and Michael Crabtree.
Featuring: RB1 Firepower
- E. Elliott’s (Elite RB1) rookie season has been a huge success. We’ve seen him score breakaway touchdowns, jump into Salvation Army kettles, and turn into a bonafide RB1. Zeke has dual ability to score touchdowns. In week 10’s victory over the Steelers, Zeke scored an 83 yard receiving TD and a 32 yard rushing TD to put an end to OT.
- D. Murray (Solid RB1) is the unquestioned three-down back on the Titans. Murray has six straight games scoring a TD, while also catching 5+ receptions in that same span. Derrick Henry is not a threat.
- L. Miller (RB1/2) rounds out Danny’s RB magazine. While Miller has been fed carries often by the Texans, it hasn’t always resulted in high ceiling output. Lamar has surpassed 20 points only once this season, while posting single digit games in four weeks this season. If Texans can get closer to the goal-line, the volume of carries could easily get Lamar over the RB2 hump.
Championship Odds: 35%
4 Paul Chung (Hyde Yo Kids)
Record: 8–5
1st Round Matchup: Theo
Tweet Recap: David Johnson is the best fantasy RB , who has been giving some members of his squad time to find steady footing, specifically Jay Ajayi and Demaryius Thomas.
Featuring: Questionable Workloads
- It initially looked like M. Bennett (Fringe TE1) was going to become a solid starter with Gronk out (back), but Martellus’ recent outings without Gronk have not inspired confidence (4 ppg). Paul needs Martellus to regain form as the elite TE1 he once was, in order to push past Theo’s upgraded squad.
- T. Gurley (Low-upside RB2) is really struggling, and Jeff Fisher’s predictable offense is to blame. Defenses are stacking the box on 25% of Gurley’s rushes, resulting in zero 100+ yard rushing games. If Fisher can be more varied with Gurley’s usage through the receiving game (seven games with 3+ receptions), Gurley could have a path to higher ceiling games.
- One guy who doesn’t have workload issues is David Johnson (Elite RB1). He is not your traditional running back. The satellite back deluxe has been posting better receiving stat lines than most WR this year.
Championship Odds: 15%
5 Theo (Beer Bear)
Record: 8–5
1st Round Matchup: Paul Chung
Tweet Recap: Theo struck a trade deadline deal with Caleb for D. Bryant and M. Ingram, in hopes of getting in the championship mix. Now armed with reinforcements, can Theo get past the first round against Paul Chung?
Featuring: Are Iron Bank Additions Enough?
- Theo’s loan from the Iron Bank is paying off nicely. Since the acquisition of D. Bryant (WR1), Dez has averaged 5 receptions, 88 yards, 1 TD (20 ppg). Dak has found a rapport with Dez in the red zone.
- The other half of Theo’s loan, M. Ingram (Mid-RB2), has uninspiring ROI. Ingram has been sharing the backfield with Tim Hightower, so Ingram needs receptions in order to secure a safe floor (<3 receptions per game) without a high ceiling.
- E. Sanders (WR2/3) and M. Wallace (WR2/3) have been up-and-, primarily due to subpar QB play out of T. Siemian, J. Flacco. Thankfully, San Diego favorite M. Gordon (RB1) has become a three-down RB1. In the last 6 weeks, Melvin has been averaging 4.5 receptions, 100 rushing yards.
Championship Odds: 25%
5 Gordon (Duke’s Johnson)
Record: 7–6
1st Round Matchup: Danny
Tweet Recap: Gordon’s squad is Team Volatile. Who can Gordon rely on week to week? And A. Green’s recent hamstring tear puts Gordon in a tough position after the trade deadline.
Fearturing: Boom or Bust
- Gordon’s wide receivers are all capable of posting blow up games, but their weekly floors are dangerously low due to shaky QB situations. Hopkins (Mid-WR3) has a dink and dunker QB in Brock Osweiler, while Blake Bortles is only useful to A-Rob (Low-floor WR3) in garbage time. Neither player has had strings of double digit games.
- L. Blount (RB2) is fantasy’s most productive goal-line back, mainly due to the prolific Patriots offense. Blount has 13 TD’s this season, and he has only failed to score a TD in only three games this season. He could be more volatile, given his limited role.
- To closeout the season, Pryor (Mid WR2) has caught at least 5 receptions in the past 6 games. With A. Green (WR1) going down with hamstring injury, Gordon’s team could really use his consistency to replace Green.
Championship Odds: 10%
