For those of you that are trying to cram in every morsel of fantasy football that the 2018 season must offer, playoff pools and DFS for postseason games are kicking off to fulfill our final fantasy needs. I’m going to take some space each week to rank the positions from the remaining teams as a guide to maximizing those final efforts.
The NFL is already an inherently volatile game weekly when we have 16 matchups to dissect, so when we cut the weekly player pool down to eight teams in four games, we’re inviting variance to run amuck. Is this the week David Moore reemerges and catches multiple touchdowns? Nyheim Hines tacks on several receptions? The Eagles remember they traded for Golden Tate? A Ravens wide receiver is useful? A lot can happen to swing these short slates. Because of that, I wouldn’t focus too much on the arbitrary player ranking as opposed to the analysis, but hey, we have to put these guys in some order.
In DFS games, we can swerve into that variance to a degree by maximizing player exposure to cover as many angles as clairvoyantly possible. I typically avoid cash games for the NFL Playoffs, but want to run out as many different tournament lineups as possible in multi-entry fields over trying to hit a bullseye in single entry contests. If you’re someone doing a playoff pool, that is much tougher to do. My best advice in those pools is to try and maximize player games as much as possible as suggested in our overall playoff rankings.
[[ad:athena]]
Quarterbacks
1. Andrew Luck (@ HOU): This is a fun slate for quarterback options, with lots of mobile passers available. The best of this group is still Luck, however. Luck racked Houston twice this season, throwing for 464 yards and four touchdowns (35.7 fantasy points) in their Week 4 meeting in Indianapolis and then threw for 399 yards and two touchdowns (23.6 points) when these teams just met in Houston in Week 14. Houston is legit against the run but has struggled to defend the pass. Prior to shutting down Blake Bortles in Week 17, Houston had allowed opposing passers to average 364.6 passing yards per game over their previous five games.
2. Deshaun Watson (vs IND): This is the game we’re highlighting for shootout potential as it has the highest game total (47.5 points) on the slate. As Houston’s pass defense has limped to the finish line, Watson has had a volume spike. Over the final five weeks of the season, Watson averaged 34.4 pass attempts per game after having a six-game streak with 25 or fewer pass attempts prior. That’s turned into more passing yardage, with Watson averaging 271.6 passing yards per game over that stretch. Surprisingly, Watson has thrown more than two touchdown passes just once all season, but he’s also gotten back to using his legs a lot, averaging 46 rushing yards per game over his past six games four rushing scores. Watson posted 31.1 and 18.2 fantasy points in the two meetings these teams had during the regular season.
3. Mitchell Trubisky (vs PHI): Quarterbacks 3-6 are very tight in terms of baseline projections, but I believe Trubisky has the highest upside. Trubisky hasn’t played great since returning from his shoulder injury in Week 14, passing for 188.5 yards per game with just four touchdown passes, Trubisky has been his best in Chicago. At home, Trubisky has thrown 19 of his 24 touchdown passes while also rushing for 38.6 yards per game as opposed to just five passing scores and 18.7 rushing yards per game on the road. The Eagles have really struggled versus mobile passers, allowing big games to Cam Newton (25.7 points), Marcus Mariota (30.4 points), Blake Bortles (19.7 points) and Deshaun Watson (36.5 points). Trubisky has overall QB1 upside on this slate, but also a bit more variance from his ceiling to floor performance than the top two options.
4. Lamar Jackson (vs LAC): Jackson has been rock solid as a starting fantasy option, averaging 18.6 fantasy points per game over his seven starts with a low point of just 15.7 points. That includes the 16.1 fantasy points that Jackson scored in Week 16 against this Chargers team on the road. Last week was the first time that we had a true glimpse of his ceiling as he notched 26.2 points and nearly had two more rushing touchdowns in that game as he failed to extend the ball over the goal line on a fumble and then had a 38-yard touchdown run get called back to a questionable penalty. While Jackson has a solid floor here, there are few things at play. For one, the Chargers will be the first team that the Ravens play for a second time with Jackson under center, allowing them to adjust to the unique run game that Baltimore has deployed as they’ve transitioned to Jackson. Second, the Chargers did a pretty good job in their first meeting limiting Jackson on the ground in the first place, allowing him to run for just 39 yards while he’s run for at least 67 yards in all of his other six starts. Jackson’s median output has been so sturdy so far through seven starts, that he’s ranked here for floor purposes.
