Fantasy Playoff Rankings & Strength of Schedule: Your Championship Blueprint

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Getty Images. Pictured: D.K. Metcalf, Alvin Kamara

  • Sean Koerner -- FantasyPros' fourth-most accurate ranker through Week 10 -- reveals his rest-of-season fantasy football rankings and projections.
  • You can use these projections to get a sense of playoff rankings as well as players' strength of schedule for the stretch run.

On the fringe of making your league's fantasy football playoffs?

There's still time to make a championship run, but it's going to take more than hope and luck. That's why I've calculated my rest-of-season rankings for each position.

These rankings are outlined into tiers so you can better visualize the drop-off in expected production at each position, but I've also included week-by-week projections for every player. Factored into these week-by-week projections, of course, is players' strength of schedule.

You can parse these projections by Weeks 11-16 (the rest of the season) and by Weeks 14-16 (the most popular time period for fantasy playoffs). And while the projected points for each span can give you an idea of a player's value for the stretch run, I've attempted to give a more fair representation of that by stripping out the noise (such as remaining bye weeks) to help you more accurately measure a player's value — relative to their position, but also compared to all players.

What's the purpose of measuring the value of a player in addition to their week-by-week projections? And how should you use both in conjunction with the rankings and tiers? Let's explain in further detail then run through each position.

Note: All projections are as of Nov. 18 and based on half PPR scoring.

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QB | RB | WR | TE | K | DEF

Fantasy Playoff Rankings

» Download the projections and values table

There's a difference between a player's total projection for the rest of the season vs. how valuable they could be to your team — the latter of which is what we've tried to capture in the "value" column.

In fact, these "values" can double as trade values.

For example, if you're on the fringe of making your league's playoffs, then a player like Texans running back Duke Johnson (who offers good short-term value but will be unplayable come playoff time) is more valuable to your mission of making the playoffs. But if you're cruising to the playoffs, a player like Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey (who is likely out this week and has a Week 13 bye) is more valuable to you as a likely top-five running back in the playoffs.

For the sake of really driving the point home, let's run through one more example:

  • QB A: Ranked seventh one week, 29th the next
  • QB B: Ranked 16th one week, 16th the next


"QB B" might be projected for more points over those two games, but "QB A" offers far more value. In a case like this, you would play "QB A" for the game he’s ranked seventh and find a replacement-level QB for the next game.


Quarterbacks

Fantasy QB Projections & Values

» Download the projections and values table

Fantasy QB Rankings & Tiers

Tier 1
Kyler Murray
Patrick Mahomes
Tier 2
Russell Wilson
Tier 3
Josh Allen
Lamar Jackson
Deshaun Watson
Aaron Rodgers
Tier 4
Justin Herbert
Tom Brady
Tier 5
Matt Ryan
Ben Roethlisberger
Joe Burrow
Tier 6
Carson Wentz
Cam Newton
Ryan Tannehill
Jared Goff
Tier 7
Daniel Jones
Tua Tagovailoa
Matthew Stafford
Tier 8
Drew Brees
Derek Carr
Teddy Bridgewater
Jameis Winston
Tier 9
Philip Rivers
Kirk Cousins
Baker Mayfield
Alex Smith
Andy Dalton
Drew Lock
Tier 10
Gardner Minshew
Sam Darnold
Mitchell Trubisky
Nick Mullens
Nick Foles
Jimmy Garoppolo
Tier 11
Jake Luton
Joe Flacco

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Running Backs

Fantasy RB Projections & Values

» Download the projections and values table

Fantasy RB Rankings & Tiers

Tier 1
Dalvin Cook
Alvin Kamara
Derrick Henry
Tier 2
Aaron Jones
Tier 3
Josh Jacobs
Nick Chubb
Miles Sanders
James Robinson
Christian McCaffrey
Tier 4
D'Andre Swift
Antonio Gibson
Tier 5
Kareem Hunt
Ezekiel Elliott
Clyde Edwards-Helaire
Todd Gurley
Austin Ekeler
Chris Carson
Tier 6
Joe Mixon
James Conner
Ronald Jones II
Kenyan Drake
David Montgomery
Tier 7
Melvin Gordon
Myles Gaskin
Raheem Mostert
Tier 8
La'Mical Perine
J.D. McKissic
Nyheim Hines
Duke Johnson Jr.
Chase Edmonds*
Tier 9
Jonathan Taylor
David Johnson
Damien Harris
Mark Ingram
Leonard Fournette
Darrell Henderson
Zack Moss
Malcolm Brown
Wayne Gallman
Cam Akers
Tier 10
Jamaal Williams
Devin Singletary
Mike Davis
J.K. Dobbins
Giovani Bernard
Tier 11
Salvon Ahmed
Kalen Ballage
Rex Burkhead
Tony Pollard
Le'Veon Bell
Latavius Murray
Devonta Freeman
Gus Edwards
Tier 12
Jordan Wilkins
Joshua Kelley
Carlos Hyde
Devontae Booker
Brian Hill
Tevin Coleman
Alexander Mattison
Phillip Lindsay
Tier 13
James White
Adrian Peterson
Matt Breida
Frank Gore
Boston Scott
Benny Snell
Anthony McFarland Jr.
Jerick McKinnon
Kerryon Johnson
Sony Michel

