This week, we're going to look closer at playoff schedules. Then, for the next four weeks, we'll look at players to stash for the offseason, position by position, with snorkel, scuba, and submarine levels, depending on how deep your league is.
Playoff Schedule Buys
Baltimore - Lamar Jackson, Isaiah Likely, Odell Beckham Jr
The Ravens are on bye this week, then get the Rams, Jaguars, 49ers, and Dolphins. Jackson has been extremely disappointing even though the team is doing well because they are doing too well and not being forced to open up the pass offense. The good news is that even though the team lost Mark Andrews, Odell Beckham has got his speed back, Zay Flowers looks less and less like a rookie every week, and Isaiah Likely is ready to be a starter in place of Andrews. The last four games are against good offenses with good quarterbacks, which could easily create higher-scoring games. Likely won't cost much in a trade with a so-so fantasy performance going into the bye, and Beckham will be even cheaper with a week to rest his ailing shoulder.
Dallas - Tony Pollard, Brandin Cooks, Jake Ferguson
Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb are probably untouchable at this point, but you can still make moves to benefit from a remaining schedule with shoot-out potential written all over it. After Seattle on Thursday, Dallas will play the Eagles, Bills, Dolphins, and Lions. Pollard is coming on, Cooks has shown he can have a huge week even when Lamb is dominating targets, and Ferguson is still the #1 tight end despite his stats falling off a little the last three weeks. Jalen Tolbert, Michael Gallup, and Rico Dowdle all have injury upside bench stash appeal because of the quality of this offense and schedule.
Pittsburgh - Diontae Johnson, George Pickens
The reborn Steelers offense has no tough draws left on the schedule. The Patriots defense hasn't been as scary with their two best players on injured reserve, the Colts are soft against the pass, the Bengals have nothing to play for, and the Seahawks are in the bottom 10 in yards allowed. The first game without Matt Canada was a quiet one for Johnson and Pickens, but that should change in the upcoming weeks. Both had dipped to scoring levels that weren't trustworthy in fantasy lineups, but that trust should be restored this week against a Cardinals defense that just gave up four passing touchdowns to the Rams. Previously, they had only had one with more than one this season.
San Francisco - Brock Purdy
If you need a quarterback for the stretch run or just want to reinforce your depth, consider trading for Purdy. The 49ers haven't scored fewer than 27 points since they got healthy during the bye. They probably could have scored more, but the opposition didn't score more than 14 points in any of the games. San Francisco plays Arizona (weak defense), Baltimore (strong offense), and Washington (extremely weak defense) in the fantasy playoffs, which should hopefully create conditions conducive to ceiling games for Purdy and this offense.
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