5. Dak Prescott (vs SEA): Prescott is another quarterback with extreme home splits this season. At home, Prescott threw 14 of his 22 touchdown passes with averaging 8.0 yards per pass attempt as opposed to 6.8 Y/A on the road. Prescott carries rushing upside, but he hasn’t been using his legs much at all, posting single-digit rushing yardage in six of his past eight games. Seattle is not a defense that causes concern for a solid game as they allowed 17 or more fantasy points to seven of the final 10 passers they faced during the regular season. But a potential hang up is game pace as Seattle opponents average just 59.7 offensive plays per game (which ranks 30th in the league) and Prescott has struggled in two career games against this defensive scheme. In two career meetings against Seattle, Prescott has thrown just one touchdown to four interceptions with 181 and 168 yards passing in each of those contests.
6. Russell Wilson (@ DAL): Only Patrick Mahomes averaged more fantasy passing points per attempt (.655) than Wilson (.618) this season. The issue with Wilson from a fantasy ceiling stance is that overall volume. However, forcing him to always remain hyper-efficient to produce large lines. Wilson has completed 18 or fewer passes in four of his past five games. The Cowboys have not allowed opposing passers to live on touchdown production this season, allowing more than two touchdown passes in a game just once all season long. As hinted at with Prescott, this Seattle versus Dallas game also has potential to be extremely slow paced given how both teams play. These teams met all the way back in Week 3 and Wilson went 16-of-26 for 192 yards and two touchdowns with 15.6 fantasy points.
7. Philip Rivers (@ BAL): After rolling through the league for three months, Rivers hit a lull to end the season. In five December starts, Rivers threw six touchdowns to six interceptions while averaging just 7.3 yards per pass attempt. Over that span, he averaged just 237.8 passing yards per game. That includes a 181-yard performance in Week 16 against this Ravens Defense at home, which was the only game all season in which he failed to throw a touchdown pass. The Ravens allowed just 13.7 passing points per game (fifth) during the regular season, making this an uphill battle for Rivers to begin with, let alone post a large point total. The Ravens also just neutralize play volume with Jackson under center, running 98 more plays than their opponents over Jackson’s seven starts, the largest differential in the league.
8. Nick Foles (@ CHI): The Bears allowed just four opposing quarterbacks to have 16-plus fantasy points in a game this season while just three hit the 20-point mark. Chicago closed the regular season allowing just 12.5 passing points per game (fourth) while leading the entire league in passing points allowed per pass attempt (.306). Sometimes a contrarian play will break through on a short slate, but there’s not much to go objectively here to push the button on Foles.
Running Backs
1. Ezekiel Elliott (vs SEA): Zeke at the top is a no-brainer as he’s clearly a few rungs higher than every other back available on this slate. Elliott led the NFL with 25.4 touches per game during the regular season and his fantasy production really took off when Dallas started incorporating him into the passing game. From Weeks 9-16, Elliott caught 52 passes and was targeted 59 times, trailing only Christian McCaffrey in each category. Over that span, Elliott had 39 more offensive touches than any other running back and paced the position in yards from scrimmage. Seattle allowed 150.2 yards from scrimmage per game to opposing backfields over their final 10 games of the season.
