This is it — the fantasy football playoffs are right around the corner. At this point, everyone knows who is positioning for the fantasy playoffs and who is likely to be on the outside looking in, with trades becoming even more difficult to negotiate.
We have two more weeks of byes, which bring numerous roster juggling situations into fantasy football. This becomes even more magnified with each roster decision potentially affecting playoff positioning. Quality decision-making is required in order to be crowned champion at the end of Week 16.
This article aims to assign a dollar value to any player above replacement level for standard-structure leagues, i.e., leagues that start 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE and a flex. Both PPR and standard-scoring leagues are highlighted.
The calculation utilizes our rest-of-season fantasy football projections from Weeks 10-16. We assign a value of zero to players who are just out of the realm of possible starts in a standard-structured league to provide us with a replacement-level basis of fantasy points for that position. Every player above replacement is then assigned a value based on the rest-of-season projections. This accurately takes into account both position scarcity as well as future projections.
The values can be used to gauge player-for-player trades and also 2-for-1 or 3-for-2 offerings, etc. This hopefully helps some fantasy owners come to a consensus on worthwhile trades for both parties. Typically, the side giving up the most players should expect to pay a premium of 5-10% over the stud player's cost.
There is an assortment of valuable options at wide receiver, which affects the values in relation to what is replacement-level for the position. This makes it hard to justify swapping a top-end running back for a wide receiver. After all, we are in the midst of an offensive explosion, with numerous mid- to late-round wide receiver picks leading the position in fantasy scoring. There are a few high-quality WR options at the top, but there are plenty of options in the tier or two below that have slightly less value. As such, the position itself is priced down slightly relative to the premium that exists at both running back and tight end.
We must also note that fantasy football is the only place where the quarterback position doesn’t matter. This is also reflected in the value rankings, with cross-positional trade evaluation made simple.
This article previously identified the biggest changes at each position, but with little significant long-term injury news affecting our rest-of-season projections this week, there aren’t a lot of significant changes. It is now up to you the esteemed fantasy football manager to evaluate your current roster and league standings to determine how you stack up. This article can be a helpful tool, but only you can truly evaluate your current roster and determine not only its current standing, but also ability to win when it matters most.
If you are near the top of your league and targeting a first round bye, the best options should be those with quality matchups coming in your fantasy playoffs. Our strength of schedule tool takes into account PFF grades to highlight difficult or easy matchups for each week of the fantasy season for each position. Utilize this took to find players who might be worth an offer slightly above market value to ensure your team is the best when the playoffs are happening.
Other fantasy managers are on the playoff bubble and do not have the luxury of evaluating their rosters to position for the best plays in the playoffs. They need a string of wins to secure their spot for a chance at the league title. Our strength of schedule tool can also help identify the best plays over the next few weeks, but other PFF tools can also be helpful.
The expected points tool highlights which players have under- or over-performed relative to fantasy expectation. This is a great way to identify some of the players who are currently underpriced and are inline to explode in the next couple of weeks.
Our wide receiver vs. cornerback matchup chart can also help highlight which wide receivers are set up for big games. This can uncover a low-value trade opportunity that helps you win this week or someone who moves into a roster rotation as a flex option for future weeks. Sometimes it only takes one savvy move to move to the top of a league — the next two weeks are our last opportunity to take fate into our own hands and position rosters for the best possible outcome. Enjoy — this is the best part about playing fantasy football.
Quarterback
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