Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

The fantasy playoffs are finally upon us! The weak managers have all been eliminated, bye weeks are over and you just need to survive three more weeks of matchups to take home a championship. Hopefully, this advice will aid you in getting one week closer to glory. Good Luck!

Note: all waiver picks listed here will have only been owned in 50% or less of Yahoo! leagues at the time of publication.

Quarterback

Joe Flacco (BAL) - 23% owned - Most likely no one needs to be running to the wire for a quarterback when there are no bye-weeks, but if you do need one I recommend Flacco. He should have to air the ball a lot to keep pace with the Patriots and is coming off his best game of the year going 36-47 for 381 yards and 4 TDs against the Dolphins.

Honorable mention: Alex Smith (KC) - 27% owned

Running Back

Kenneth Dixon (BAL) - 46% owned - Dixon continues to split work with Terrence West despite having a 5.9 yards per carry average compared to the 3.9 average for West over the past four weeks. If you need help at running back Dixon should be counted on for 10-12 touches with a strong chance of that workload to increase over the remainder of the season.

Mike Gillislee (BUF) - 23% owned - Gillislee has been getting touches behind LeSean McCoy in Buffalo's run heavy offense. I'd expect him to see somewhere around 8-10 touches per game down the stretch, but what's nice is that he does get goal line work which was seen last week when he scored two touchdowns from three or fewer yards out of the end zone.

Honorable mentions: Jerick McKinnon (MIN) - 44% owned, Adrian Peterson (MIN) - 47% owned

Wide Receiver

Ted Ginn Jr. (CAR) - 23% owned - Ginn has seen his role in the Panthers offense grow the second half of the season and is coming off a great three-game stretch of 12 catches for 241 yards and 3 touchdowns. If his involvement continues he should be a great asset down the stretch with matchups against the Chargers, Redskins and Falcons his next three games.

Malcolm Mitchell (NE) - 29% owned - Mitchell has seen more playing time recently with injuries to the Patriots pass catchers. He's made the most of the playing time catching 17 passes for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns over the past three games. It was announced that Danny Amendola suffered a high ankle sprain this past week which means Mitchell should continue to see more looks for the fantasy playoffs.

Honorable mention: Taylor Gabriel (ATL) - 38% owned

Tight End

Ladarius Green (PIT) - 23% owned - Injuries may have delayed it from happening, but Green finally had his breakout performance as a Steeler, going off for 110 yards and a touchdown on 6 of 11 targets. He should continue to get a high amount of targets down the stretch since no other receiver has stepped up, besides Antonio Brown so far.

Honorable mention: Dennis Pitta (BAL) - 33% owned

Defense/Special Teams

Cincinnati Bengals (TB) - 31% owned - The Bengals defense has been floating around average all season long for fantasy purposes, but they draw the terrible Browns in week 14 which means they are worthy of a start.

It's time for the fantasy semi-finals which means if you've made it this far then congrats to you, just one more win away from making it to a championship matchup. Even though you've made it this far it's not time to skip out on adding depth to your team off the wire or to consider streaming players with favorable matchups over others on your team with unfavorable matchups. Good Luck!

Note: %owned is based on Yahoo! leagues at the time of publication.

Quarterback

Colin Kaepernick (SF) - 36% owned - Kaepernick should rebound nicely this week with a matchup against a Falcons team allowing the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season.  Look his way if you need a streamer.

Running Back

Kenneth Farrow (SD) - 4% owned - After Melvin Gordon was injured early in the Chargers matchup against the Panthers, Farrow became the go-to running back rushing 16 times for 55 yards and catching 6 passes for another 23 yards.   It's looking likely that Gordon will miss at least one week which means Farrow should be a volume RB2 play.

Kenneth Dixon (BAL) - 44% owned - It looks as though Dixon has finally broken away as the clear lead back in Baltimore after getting 19 touches compared to Terrence West's 6 against the Patriots. He put up a solid fantasy performance with the touches as well rushing for 39 yards and catching 8 of 11 passes for another 42 yards and a touchdown.

Honorable mentions: Matt Asiata (MIN) - 44% owned, Adrian Peterson (MIN) - 45% owned

Wide Receiver

Dontrelle Inman (NE) - 23% owned - Inman has passed up Travis Benjamin as the number two receiving option behind Tyrell Williams and has played well recently getting 239 yards and 3 touchdowns over his past three games. The Chargers have a great matchup this week against a poor Raiders pass defense where I expect Inman to be an upside WR3.

Adam Thielen (MIN) - 19% owned - Thielen has been putting up consistent WR3 numbers this season and draws a nice matchup this week against a Colts team that the Vikings should need to air the ball out more than usual.

Honorable mention: Ty Montgomery (GB) - 37% owned

Tight End

A bit of a cluster of possibly available tight ends this week so I'll list a few in order of how I like them;

Ladarius Green (PIT) - 56% owned

Jermaine Gresham (ARZ) - 4% owned

Dennis Pitta (BAL) - 37% owned

Defense/Special Teams

Similar to Tight Ends I'll list a few defenses I like to stream this week in order;

Buffalo Bills (BUF) - 61% owned

Miami Dolphins (MIA) - 55% owned

Houston Texans (HOU) - 44% owned

Sure, you just completed your draft recently but nobody's team is perfect from the start, and since then there have already been injuries, depth chart changes, and trouble with the law, right? Always room for improvement out there and so we'll scour the waiver wire to find a few guys that may get your team just a little bit closer to that finish line. Remember that missing out on just that one guy, just that one week, could make all of the difference at the end of the year!