2. Chris Carson (@ DAL): After Elliott, there’s a case to be made for the next six players listed here to be right behind him. Out of those options, Carson is playing the best right now, so I’m giving him the edge for binary ranking purposes. Carson closed the season on a tear. Carson received at least 20 touches in each of the final four games of the season and posted at least 90-yards from scrimmage in each of the final five games with four 100-plus yard games. The only blemish on Carson here is being attached to a road dog against a Dallas defense that allowed just 70.4 rushing yards per game at home this season, which ranked second in the entire league. That said, matchups have not forced Seattle to abandon a game plan they’ve incorporated all season. Seattle was the most run-heavy offense wire-to-wire this season. It’s unlikely that the Seahawks will be forced to come out their game plan regardless of game script, leading the league in rushing rate in neutral run rate while ranking second in rate of runs called while trailing.
3. Melvin Gordon (@ BAL): Gordon rivals Elliott in terms of talent and ceiling potential on this slate but comes with a few question marks. Since returning from a three-game absence due to a knee injury, Gordon just wasn’t himself the final two games of the regular season, totaling just 120 yards from scrimmage on 28 touches. His snap rates (67 and 54 percent) were also way down from his seasonal usage prior to injury and on top of all of that, he picked up a late-game ankle injury against the Broncos to close the season. Baltimore allowed the fewest yards from scrimmage per game (93.0 yards) to opposing backfields, including allowing 100 total yards on 23 touches to Chargers’ running backs two weeks ago on the road. Gordon is a tricky play this week, because we know where his potential lies, but his current floor is far lower than where he’s priced in daily formats.
4. Tarik Cohen (vs PHI): Cohen’s usage sagged a bit over the final few weeks of the season as the Bears controlled game scripts and his yardage output waned as the season wore on. Cohen posted 60 or more yards from scrimmage in just two of his final nine games on the season with 103 yards combined over his past three games. Still, Cohen is in contention to have the highest receiving upside on this slate of backs and the Eagles were vulnerable to pass-catching options out of the backfield. Opposing backs caught 6.9 passes per game against Philadelphia (30th) while they allowed 13.7 PPR points per game to backs (27th). Even if game script limits Cohen, he should be a strong part of the offensive success.
5. Jordan Howard (vs PHI): The Bears leaned on Howard more over the final month of the season, with Howard averaging 19.3 touches per game over the final four weeks with at least 20 touches in three of those games. Over that span, Howard out-touched Cohen 77-37 and found the end zone four times. The Eagles run defense had a lull in third quarter of the season where they were gashed on the ground but have picked things back up recently. Over their past three games, the Eagles have held opposing backs to 82 rushing yards on 35 attempts. Howard way come with some warts in terms of lack of receiving and hallow-yardage potential, but he’s still attached to the largest home favorite of the weekend and has significant touch potential.
6. Lamar Miller (vs IND): kind of like Howard, nobody really likes to play Miller in lineups for fantasy because even when he’s good, he still comes off as underwhelming because he also has no real involvement in the pass game. Over his past six games, Miller caught 10 passes for 48 yards. But like Howard, Miller’s overall opportunity can’t fully be ignored. Miller has at least 19 touches in each of his past four full games played with a rushing score in three of his past six games. Miller did struggle against the Colts this season, posting 49 yards on 14 touches in their Week 4 meeting and then 52 yards on 19 touches when these teams played in Houston in Week 14, but managed to find the end zone in that second game.
7. Marlon Mack (@ HOU): Mack has been a tricky back to nail in projections as he’s been so volatile. He has 35 or fewer rushing yards in three of his past five games, but also has two games with 139 and 119 yards on the ground. Despite the up-and-down yardage, he has found the end zone in four straight games. He’s also rooted out any form of committee at all. Mack has handled 83-of-112 (74.1 percent) of the Colts’ backfield touches over the final four games. It’s not a great spot on the road as Houston allowed the fewest yards per carry to opposing backfields (3.13 YPC) and 62.5 rushing yards per game (second) while the Colts had zero rushing success against the Texans in either meeting this season, totaling 64 yards rushing on 31 carries from their backs. Mack is perhaps the most boom-or-bust option of the top-end starters, but his ceiling potential is still prevalent for the amount of touches he receives.
