Aaron Rodgers’ playoff experience should help owners look past his recent rough stretch
The NFL Wild Card games are upon us as the playoffs commence. With a smaller player pool, it will be important to find areas to differentiate your lineups and take some chances where you normally would not. Let’s look at a tournament lineup for FantasyAces.
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Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers GB @ WAS $6,500
Rodgers has the second-best matchup of the weekend among quarterbacks playing and it’s wise to target him despite a shaky finish to the regular season. Rodgers is a seasoned veteran who has playoff experience. If he can have some time in the pocket, he will find his receivers. The Redskins are allowing 258 passing yards and 1.9 passing touchdowns per game, which ranks near the bottom in both categories among the 12 playoff teams.
A.J. McCarron CIN vs. PIT $5,750
McCarron appears to be on track to start for the injured Andy Dalton this weekend, and he showed some promise in the final weeks of the season. He draws the best matchup of the weekend against a Steelers’ defense that has surrendered 272 passing yards per game. McCarron has thrown multiple touchdowns in two of four games, which includes a 280-yard, two-touchdown performance against Pittsburgh in Week 14. His price tag is very friendly, and I expect high ownership levels as a result, but the savings is too good to pass up this week.
Running Back
Alfred Morris WAS vs. GB $4,450
To say the running back situation is ugly this weekend would be an understatement. It makes sense to find some cheaper volume where you can and Morris fits the bill. He has received 14 carries or more in three straight games. While the results won’t blow you away, it’s tough to eschew volume at this position. I like Morris to get at least 15 carries this week and his ownership levels could be driven lower if a banged up Matt Jones is active.
Marshawn Lynch SEA @ MIN $5,100
Editor’s note: Lynch has been downgraded to OUT for Sunday’s game. Please view our free Lineup Optimizer for alternatives.
Lynch has been practicing in full, and he’s definitely in play this week despite missing the last seven games of the regular season. I doubt Seattle would play him if he weren’t 100%, and this is the type of game environment in which he should thrive. The Vikings averaged 109 rushing yards allowed per game in the regular season, but they were stout in regards to touchdown prevention. I’ll go against the grain and say Lynch finds the end zone this weekend.
Wide Receiver
A.J. Green CIN vs. PIT $5,650
Green gets a third shot at the Steelers. If the first two contests are any indicator of future results, he needs to be locked into your lineup. Green saw 26 targets over the first two games while racking up 250 receiving yards and two touchdowns. In the first matchup, Green caught 11 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown primarily against Antwan Blake, per Pro Football Focus. In Week 14, Green had even more success while seeing a lot of Blake again. While Green likely won’t see nearly as much of Blake this time he should still find success against Ross Cockrell, who has allowed 63 percent of balls thrown his way to be completed.
Martavis Bryant PIT @ CIN $4,750
The Bengals do not shadow receivers for the most part, so I expect Antonio Brown to be locked up with Adam Jones for a good portion of the game. This likely leaves Bryant against Dre Kirkpatrick, who ranks 111th among cornerbacks according to Pro Football Focus. Bryant has posted a pair of down games, so he makes for an intriguing pivot from Brown as his ownership levels should be depressed this week.
Tight End
Jordan Reed WAS vs. GB $5,300
The Packers have a strong cornerback unit across the board, but Reed provides big upside while avoiding those tougher matchups. He sees a heavy dose of targets and has massive upside as a result. Short of last week’s meaningless game, Reed scored at least 22.5 FantasyAces points in three straight contests. He and Kirk Cousins have developed an encouraging rapport, which should be on display again this weekend.
Flex
Tyler Lockett SEA @ MIN $4,600
Seattle moves their receivers around quite a bit, but I expect Lockett to square off against Terence Newman, and he had no issues against the cornerback in Week 13. He also provides stellar upside due to a “double-dip” on punt returns when paired with the Seahawks’ defense if he returns one for a touchdown.
James Jones GB @ WAS $4,500
Jones’ targets are up over the last month, and he figures to draw coverage from the weakest link in the Washington secondary. Quinton Dunbar grades out poorly among cornerbacks per Pro Football Focus, and Jones is a high upside play as a result.
Defense/Special Teams
Seattle Seahawks @ MIN $3,100
The Vikings have an implied team total of 17.25 points, which is the lowest among all eight teams this weekend. I expect scoring to be at a premium and Vegas seems to agree, pegging a 39.5 projected total overall to this contest. There is added upside when utilizing Tyler Lockett, as noted earlier, and I expect the Seahawks’ defense to rise to the occasion against an inexperienced Minnesota team.
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Adam Sutton is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Adam, follow him @DraftStars_Adam. You can find more of Adam’s work at DraftStars.net.