Note: %owned is based on Yahoo! leagues at the time of publication.

Quarterback

Carson Palmer (ARI) - 63% owned - Palmer may not last all season with his advanced age and 'dead arm', but he projects to do well in the short-term at least. He plays against the Lions at Ford Field in Detroit this Sunday and can be locked in as a high upside QB2 for the time being.

Running Back

Jacquizz Rodgers (TB) - 62% owned - People do realize that Doug Martin is suspended for the first few games of the season, right? Rodgers is not built to last a full season of rough and tumble running back work, but he'll get you RB2 production on a weekly basis for the first 3 games of the season.

Alvin Kamara (NO) - 12% owned - With Mark Ingram and Adrian Peterson in front of Kamara this season, his best bet is to solidify a role as a passing-down back in the offense (a job formerly held by Travaris Cadet). We should see his usage rise throughout the season, and if either Ingram or Peterson were to miss time he could become a big weekly contributor. 

Honorable mentions: Marlon Mack (IND) - 9% owned, De'Angelo Henderson (DEN) - 1% owned - Mack and Henderson are both outstanding athletes from this year's rookie draft that have a chance to carve out solid roles on their respective teams by midseason. In Mack's case, Frank Gore would need to step out of the way and in Henderson's case, Jamaal Charles and C.J. Anderson would have to disappoint.

Wide Receiver

Corey Davis (TEN) - 47% owned - A lot of fantasy owners were scared away by a hamstring injury that had Davis sidelined for the entire preseason, but it looks like he'll make his way onto the field starting in Week 1. Expect Davis to perform at a high level from early to midseason on, after he shakes a little rust off.

Tyler Lockett (SEA) - 44% owned - Lockett has proved himself as a talented receiver but took a step down in 2016 from his excellent rookie performance the previous year, only scoring 1 receiving touchdown as compared to his 6 in 2015. Now a 3rd year WR, he is a possible breakout candidate still available in more than half of Yahoo leagues.

Honorable mentions: Kevin White (CHI) - 49% owned, Kendall Wright (CHI) - 12% owned - One of these guys (and honestly I expect it to be Wright) will lead the Bears in receptions this year. If the cards fall just right, that could lead to a serviceable WR3 for the rest of the season. 

Tight End

Julius Thomas (MIA) - 53% owned

Coby Fleener (NO) - 49% owned

C.J. Fiedorowicz (HOU) - 41% owned

Defense/Special Teams

Go with the Buffalo Bills (37% owned) this week, as they are playing the Jets.. and the Jets are going to be all-time bad this year.

Well, week 1 is already in the books and if you are in multiple leagues, I would guess you've been hit with an injury! Notable fantasy related injuries this week include David Johnson, Danny Woodhead, and the focus of this post, Allen Robinson.

Now before we dive into who could pick up the slack on your fantasy team, let’s look at what we lost. After a monster 2015 (80/1400, 14TDs), Robinson put up disappointing numbers in 2016. 73 receptions, 883 yards, and 6 touchdowns. Many experts were expecting a bounce back year and I am sure many teams were drafting AROB as their WR2 in the 4th or 5th round. With a Jaguars team that is more focused on pounding the ball, I expect to see stacked boxes forcing Bortles to throw downfield.

So we've determined a clear void in targets, who is going to step up? The two players getting the most discussion are Marqise Lee and Allen Hurns.

Marqise Lee is expected to be the new WR1 on the Jags and has an opportunity to prove himself. Last year, Lee put up 63/851, 3TDs (He even threw a TD to Blake Bortles on Christmas Eve against the Titans). I was very excited about Lee as a prospect when he was drafted out of USC in 2014 but he has yet to get the spotlight and showcase his talents. He has always been buried on the depth chart and was mostly on the field for 3WR sets. Lee is not a go-up-and-get-it type of receiver, but he does handle the ball well in traffic and is a good deep threat.

Allen Hurns should be no stranger to fantasy owners. In 2015, Hurns went 64/1031, 5TDs, giving fantasy players two respectable WRs to have on the Jaguars (crazy, I know). Last year, Hurns put up 35/477, 3TDs (only played 11 games).

During the preseason this year, the Jags were shopping Hurns and he didn’t draw much interest. There was speculation that he was going to be the 4th or 5th receiver on the charts behind DeDe Westbrook (IR) and Keelan Cole (Rookie from D2 Kentucky-Wesleyan). Hurns has a history with Bortles and I expect them to have the best chemistry of the available players.

Overall this is a poor place to be for the Jags and as a desperate fantasy owner. Of the two, I would lean toward Hurns being a better fantasy asset for the weeks to come. He is a bigger body and has a slightly better track record then Lee. I expect Lee to be more of a possession receiver with his value going to PPR leagues. Hurns will be more of a TD target when defenses are stacking the box in the red zone.

WRs I would target this week before Hurns and Lee would be: Cooper Kupp (26% owned), Kenny Golladay (17% owned), and Kendall Wright (15% owned). Kupp being my favorite WR option of the week.

TLDR: Avoid the Jags WRs and look elsewhere for your WR replacement. Jags are a run first team and I expect their defense to keep them in more games this year so we will not get those glorious garbage points like in years past.