8.-9. Kenneth Dixon/Gus Edwards (vs LAC): Lumping in both Ravens backs together here as Week 17 finally saw Dixon and Edwards have an even 50/50 split of rushing attempts between the two. That could have been a hot hand situation as Dixon rushed for a career-high 117 yards, something we need to be cautious on happening again at any point with these two backs. The hang up with both of these guys outside of the timeshare is that Lamar Jackson himself is hogging all the rushing touchdowns. The Ravens backfield is stacking yardage (149.7 rushing yards per game) in Jackson’s starts, but they’ve combined for just four rushing scores, with just two of those coming over the past six games. I’d give Dixon a slight edge over Edwards because he may actually catch a pass or two, but this is almost a dead-even heat.
10. Nyheim Hines (@ HOU): Hines isn’t wildly exciting, but if the Colts struggle to run the football like they did each meeting with the Texans, he could be used more than expected. 57.3 percent of the PPR output allowed by the Texans to opposing backfields stemmed from the passing game, trailing only the Saints (57.9 percent). From a raw total perspective, Houston allowed 12.4 fantasy points per game to backs, which ranked 25th. Hines has at least five targets in each of his past five games and gave the Texans problems in the first matchup of the season, catching 9-of-11 targets for 63 yards and two touchdowns. He is a cheap way into the Texans-Colts matchup, he just hasn’t had a lot of work of late, with six or fewer touches in three of the past four games.
11. Darren Sproles (@ CHI): The Eagles backfield is back to being a full-fledge committee, but when looking at potential game script and the matchup overall, Sproles stands to be in the best position for fantasy output. First, the Bears run defense is sensational. They allowed a league-low 67.1 rushing yards per game at home this season and allowed just four rushing touchdowns altogether to opposing backs, the fewest in the league. The Eagles have outright controlled two of their past three games, but in the one game (vs Houston) that was more competitive and had them trailing, Sproles played 38 snaps while Josh Adams and Wendell Smallwood combined for 41.
Final Tier: Josh Adams, Wendell Smallwood, Austin Ekeler, Mike Davis, Jordan Wilkins, Justin Jackson, Rod Smith, Ty Montgomery
These are your deeper cuts to make at the position. As mentioned, it’s hard to envision the Eagles running the ball well at all, but Smallwood has out-played Adams down the stretch and out-touched him last week. Smallwood also offers more passing-game usage… Pending whether or not Melvin Gordon continues to be limited, Ekeler could offer receiving upside as a dart throw. Justin Jackson caught 7-of-10 targets when these teams played two weeks ago with Ekeler inactive.
Wide Receivers
1. DeAndre Hopkins (vs IND): With the Houston passing volume rising as their defense has been more giving, Hopkins was back to being a target monster to close the season. Hopkins averaged 12.2 targets per game the final five weeks of the season -with double-digit opportunities in each of those weeks- after averaging just 7.5 targets per game Weeks 6-12. Because the Colts play so much zone defense, they allow more receptions to tight ends and running backs that wideouts. Wide receivers have accounted for a league-low 44.2 percent of the receptions surrendered by Indianapolis. That still isn’t enough to push off Hopkins, though since he is the guy Houston is trying to get the football to the most. In the two meetings between these teams this season, Hopkins received 12 targets (10-169-1) and 10 targets (4-36-1).
2. T.Y. Hilton (@ HOU): Playing through a plethora of ailments, Hilton led the NFL in receiving yardage (917 yards) from when the Colts returned from bye in Week 10 through Week 17. Hilton has also been a boogeyman for the Texans, averaging 103.2 receiving yards per game in 14 career games versus Houston with nine touchdowns. That includes games of 4-115 and 9-199 this season.
