matchups to target during fantasy playoffs
If you've been able to stay ahead of the injury and platoon situations this year, your roster may be primed with matchup independent talents. If that's not the case, you're likely looking at a run of close matchups throughout the playoffs and will need every point you can find.
And if you've just squeaked into the playoffs and are likely to be an underdog, now's not the time to start a high floor player without much upside. It's critical to take chances. If Player X has a floor of 6 points and a ceiling of 10 and Player Y has a floor of 0 points and a ceiling of 15-20, you should be starting Player Y in every big underdog situation -- no matter how low you project the chance of Player Y hitting that ceiling.
Though 12 weeks of data on each team, here are some of the most attractive teams to target when choosing between close matchup calls:
tackle matchups to target
- Philadelphia >> 54.6 tackle opportunities per week // 59.4 tackle opportunities per week at home
- Carolina >> 53.3 tackle opportunities per week
- Seattle >> 57.7 tackle opportunities per week over past three weeks
- Carolina 33.3
- Chicago 29.8
- Seattle 29.6
- Tampa Bay 29.3
- Buffalo 29.3
- Cincinnati 28.5
- Philadelphia 28.3
- Minnesota 28.1
pass rush matchups to target
- Seattle 9.9% (Pct Dropbacks Allowing Sack) // 3.3 (Sacks Per Game)
- Kansas City 9.1% // 3.2
- Minnesota 9.0% // 2.9
- Tennessee 8.9% // 3.3
- San Francisco 8.8% // 3.0
- Cleveland 8.1% // 3.4
- Jacksonville 7.1% // 3.0
late season waiver targets
EVERY-DOWN LINEBACKER PROJECTION
| TEAM | EVERY-DOWN LB | 75-100% SNAPS | INJ | SUSP | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARIZONA | Kevin Minter : Deone Bucannon | Alex Okafor | Daryl Washington (susp) | |
| ATLANTA | Paul Worrilow | Justin Durant | ||
| BALTIMORE | C.J. Mosley | Elvis Dumervil : Courtney Upshaw : Daryl Smith | Terrell Suggs (IR) | Orr used sparingly, Smith responded w/ strong numbers |
| BUFFALO | Preston Brown : Manny Lawson | Nigel Bradham | Used Lawson in subpackages, Reddick base defender | |
| CAROLINA | Luke Kuechly : Thomas Davis | |||
| CHICAGO | Shea McClellin | Anderson and Jones rotating | ||
| CINCINNATI | Rotation continues | |||
| CLEVELAND | Karlos Dansby | Orchard continues to see playing time increase | ||
| DALLAS | Sean Lee | Rolando McClain | ||
| DENVER | Brandon Marshall : Von Miller | Danny Trevathan : DeMarcus Ware | Trevathan in concussion protocol | |
| DETROIT | Tahir Whitehead : Stephen Tulloch | DeAndre Levy (IR) | ||
| GREEN BAY | Clay Matthews | Julius Peppers : Jake Ryan | Sam Barrington (IR) | Packers benched Palmer for Ryan |
| HOUSTON | Brian Cushing | Whitney Mercilus | ||
| INDIANAPOLIS | D'Qwell Jackson | Jerrell Freeman | ||
| JACKSONVILLE | Paul Posluszny : Telvin Smith Sr | Watch for news on Posluszny's hand fracture, Skuta or Tripp next up | ||
| KANSAS CITY | Derrick Johnson | Tamba Hali, Dee Ford | Justin Houston | Ford, not Zombo, played nearly every down w/ Houston out |
| MIAMI | Jenkins>Misi>Sheppard in every-down order when healthy | |||
| MINNESOTA | Eric Kendricks : Chad Greenway | Anthony Barr | ||
| NEW ENGLAND | Jamie Collins | Jonathan Freeny | Dont'a Hightower | |
| NEW ORLEANS | Stephone Anthony | Dannell Ellerbe | James Anderson near full time w/ Ellerbe/Hawthorne out | |
| NEW YORK GIANTS | Jon Beason (IR) : Devon Kennard | Just impossible to handicap due to health and rotation | ||
| NEW YORK JETS | David Harris | Davis / Henderson rotation continues | ||
| OAKLAND | Malcolm Smith | Khalil Mack | Aldon Smith (susp) | |
| PHILADELPHIA | Connor Barwin : Brandon Graham | Jordan Hicks (IR) | Alonso outsnapped Kendricks by 22 last week | |
| PITTSBURGH | Lawrence Timmons | Ryan Shazier | ||
| ST. LOUIS | James Laurinaitis : Mark Barron | Alec Ogletree (IR-R) | ||
| SAN DIEGO | Melvin Ingram III | Manti Te'o : Denzel Perryman | ||
| SAN FRANCISCO | NaVorro Bowman | Aaron Lynch : Gerald Hodges | Michael Wilhoite | |
| SEATTLE | Bobby Wagner : K.J. Wright | |||
| TAMPA BAY | Lavonte David | Kwon Alexander (susp) | Still unclear whether Carter or Lansanah will replace Alexander | |
| TENNESSEE | Avery Williamson | Brian Orakpo : David Bass | Derrick Morgan | |
| WASHINGTON | Will Compton | Ryan Kerrigan | Keenan Robinson : Perry Riley |
Subscribe to The Audible on iTunes or download our weekly IDP podcast here every Thursday for injury updates, player analysis and matchup discussion. Follow and ask questions on Twitter @JeneBramel.
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