Fantasy Index Weekly

January 16, 2019

Championship Game Rankings

Half of top players are Saints

Over the last couple of days, we posted team-by-team looks at the four participants in the conference championship games coming up on Sunday. Now's the time to put all the players together and see how the rankings shake out.

Not surprisingly, if you read the text, the Saints grade out most favorably. They're at home and favored, they're facing a defense that was statistically soft against both the run and the pass, and they're playing indoors. Put their game in Kansas City this weekend and move that one into a domed stadium, and things would look quite different. But these are the games we have.

Three of the top 6 players are Saints: Drew Brees, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara. If you're playing in a PPR format, Thomas looks like the week's top player.

Some minor tweaking has occurred since the initial postings. Most notably, Rob Gronkowski looked a little high, given that he's a washed-up fossil creaking about the field. His projection has been ratcheted down some, with those numbers being assigned to other players.

Standard rankings in the first table; PPR in the second. Feel free to let me know where you think the rankings are off, and we can discuss between now and Sunday.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RANKINGS (STANDARD SCORING)
Pos	Player	Team	Pass	Rec	Run	Total	TD	Points
QB	Drew Brees	NO	304	0	3	306	2.65	26.6
QB	Patrick Mahomes	KC	277	0	17	294	2.3	24.9
QB	Tom Brady	NE	257	0	1	259	1.83	20.5
QB	Jared Goff	LAR	267	0	8	275	1.55	20.4
RB	Alvin Kamara	NO	0	43	65	108	1.06	17.2
WR	Michael Thomas	NO	0	121	0	121	0.81	17.0
RB	Todd Gurley	LAR	0	38	69	107	0.99	16.6
RB	Damien Williams	KC	0	45	60	105	0.9	15.8
WR	Tyreek Hill	KC	0	95	7	103	0.67	14.3
RB	Sony Michel	NE	0	5	92	98	0.69	13.9
WR	Julian Edelman	NE	0	75	3	78	0.51	10.9
RB	Mark Ingram	NO	0	19	49	67	0.59	10.3
RB	James White	NE	0	42	20	62	0.48	9.0
WR	Robert Woods	LAR	0	68	1	69	0.3	8.7
PK	Wil Lutz	NO	0	0	0	0	0	8.7
TE	Travis Kelce	KC	0	53	0	53	0.56	8.7
WR	Brandin Cooks	LAR	0	65	3	67	0.3	8.5
PK	Harrison Butker	KC	0	0	0	0	0	8.0
WR	Ted Ginn	NO	0	53	0	53	0.41	7.7
RB	C.J. Anderson	LAR	0	3	49	52	0.38	7.5
D/ST	Kansas City	KC	0	0	0	0	0.20	7.0
PK	Stephen Gostkowski	NE	0	0	0	0	0.00	6.9
TE	Rob Gronkowski	NE	0	46	0	46	0.35	6.5
PK	Greg Zuerlein	LAR	0	0	0	0	0	6.5
D/ST	New England	NE	0	0	0	0	0.18	6.5
WR	Sammy Watkins	KC	0	50	0	50	0.22	6.3
D/ST	New Orleans	NO	0	0	0	0	0.15	6.3
WR	Josh Reynolds	LAR	0	42	0	42	0.28	5.9
WR	Phillip Dorsett	NE	0	40	0	40	0.20	5.1
WR	Chris Hogan	NE	0	30	0	30	0.22	4.4
D/ST	Los Angeles	LAR	0	0	0	0	0.12	4.2
TE	Gerald Everett	LAR	0	27	0	27	0.2	3.9
RB	Spencer Ware	KC	0	8	16	24	0.21	3.7
TE	Benjamin Watson	NO	0	19	0	19	0.3	3.6
RB	Rex Burkhead	NE	0	8	15	23	0.18	3.4
TE	Tyler Higbee	LAR	0	24	0	24	0.11	3.1
WR	TreQuan Smith	NO	0	16	0	16	0.19	2.7
WR	Cordarrelle Patterson	NE	0	10	6	16	0.15	2.7
WR	Keith Kirkwood	NO	0	12	0	12	0.16	2.2
RB	James Develin	NE	0	1	1	2	0.26	1.8
QB	Taysom Hill	NO	6	3	6	16	0.05	1.7
WR	Chris Conley	KC	0	8	0	8	0.11	1.5
WR	DeMarcus Robinson	KC	0	6	0	6	0.15	1.5
RB	Zach Line	NO	0	6	1	7	0.12	1.4
TE	Josh Hill	NO	0	9	0	9	0.08	1.4
TE	Demetrius Harris	KC	0	6	0	6	0.09	1.1
RB	Darrel Williams	KC	0	1	5	6	0.06	0.9
WR	Tommylee Lewis	NO	0	3	1	4	0.04	0.7
RB	Anthony Sherman	KC	0	4	0	5	0.04	0.7
WR	KhaDarel Hodge	LAR	0	3	0	3	0.02	0.4
WR	Gehrig Dieter	KC	0	3	0	3	0.02	0.4
TE	Dwayne Allen	NE	0	3	0	3	0.02	0.4
QB	Teddy Bridgewater	NO	3	0	0	3	0	0.3
QB	Brian Hoyer	NE	3	0	0	3	0.00	0.2
QB	Sean Mannion	LAR	3	0	0	3	0	0.2
WR	JoJo Natson	LAR	0	0	0	0	0.03	0.2
QB	Chad Henne	KC	3	0	0	3	0	0.2
TE	Johnny Mundt	LAR	0	1	0	1	0.01	0.1
RB	John Kelly	LAR	0	0	0	1	0	0.1
RB	Justin Davis	LAR	0	0	0	0	0	0.1
WR	Marcus Kemp	KC	0	1	0	1	0.01	0.1
RB	Charcandrick West	KC	0	1	0	1	0	0.1
WR	Matthew Slater	NE	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.0