3. Keenan Allen (@ BAL): Allen has cooled off a bit after suffering a hip-pointer in Week 15, posting lines of 5-58 and 4-64 to close the season. Still, like Cooper, the target volume is still present despite his overall totals being lowered. In those two games, Allen has still accounted for 33.3 percent and 29.2 percent of the Chargers targets in the passing game. Baltimore ranks fourth in the league in points allowed to opposing WR1 options, but Allen’s passing game opportunity and ability to move around the formation are still relevant as we saw a week ago when Jarvis Landry was able to make multiple big plays against this Ravens secondary.
4. Amari Cooper (vs SEA): Cooper has trailed off the final three weeks of the season, catching just 13 passes for a measly 83 yards to close the year. Still, he’s already shown WR1 overall upside in a given week since joining the Cowboys and his target volume is still present, receiving 22.7 percent of the targets over his nine games with the Cowboys. Seattle went through a midseason stretch where they were just getting shredded by boundary wideouts, but have been better of late, holding Tyreek Hill (4-74) and Stefon Diggs (4-76) to modest games to close the season, but are still far more exploitable on the outside, where they rank 21st in
5. Allen Robinson (vs PHI): Robinson missed Week 17 with a rib injury, but the Bears are optimistic that he’ll be back this Sunday and Robinson has already been practicing in full mid-week. He has a beatable matchup against an Eagles secondary we’ve targeted all season. No team allowed more receptions, faced more targets or allowed more fantasy points per game to opposing lead receivers than the Eagles this season. Robinson’s season was a disappointment, but his passing game opportunity was solid to close the year, averaging 23.5 percent of the team targets per game over his final seven games played with over 25 percent of the targets over his past three games played.
6. Alshon Jeffery (@ CHI): The top-four wideouts here are the players that we can safely anticipate pushing for double-digit targets, but now we’re in the lower-volume, chasing touchdowns area of the field. Jeffery has been a mixed bag, but he closed the season strong. Over the final four weeks. Jeffery averaged 5.5 receptions for 87.8 yards with two touchdowns. That said, he’s had five or fewer targets in five of his past seven games, receiving 17.3 percent of the team targets over that span. Outside of Hopkins, Jeffery does have the highest touchdown ceiling of the field, even against his former team.
7. Doug Baldwin (@ DAL): Baldwin has been back to being the favorite target in the passing game, even though his overall target opportunities remain low because Seattle just doesn’t throw the ball a lot. Over the final seven games of the year, Baldwin averaged 28.3 percent of the team targets per week with a low week of 19.2 percent. In terms of raw volume, Baldwin received 49 targets over that stretch compared to 33 for Tyler Lockett and 31 for David Moore. Dallas was a not a giving a team to opposing wideouts this season, but Baldwin is the best bet in Seattle to lead the team in opportunity.
8. Tyler Lockett (@ DAL): While Baldwin may be the best bet for targets in Seattle, Lockett is the best bet to catch a touchdown pass. Lockett caught a touchdown pass in 10 different games this season, bested by only Antonio Brown (12) and Davante Adams (11) among wide receivers. The downside is that he hasn’t had any game with more than five receptions on the season and has four or fewer catches in 10-of-16 games this season. Over the final five weeks. Lockett has managed just 14 total receptions.
9. Taylor Gabriel (vs PHI): Gabriel injured his shoulder in Week 17, but the Bears are also hopeful that he will be able to play this weekend. Like Robinson, Gabriel already practiced in full on Wednesday, which is a great sign that the Bears are being truthful. Gabriel hasn’t found the end zone in a game since Week 4 and hasn’t gone over 61-yards receiving in a game since Week 5. The Eagles secondary has been vulnerable all season and Trubisky has held Gabriel in high regard as a target, however. Robinson led the team with 81 targets from Trubisky this season, but Gabriel was right behind him with 78.
10. Mike Williams (@ BAL): As is the case with Lockett, Williams is someone that is contingent on catching a touchdown pass. 33.3 percent of Williams’ PPR fantasy output this season came directly from touchdown receptions, the highest rate for any wideout in the top-50 overall scorers at the position. Being a touchdown dependent wideout against the Ravens is a potential issue as they allowed just 12 touchdowns to opposing receivers on the season, which was tied for third in the league. The return of Hunter Henry as a situational player may also cloud Williams’ red zone involvement. When these teams played two weeks ago, Williams was held to seven yards on one catch off three targets.
