Fantasy Football Playoff Predictions: Who'll have a December to remember and bring home titles?
Our analysts reveal the takes they have the most conviction for heading into the fantasy football playoffs to help you feel better about the lineup decisions ahead. For more start-sit advice, check out our Week 15 position-by-position rankings.
Ravens receivers ready to fly
Zay Flowers and Odell Beckham. It’s pretty clearly established that these are the two most valuable Ravens offensive players beyond Lamar Jackson and they will be every-week fantasy starters down the stretch.
For Beckham, the Ravens have found an ideal plan for the veteran receiver. He’s fifth on the team in routes run since Week 10, but leads Baltimore with 287 yards and is averaging a beefy 4.1 yards per route run. Less is more for Beckham at this stage of his career; he is still a high-end separator and ball-tracker down the field. You just don’t want to burn out his legs or expose him to injuries with overuse. Flowers leads the team in routes with 144 during this same span, a whopping 48-route gap to Isaiah Likely at No. 2. He has target totals of 10, eight and 10 in three full games without Mark Andrews but more importantly, he saw his aDOT jump to 12.5 in the first week back from the bye. He’s finally getting the intermediate looks we’ve needed to trust his role fully.
These guys get a great matchup in Week 15 with an undisciplined and beatable Jaguars secondary to start the fantasy postseason. Then the Ravens will need them to deliver in two big games with mixed-bag matchups in the 49ers and Dolphins. — Matt Harmon
Lamar's strong finish will crown champions
Mike Tyson was famously quoted: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” When the Ravens took a shot in the face last week against the Rams, the new plan became a Lamar Jackson assault that turned into 316 passing yards and three touchdowns with 70 rushing yards.
Now look at the Ravens’ next three games: at Jacksonville, at San Francisco, Miami. All are offenses that can punch back at Baltimore, with the Jaguars and 49ers having great rush defenses that will rest the game on Jackson’s arm. As Matt mentioned above, his receivers are raising their level of play, as Odell Beckham Jr. went for 4-97-1 last week and Zay Flowers has 18 targets the last two games, scoring in each. That Miami game will bring back memories of the incredible 42-38 Dolphins victory in 2022, with Jackson busting loose for 318 passing yards, 119 rushing yards and four total touchdowns. Can you imagine that ceiling game, with Tua Tagovailoa and Jackson trading blows, in championship week? Get ready for a trio of boom weeks for Jackson. — Jorge Martin
Everything falling into place for Rams' stars
Talk about getting healthy and hot at the right time, that's the Los Angeles Rams. The team's three best scoring days have come in its last three games, and now here's a daisy of a schedule to finish things up: Washington (29th in defensive DVOA), New Orleans (21st) and the New York Giants (31st).
In a year where so many teams employ quarterbacks and play-callers we can't trust, the Rams have Matthew Stafford back in fine form and Sean McVay dialing up splash plays by the dozen. And usage is never a difficult solve with the Rams, as they feature one of the tightest distribution trees in the league. Kyren Williams is a rare 2023 bell cow, and Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp are target hogs. Many championship parades will likely have a Southern California route; sorry about the traffic. — Scott Pianowski
DK in position to dominate December
DK Metcalf has made four house calls over the past two weeks (despite being ejected once) while producing 186 receiving yards, so he’s already enjoying a memorable December. No matter if it’s Drew Lock or Geno Smith at the controls of Seattle’s offense, Metcalf should roast Philadelphia’s secondary on Monday night. The Eagles have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this year by a healthy margin and the most receiving touchdowns to the position (23). James Bradberry has given up eight TDs and a passer-rating of 104.6 to his assignments. Every team’s WR1 (and often the WR2 and WR3) has cooked Philly’s defense all season.
When we reach Weeks 16 and 17, Metcalf will face a vulnerable Titans D, followed by a Pittsburgh secondary that’s been punished by perimeter receivers all season. There’s a decent chance Metcalf ends up being the decisive wide receiver in fantasy in the money weeks. — Andy Behrens
Bijan finally has role to match talent
Bijan Robinson has crucially taken over Atlanta’s goal-line role since the team’s bye, including three opportunities inside the five last week. The rookie’s usage has been frustrating at times this year, but he’s first among running backs in routes run and fourth in targets, and now more touchdowns are coming. The Falcons are extremely run-heavy and get three defenses during the fantasy playoffs that rank in the bottom-10 in schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed to running backs.
Atlanta is favored this week against a Carolina team whose opponents have averaged the fifth-most rush attempts per game. In Week 16, the Falcons are at home against a Colts defense allowing the third-most schedule-adjusted fantasy points to running backs followed by a Bears D ceding the fourth-most. Chicago is playing much better defense lately, but the Bears have allowed by far the most receiving yards to running backs this season. With a highly favorable schedule and a new role inside the 10, Robinson is going to carry fantasy teams to championships. — Dalton Del Don
Steelers backfield will carry fantasy teams
Both running backs continue to see 12-15 touches per game and they’ve remained efficient in their own ways. Jaylen Warren ranks fourth in yards per touch and third in broken tackles this season. He’s playing just 46% of the snaps and ranks top-three in broken tackles, just wild. Najee Harris is earning the majority of the work in the backfield and ranks third in breakaway runs of 15+ yards.
Now, this offense isn’t great, so how can both guys have a December to remember? Let’s start with their matchups. Pittsburgh will face the Colts, Bengals and Seahawks in the fantasy playoffs. This a top-five schedule the rest of the season for fantasy backs. The matchup against the Colts should provide plenty of passing-game usage for both backs.
But that’s not all. The Steelers are pushing to make the playoffs at 7-6 and it’s unlikely they’re going to lean on Mitch Trubisky, behind the 31st ranked pass-blocking unit, to get there. They’ll likely leverage their more-explosive backfield in beneficial matchups. — Sal Vetri
Rashee Rice peaking at perfect time
Throughout most of the season, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice has been producing at an elite level, and that production has finally begun to earn him a substantial role that is bound to earn him a December to remember. Among wide receivers with 65+ targets this season, Rice leads the league with 7.9 yards after the catch per reception, averaging 2.35 yards per route run (12th) and posting a 125.4 passer rating when targeted (fourth). His 0.35 fantasy points per snap ranks fourth in that cohort... and finally... he's earning more snaps as he grows into a bona fide full-time role catching passes from the best quarterback in the NFL.
Rice has nine or more targets, seven or more receptions and 64 or more receiving yards in each of the Chiefs' last three games, reeling in a touchdown in two of them, and closes out the month of December with games against the Patriots, Raiders and Bengals — all middling secondaries. Rice is a top-10 fantasy wide receiver rest of season. — Kate Magdziuk