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Wide Receivers

Fantasy WR Projections & Values

» Download the projections and values table

Fantasy WR Rankings & Tiers

Tier 1
Davante Adams
DeAndre Hopkins
Tier 2
Tyreek Hill
D.K. Metcalf
Julio Jones
Keenan Allen
Tier 3
Stefon Diggs
Terry McLaurin
Tyler Lockett
Calvin Ridley
Tier 4
Allen Robinson
Cooper Kupp
A.J. Brown
Adam Thielen
Justin Jefferson
Will Fuller V
Michael Thomas
Robby Anderson
Tee Higgins
Tyler Boyd
Robert Woods
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Diontae Johnson
Chris Godwin
Chase Claypool
Mike Evans
Kenny Golladay
Tier 5
Christian Kirk
D.J. Chark
DeVante Parker
Antonio Brown
Jamison Crowder
Amari Cooper
D.J. Moore
Jerry Jeudy
CeeDee Lamb
Brandin Cooks
Mike Williams
Sterling Shepard
Jalen Reagor
Brandon Aiyuk
Travis Fulgham
Josh Reynolds
Michael Pittman Jr.
Jarvis Landry
Corey Davis
Tier 6
Darius Slayton
Deebo Samuel
Curtis Samuel
Marvin Jones
Marquise Brown
K.J. Hamler
Henry Ruggs
Breshad Perriman
Cole Beasley
Tim Patrick
T.Y. Hilton
Denzel Mims
Tier 7
Emmanuel Sanders
Michael Gallup
Rashard Higgins
Jakobi Meyers
Mecole Hardman
Julian Edelman
John Brown
Allen Lazard
Darnell Mooney
Russell Gage
Sammy Watkins
Tier 8
Zach Pascal
Keelan Cole
Anthony Miller
Preston Williams
Gabriel Davis
Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Laviska Shenault
A.J. Green
Alshon Jeffery
Randall Cobb
Danny Amendola
Jakeem Grant
Adam Humphries

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Tight Ends

Fantasy TE Projections & Values

» Download the projections and values table

Fantasy TE Rankings & Tiers

Tier 1
Travis Kelce
Tier 2
Darren Waller
Tier 3
Mark Andrews
Tier 4
Hunter Henry
T.J. Hockenson
Hayden Hurst
Tier 5
Noah Fant
Dallas Goedert
Rob Gronkowski
Evan Engram
Tier 6
Jonnu Smith
Eric Ebron
Zach Ertz
Mike Gesicki
Tier 7
Jimmy Graham
Robert Tonyan Jr.
Austin Hooper
Jordan Reed
Jared Cook
Dalton Schultz
Logan Thomas
Tier 8
Tyler Higbee
Mo Alie-Cox
Gerald Everett
Jordan Akins
Trey Burton
Irv Smith Jr.
Anthony Firkser
Kyle Rudolph
Drew Sample
Tyler Eifert

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Kickers

Fantasy K Projections & Values

» Download the projections and values table

Fantasy K Rankings & Tiers

Tier 1
Harrison Butker
Tier 2
Jason Myers
Justin Tucker
Wil Lutz
Mason Crosby
Tier 3
Ryan Succop
Zane Gonzalez
Dan Bailey
Rodrigo Blankenship
Stephen Gostkowski
Michael Badgley
Chris Boswell
Daniel Carlson
Jason Sanders
Tier 4
Tyler Bass
Cody Parkey
Kai Forbath
Younghoe Koo
Matt Prater
Ka'imi Fairbairn
Randy Bullock
Nick Folk
Jake Elliott
Tier 5
Cairo Santos
Brandon McManus
Joey Slye
Dustin Hopkins
Greg Zuerlein
Robbie Gould
Graham Gano
Sergio Castillo
Chase McLaughlin

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Defenses

Fantasy DEF Projections & Values

» Download the projections and values table

Fantasy DEF Rankings & Tiers

Tier 1
Pittsburgh Steelers
Los Angeles Rams
Baltimore Ravens
Tier 2
Indianapolis Colts
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Football Team
Tier 3
Cleveland Browns
Minnesota Vikings
Seattle Seahawks
Green Bay Packers
New Orleans Saints
Miami Dolphins
Kansas City Chiefs
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New England Patriots
Tier 4
Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Chargers
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Houston Texans
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Buffalo Bills
Tier 5
San Francisco 49ers
Las Vegas Raiders
Tennessee Titans
Detroit Lions
Atlanta Falcons
New York Jets
New York Giants
Jacksonville Jaguars
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