11. Nelson Agholor (@ CHI): Agholor has found a pulse the final two weeks of the season, with lines of 5-116-1 and 5-40-2 to close the season after scoring just one touchdown through 14 games played. It could come down to who plays quarterback for the Eagles on Sunday as Nick Foles has targeted Agholor on 18.6 percent of his passes while Carson Wentz 15.2 percent. Agholor has upside, but it’s also very possible we just saw his two best games of the season.
12. Dontrelle Inman (@ HOU): Inman is coming off his best game of the season (5-77-1) and also has a touchdown in each of his past two games to close the season. Outside of Hilton, Inman was second for all Indianapolis wideouts in targets (32) since they returned from bye in Week 10 and that was with him missing a game due to injury (versus Houston) over that span. He’s not a sexy target by any means, but Inman is the next player after Hilton and Ebron in a game we like Andrew Luck to post big numbers.
12. Keke Coutee (vs IND): Internally I like Coutee more than his ranking, but he hasn’t played in a game since Week 12 and has dealt with hamstring issues for the entire season. Still, we can expect the Colts pay a lot of attention to DeAndre Hopkins, which will open up opportunities for the tight ends and slot receiver here like we saw in both matchups between these teams. In the first matchup playing in his firs game of the season off a preseason hamstring injury, Coutee had a 11-109 receiving game on 15 targets while in the second matchup without him active, the Houston tight ends caught 11-of-11 targets of 151 yards. He’s a very cheap way into this game and unique pivot should Hopkins let down in some capacity.
14. Michael Gallup (vs SEA): Gallup led the Cowboys in yards per receptions (15.4 yards) and average depth of target (13.9 yards) on the season. He hit 50-yards receiving in three of his final five games of his rookie season on 5.3 targets per game over that span. The downside is that overall volume is always a potential issue and Gallup scored just two touchdowns all season.
Final Tier: Cole Beasley, Tyrell Williams, Keke Coutee, Golden Tate, Chester Rogers, Michael Crabtree, Willie Snead, John Brown, Anthony Miller, David Moore, Travis Benjamin, Vyncint Smith
The final bucket of receiving options have more bust than boom compared to options that got full individual layouts. Only the Chargers allowed fewer points to opposing slot receivers than the Seahawks, so cashing in Beasley’s big Week 17 game should be fleeting… That of course also hurts Snead, who has been Lamar Jackson’s favorite target among the Ravens’ wideouts. Snead went without a catch against the Chargers in Week 15… Jackson has completed 14-of-25 passes for 147 yards to Crabtree and 9-of-29 passes for 119 yards to Brown this season. We’re solely hoping for some magic there… Miller led the Bears with seven touchdowns on the season, but also has just nine catches total over his past seven game… Moore has four catches for 32 yards over the past five weeks…. Smith should be the primary number two boundary wideout for the Texans with Coutee returning to the lineup, forcing DeAndre Carter is just a slot receiver at 5’8”, 190 pounds.
Tight Ends
1. Zach Ertz (@ CHI): Tight End was a rough fantasy position during the regular season when we had 32 teams per week to choose from, so shrinking the field down to eight teams leaves an ugly pile of options. That said, we do have the TE2 for the season available. Ertz led all tight ends in target market share (26 percent) and receptions per game (7.3) during the regular season. The Bears ranked 11th in points allowed to opposing tight ends and are not a great defense to target for overall passing production, but the way Ertz is used compared to the field still leaves him as the top option.
2. Eric Ebron (@ HOU): No tight end has more touchdowns than the 14 Ebron scored this season, so bypassing Ertz isn’t that detrimental for scoring upside. Ebron also has a very strong individual matchup in the slate’s projected highest scoring game. Houston ranked 31st this season against opposing tight ends for fantasy purposes, ranking 30th in receptions (5.8) and 29th in yards (66.3) surrendered per game while allowing nine touchdowns to the position (T-30th). In the two meetings that Ebron faced Houston -both without Jack Doyle- he had games of 5-40-1 on 10 targets and 4-65-1 on eight targets.
