Fantasy Football: Conference Championship Rankings

Not a terrible debut, eh? In last week’s Divisional Round fantasy rankings, I nailed Dez Bryant’s big week and had Dion Lewis listed as the RB sleeper of the week. To ground myself, I did miss on guys like Julian Edelman and Ty Montgomery. Considering you have returned, though, I’ll count it as a win.

The field has been cut in half this weekend, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the decisions will be any easier. This should help…

Quarterbacks

Tier One

1. Aaron Rodgers, Packers (@ ATL)
2. Matt Ryan, Falcons (vs. GB)

Tier Two

3. Tom Brady, Patriots (vs. PIT)
4. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers (@ NE)

I give Rodgers the slight nod in the shootout-to-be in Atlanta. The Falcons surrendered 19.08 PPG to QBs during the regular season (second-most), and I’m not buying into the “improved defense” we saw when Seattle came to town last week. The Seahawks have struggled on the road all year. Rodgers and the Packer offense do not suffer from the same issue. If Davante Adams isn’t able to suit-up, though, flip the top two names.

The Steelers only allowed 14.62 PPG to QBs in 2016, and they have yet to sacrifice ten points to a QB in the postseason. Obviously, Brady is far superior to Matt Moore and Alex Smith, but he will be slowed.

Running Backs

Tier One

1. Le’Veon Bell, Steelers (@ NE)
2. Ty Montgomery, Packers (@ ATL)
3. Devonta Freeman, Falcons (vs. GB)

Tier Two

4. Dion Lewis, Patriots (vs. PIT)
5. Tevin Coleman, Falcons (vs. GB)
6. LeGarrette Blount, Patriots (vs. PIT)

Although the Patriots only surrendered 14.46 PPG to RBs this season (fewest), Le’Veon Bell is on too much of a tear to be brought to a halt. The presence of two other running backs in his tier tells you he will be slowed a bit. Montgomery comes in before either Atlanta running back strictly due to matchup. Atlanta allows 20.54 PPG to RBs (eighth-most), whereas Green Bay only gives up 16.39 (12th-fewest).

Don’t expect Dion Lewis to have another three-touchdown performance; Ryan Shazier and Lawrence Timmons possess a lot more speed than the Texans linebackers. Lewis will still be a big part of the offense, though.

Wide Receivers

Tier One

1. Julio Jones, Falcons (vs. GB)
2. Julian Edelman, Patriots (vs. PIT)

Tier Two

3. Antonio Brown, Steelers (@ NE)
4. Randall Cobb, Packers (@ ATL)
5. Davante Adams, Packers (@ ATL)
6. Taylor Gabriel, Falcons (vs. GB)

Tier Three

7. Mohamed Sanu, Falcons (vs. GB)
8. Chris Hogan, Patriots (vs. PIT)
9. Geronimo Allison, Packers (@ ATL)
10. Eli Rogers, Steelers (@ NE)

Do you remember what Dez Bryant did to Ladarius Gunter in the Divisional Round? If Gunter’s left on his own against Julio this week, it’ll be very similar. Even if Green Bay. which has given up the most PPG to WRs this season (28.94), does the smart thing and gives Gunter a lot of help, Julio will still get his.

Since Rob Gronkowski went down, Julian Edelman has been Mr. Reliable for the Patriots’ passing game. With no one to steal any of his targets and no Steelers corner that can cover him in the slot, I expect Edelman to have another big week.

Antonio Brown is going to draw a lot of attention from the New England secondary, which only gives up 20.68 PPG to WRs (eighth-fewest). Bill Belichick will make someone else step-up. Eli Rogers’ ranking should tell you how much I like Pittsburgh’s chances. If Davante Adams were fully healthy, he would find himself higher on this list. Thanks to his ankle injury, the best day for a Packer pass-catcher won’t belong to a wide receiver.

Tight Ends

Tier One

1. Jared Cook, Packers (@ ATL)

Tier Two

2. Jesse James, Steelers (@ NE)
3. Levine Toilolo, Falcons (vs. GB)
4. Martellus Bennett, Patriots (vs. PIT)

Jared Cook has seen an average of ten targets per game in the playoffs, and has become a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses. The tight end has a plus-matchup this week against an Atlanta defense that allows 9.34 PPG to TEs (sixth-most).

Jesse James has the worst matchup of the Conference Championships, as New England only surrenders 5.68 PPG to TEs (sixth-fewest), but he will be Big Ben’s safety blanket on Sunday.

Photo Credit: Thomson20192 (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/].