In most leagues, the fantasy football playoffs start this week. There are times when you bench players because they’ve let you down. Wrong decisions in the playoffs last for years in the dark memories of great seasons snuffed.
The players highlighted this week have earned their spots – for good reasons and bad. As those playing this week mull their first-round playoff matchups and which players are used or avoided, with each decision comes the implications of potential points left on the bench. Choose wisely.
Fantasy football risers
Cincinnati Bengals QB Jake Browning – When Joe Burrow went down, the assumption became that all was lost for 2023, because Browning was the next man up. In his last two games, against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts – both teams currently ahead of them in the playoff chase – the Bengals put up 34 points in each game. Browning has completed 50 of 61 passes (82 percent) for 629 yards and accounted for five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing). Not many can boast those numbers.
Denver Broncos WR Courtland Sutton – In 13 games, Sutton has not posted a 100-yard game and has more than four catches in just four of them. But, he has scored a touchdown in 10 of those games, which has made him one of the most consistent fantasy scorers in the league. He’s not going to give you the 30-point week that blows up a matchup in your favor, but he’s going to give you an honest day’s work – and how many other players have touchdown in 10 of 13 games? Not many that aren’t named Christian McCaffrey.
Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford – What has made Stafford valuable throughout his career has been huge yardage games, but up-and-down touchdown production. Over the last three games, Stafford has flipped the script. While his yardage has gone up in each game (229-279-294), it’s his touchdown production that been consistently off the charts. He’s thrown 10 touchdowns in his last three games – four against the Arizona Cardinals, three against the Cleveland Browns and three against the Baltimore Ravens. Those are some pretty solid defenses, and he’s stepping up at the right time.
Indianapolis Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. – Most people who own Pittman have likely kept him in their lineups. This may be more of a forward-thinking pick for draft leagues next year. Even though he has gone through two quarterbacks, Pittman has been incredibly productive. He has caught eight or more passes in 10 of 13 games and each of the last six – all with Gardner Minshew as his quarterback. But, in the last three games, the yardage has come along. He has caught 29 passes for 307 yards and one touchdown, posting point totals of 20.7, 27.5 and 17.5. That’s dominance.
Chicago Bears WR DJ Moore – In his first five games, Moore had 27 catches for 531 yards and five touchdowns. He was a must-start. In the five weeks that followed, he caught 25 passes for 262 yards and no touchdowns. Suddenly, he was heading to the bench. Those five games coincided with Justin Fields being gone. In the three games Fields has been back, Moore has caught 24 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns – two receiving and one rushing. The formula seems simple. If Fields is on the field, Moore is gold.
Fantasy football fallers
Buffalo Bills WR Stefon Diggs – Few receivers over the last three or four years have had the volume of receptions, yardage, target share, and touchdowns as Diggs. Even when defenses have overloaded his way, he still got his. But, over the last four games, he has just 17 receptions for 159 yards and one touchdown. For a guy who likely can’t be benched, those were crippling numbers down the stretch when trying to make the playoffs. He didn’t get anyone to the playoffs. He may have prevented some.
Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes – In his last six games, Mahomes hasn’t thrown for 300 yards and has eight touchdown passes – with no more than two in any game. He brings a little as a runner. Anyone who has Mahomes will never bench him – much less facing the New England Patriots this week. But if you’re banking on Mahomes carrying your roster, he hasn’t shown it in more than a month and is riding a two-game December losing streak. These are things you’ve never seen. I blame Taylor Swift.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin – While teammate Mike Evans has strung together great weeks throughout the season, Godwin has been much more miss than hit. Two weeks ago, he logged a rare rushing attempt and scored a touchdown. That equaled his total of receiving touchdowns. He hasn’t managed more than 55 receiving yards in any of his last seven games. He has likely been benched on any roster where there is another viable option. He is still capable of big things, but he hasn’t showed it nearly enough to earn confidence with a season on the line.
Pittsburgh Steelers TE Pat Freiermuth – There are some players you roll the dice on in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle. Freiermuth is one of the more disappointing players for where he was drafted and what his role was expected to be on a fantasy roster. Aside from missing five games, in the eight he has played, he has just one game with more than three receptions, six games with fewer than 30 receiving yards, and four games with no more than seven yards. There are a dozen options (or more) on the waiver wire better than that.