3. Trey Burton (vs PHI): After the top two tight ends, it falls way off. If this were tier-based, we may actually just leave the next two tiers after Ertz and Ebron blank to emphasize that. By default, Burton finds himself next in line against his former team. Burton actually has seen his usage climb as well. Since Mitchell Trubisky returned in Week 14, Burton has averaged 5.8 targets per game and received 20.4 percent of the team target opportunity in those games. The downside for Burton is that he has shown a very low yardage ceiling, posting 40 or fewer receiving yards in 10 straight games.
4. Ryan Griffin (vs IND): If there’s a guy to punt with on this slate, I believe it’s Griffin. Of course, he doesn’t have a touchdown all season long, so take that for what it’s worth. However, Griffin is the Houston tight end playing the most. Since returning to the lineup in Week 9, Griffin has led the tight end group in routes in all eight games, running 191 pass routes compared to 92 for Jordan Akins and 83 for Jordan Thomas over that span. Griffin’s best game of the season (5-80) came against the Colts in Week 14, while opposing teams have targeted their tight ends 24.5 percent of the time this season against the Colts, the second-highest rate in the league. The return of Coutee does throw some shade here, however. In the first meeting between these teams with Coutee active, Houston tight ends caught 3-of-4 targets for 36 yards as Coutee vacuumed up all the intermediate targets.
5. Blake Jarwin (vs SEA): Although his three touchdown game to close the season was surely an outlier in the range of outcomes for Jarwin per week, he does have at least seven targets in three of his past four games, catching 20-of-25 total targets over that span. Seattle was fifth in the league in receptions per game allowed (3.7), however, and have had a good run on limiting good tight ends. Over the course of the season Seattle held George Kittle to lines of 3-51-0 and 6-70, while also having success against Travis Kelce (5-54-0), Greg Olsen (2-11-0), Jimmy Graham (1-13-0), and Jared Cook (2-10-0).
6. Mark Andrews (vs LAC): Andrews is likely to be the most popular tight end for those that are going outside of Ertz and Ebron. Especially since his 68-yard catch and run touchdown against the Chargers two weeks ago is still freshly planted in minds. Andrews has been Lamar Jackson’s best target, leading the team in receiving in three of those seven games. But Andrews comes along with low volume, lower than those listed ahead of him here. His four catches last week matched a season high as he’s had more than two catches in just two of those seven starts made by Jackson.
Final Tier: Dallas Goedert, Antonio Gates, Hunter Henry, Nick Vannett, Ed Dickson, Jordan Thomas, Jordan Akins, Mo Alie-Cox
If you want to keep digging in at the position, things don’t get much better. Hunter Henry is expected to play this weekend after tearing his ACL in May, but it is likely he just a situational player. The best you can do is chase a touchdown here from a Chargers team that had zero touchdown passes when they played the Ravens two weeks ago…Goedert is averaging 16.8 routes per game over the final four weeks but has just one touchdown over his past eight games. There’s an in for him to be the sleeper play on this slate if the Bears concentrate all efforts into stopping Ertz, but Ertz is more of a traditional chain-mover that gets immense volume … Ed Dickson has a slight overall route edge on Nick Vannett of the Seattle tight ends, but they are close to a 50/50 split in usage in the passing game. The same can be said for the Houston backups as mentioned above with Griffin, with Akins having the edge over Thomas.
Kickers
1. Justin Tucker
3. Ka’imi Fairbairn
4. Cody Parkey
5. Michael Badgley
7. Brett Maher
8. Jake Elliott
DST
1. Bears
2. Ravens
3. Chargers
4. Texans
5. Cowboys
6. Colts
7. Seahawks
8. Eagles