In table below, players get a point per reception. Defenses, incidentally, are scored based on 1 point for sacks, 2 for takeaways, and 6 for touchdowns.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RANKINGS (PPR SCORING)
Pos	Player	Team	Pass	Rec	Run	Total	TD	Points
WR	Michael Thomas	NO	0	121	0	121	0.81	27.6
QB	Drew Brees	NO	304	0	3	306	2.65	26.6
QB	Patrick Mahomes	KC	277	0	17	294	2.30	24.9
RB	Damien Williams	KC	0	45	60	105	0.90	22.2
RB	Alvin Kamara	NO	0	43	65	108	1.06	22.2
QB	Tom Brady	NE	257	0	1	259	1.83	20.5
QB	Jared Goff	LAR	267	0	8	275	1.55	20.4
WR	Tyreek Hill	KC	0	95	7	103	0.67	20.2
RB	Todd Gurley	LAR	0	38	69	107	0.99	19.8
WR	Julian Edelman	NE	0	75	3	78	0.51	17.5
RB	Sony Michel	NE	0	5	92	98	0.69	14.6
RB	James White	NE	0	42	20	62	0.48	13.9
WR	Robert Woods	LAR	0	68	1	69	0.30	13.5
WR	Brandin Cooks	LAR	0	65	3	67	0.30	12.9
TE	Travis Kelce	KC	0	53	0	53	0.56	12.8
RB	Mark Ingram	NO	0	19	49	67	0.59	12.6
WR	Ted Ginn	NO	0	53	0	53	0.41	11.8
WR	Sammy Watkins	KC	0	50	0	50	0.22	10.2
TE	Rob Gronkowski	NE	0	46	0	46	0.35	9.9
WR	Josh Reynolds	LAR	0	42	0	42	0.28	9.0
RB	C.J. Anderson	LAR	0	3	49	52	0.38	8.7
PK	Wil Lutz	NO	0	0	0	0	0.00	8.7
WR	Phillip Dorsett	NE	0	40	0	40	0.20	8.6
PK	Harrison Butker	KC	0	0	0	0	0.00	8.0
WR	Chris Hogan	NE	0	30	0	30	0.22	7.0
D/ST	Kansas City	KC	0	0	0	0	0.20	7.0
PK	Stephen Gostkowski	NE	0	0	0	0	0.00	6.9
PK	Greg Zuerlein	LAR	0	0	0	0	0.00	6.5
D/ST	New England	NE	0	0	0	0	0.18	6.5
TE	Gerald Everett	LAR	0	27	0	27	0.20	6.4
D/ST	New Orleans	NO	0	0	0	0	0.15	6.3
TE	Benjamin Watson	NO	0	19	0	19	0.30	5.3
TE	Tyler Higbee	LAR	0	24	0	24	0.11	5.1
QB	Taysom Hill	NO	6	3	6	16	0.05	4.8
RB	Spencer Ware	KC	0	8	16	24	0.21	4.6
RB	Rex Burkhead	NE	0	8	15	23	0.18	4.3
D/ST	Los Angeles	LAR	0	0	0	0	0.12	4.2
WR	TreQuan Smith	NO	0	16	0	16	0.19	3.7
WR	Cordarrelle Patterson	NE	0	10	6	16	0.15	3.5
WR	Keith Kirkwood	NO	0	12	0	12	0.16	3.0
RB	Zach Line	NO	0	6	1	7	0.12	2.6
WR	Chris Conley	KC	0	8	0	8	0.11	2.3
TE	Josh Hill	NO	0	9	0	9	0.08	2.2
RB	James Develin	NE	0	1	1	2	0.26	2.0
WR	DeMarcus Robinson	KC	0	6	0	6	0.15	1.9
TE	Demetrius Harris	KC	0	6	0	6	0.09	1.5
RB	Anthony Sherman	KC	0	4	0	5	0.04	1.2
RB	Darrel Williams	KC	0	1	5	6	0.06	1.0
WR	Tommylee Lewis	NO	0	3	1	4	0.04	0.9
TE	Dwayne Allen	NE	0	3	0	3	0.02	0.7
WR	Gehrig Dieter	KC	0	3	0	3	0.02	0.6
WR	KhaDarel Hodge	LAR	0	3	0	3	0.02	0.6
QB	Teddy Bridgewater	NO	3	0	0	3	0.00	0.3
TE	Johnny Mundt	LAR	0	1	0	1	0.01	0.2
QB	Brian Hoyer	NE	3	0	0	3	0.00	0.2
QB	Chad Henne	KC	3	0	0	3	0.00	0.2
WR	Marcus Kemp	KC	0	1	0	1	0.01	0.2
QB	Sean Mannion	LAR	3	0	0	3	0.00	0.2
WR	JoJo Natson	LAR	0	0	0	0	0.03	0.2
RB	John Kelly	LAR	0	0	0	1	0.00	0.1
RB	Charcandrick West	KC	0	1	0	1	0.00	0.1
RB	Justin Davis	LAR	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.1
WR	Matthew Slater	NE	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.1

--Andy Richardson

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