FanDuel Consensus Rankings Week 20

Photo: USA Today Sports

Welcome to Fanduel Value-Play Rankings!

Each week we ask 10 staff members to rank their top players at each Fanduel position. These rankings are based on what our DFS staff believe are the best players at each position with respect to total points they will receive compared to the dollars that they cost. These rankings can be used to help you round out your cash game and GPP lineups, or just provide a guideline for what the Footballguys.com staff believe are the best value-plays to target

If staffers submitted comments, they are included below the tables as well. 

With only two games on the slate this week, we've reduced the players that we ranked this week.

Each staffer was asked to rank 4 QBs, 6 RBs, 10 WRs, 4 TEs, 4 PKs, and 4 Defenses this week. For the purposes of calculating an average rank, if a player was not ranked by a particular staffer, they received a weight that was 1 point higher than the players they ranked. For example. if only 2 staffers ranked a particular quarterback, the other 8 staffers were weighted as giving that quarterback a '5' for average calculation purposes. 

FANDUEL CONSENSUS RANKINGS, WEEK 20: QUARTERBACKS

It's no surprise that Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers top the charts of value QBs this week. Both team have red-hot offenses that score a lot of points. Both teams are coming off impressive victories where they put up 34 or more points last week. Both QBs don't turn the ball over very much and have long streaks with multiple TD passes and no ints in a game for this season. But even more telling, just look at the week 8 match-up between these two teams, where Atlanta outlasted the Packers 33-32 in a slugfest in Atlanta. In that game, Aaron Rodgers 'only' had 246 yards passing, but he had 4 TD passes, 0 INTs and led the team in rushing with 60 yards. Matt Ryan had 288 yards passing, 3 TDs and 0 INTs.Vegas expects this game to be a shoot-out with an Over/Under of 61 points. That seems very likely given how well these two teams are playing. Ryan gets the slight edge this week because he's cheaper and all of his weapons are healthy, but Aaron Rodgers looked pretty impressive without Jordy Nelson last week, and if he isn't cleared to play in this week's game, you can expect that Rodgers will still find a way to reach value. 

Alexander

Matt Ryan: Don't expect Ryan to slow down against one of the worst secondaries in the league.

Aaron Rodgers: Rodgers is on a heater and figures to carve up Atlanta's defense.

Tom Brady: Brady's ceiling and floor are significantly lower than both Rodgers' and Ryan's this week.

Ben Roethlisberger: Play LeVeon Bell and Antonio Brown if you want exposure to Ben's fantasy output.

Feery

Matt Ryan: Just as much upside as Rodgers for a few hundred less.

Howe

Matt Ryan: That Green Bay secondary is just deplorable. The logical MVP is this week's safest play.

Tom Brady: Brady could easily outperform the rest of the slate, as he comes to cheaply and loves to shred the Steelers. But he also carries the potential for a boring, handoff-dominated game. He's a GPP staple, though.

Knotts

Matt Ryan: Highest projected team total and going against one of the worst secondaries in the NFL

Dak Prescott: Prescott brings a ton of value as a low-cost option facing an abhorrent secondary.

Alex Smith: Smith can dink and dunk with efficiency, which most QBs (like Matt Moore) find success with against the Steelers. With his tiny salary, he could be the week's top value.

FANDUEL CONSENSUS RANKINGS, WEEK 20: RUNNING BACKS

The two game slate this week presents very limited options at running back. With only 2 RBs to start in your lineup, you can bet that a majority of the lineups will put LeVeon Bell and Devonta Freeman in and move along. Ownership on Bell will be off the charts this week, as he continues to be matchup proof from week to week. Last week against the Chiefs, Bell didn't reach the end zone but still posted 170 rushing yardgs against a stout Kansas City defense. This week against the Patriots, he faces another touch challenge as New England had the #3 rushing defense in the league during the regular season, allowing just 88 yards per game and only 6 rushing TDs all season. Expect Bell to have another solid game though, and expect that he will easily be the highest owned RB this week. Freeman faces a much easier matchup at home against the Packers, who gave up 125 yards rushing to Ezekiel Elliott even though they were leading by more than 2 TDs for most of the game. Freeman has been the workhouse on the ground for the Falcons this season, but he also catches the ball well out of the backfield. Last week against the Seahawks, Freeman had just 45 yards rushing and a TD but also chipped in 80 yards receiving. His 8000 pricetag makes him a little easier to roster than Bell, but he will still be a little less owned than Bell as DFS players look to have a little differentiation. 

After the chalk options this week, it becomes an interesting mix of opportunities. Ty Montgomery is no secret weapon anymore, and he posted 2 rushing TDS against the leagues best run defense last week. His pricetag is much more reasonable than Bell or Freeman, but he is not nearly as consistent as they are in putting up points. Dion Lewis scored three times last week, making him a strong consdieration this week as a guy you grab if you fade one of the top two backs. The problem is he's only going to touch the ball about 13 times this week, and he's facing a tough Pittsburgh run defense that has held opponents to less than 50 yards rushing during the playoffs. Tevin Coleman is the other back in Atlanta to target if you want a piece of that 61 point over/under, but his upside is limited by Freeman and he has less value without a full point per reception. 

Hindery

LeGarrette Blount: It feels like a "Blount week," as the Steelers have at times proven vulnerable against bigger backs. Ezekeil Elliott, Jay Ajayi, Isaiah Crowell and Blount himself (127 rushing yards and 2 TDs in Week 7) all had big games against Pittsburgh.

Howe

Devonta Freeman: The Falcons project to high, high scoring and gaudy efficiency marks across the board. Freeman will play a huge role in that.

Tevin Coleman: Coleman is my favorite GPP play of the week: dynamic, facing a weakish front seven, and primed for enough volume (12+ touches) to make a splash.

Feery

Devonta Freeman: Offers up serious savings over Bell, and may have more upside in a projected shootout.

Alexander

LeVeon Bell: Still the top RB play on the board by a wide margin despite the tough matchup.

Devonta Freeman: Nine touchdowns in his last five home games.

Dion Lewis: Lewis was due some course correction in the touchdown department, and it came in a big way last week. He'll be more popular at the same price point than Ty Montgomery despite similar upside and a worse matchup.

Tevin Coleman: Big play threats like Coleman deman exposure on short slates.

LeGarrette Blount: He'll be low-owned, so worth some consideration on the chance he falls into the end zone in a #RevengeGame.

FANDUEL CONSENSUS RANKINGS, WEEK 20: WIDE RECEIVERS

Most DFS games this week will be won or lost on the wide receiver selections. Both Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady should finish their games with multiple TD passes, but which WR is on the receiving end of them can make all the difference in the world. Four of the top WRs that are ranked by our staffers are from Green Bay and four of them are from the Patriots. This should tell you just how tricky it's going to be to pick the right combination of players. 

For Green Bay, the reason is injuries. Jordy Nelson is their top receiver, but he's slowly working his way back into practice and will be far from 100%, even if he plays this week. Davante Adams would be the 'next man up', but he rolled his ankle pretty severely in the game last week against Dallas and he is not practicing. He is expected to play, but this is the kind of injury that could limit his ability to cut and juke, making it harder for him to get the separation that makes him so effective. Geronimo Allison has seen some action over the last few games, but he's hampered by a hamstring injury and he is not practicing either. That leave Randall Cobb as the top Green Bay prospect this week, and that's why he's near the top of the charts. With the rest of the other options struggling with injuries, Cobb might be the safest pick of them all. 

For New England, it's a case of spreading the ball around. Julian Edelman is the guy who will be targeted the most, but in a system that doesn't award a full point per reception, he is not as effective of a receiver and the guy who gets into the end zone can really make an impact. That opens the door for Chris Hogan, rookie Malcolm Mitchell and former Arizona WR Michael Floyd to all hit value if they can pull in a score. Hogan's had four receptions in the final game of the season against Miami and last week's playoff win against the Texans. His yardage and scoring are very sporadic depend on who Brady is targeting, so he could be a solid play or end up with minimal stats. Mitchell missed the last few games of the season with a knee injury, and was held out of last week's game as well. However, reports indicate that he will be healthy enough to play this week against the Steelers. He was putting together some impressive stats for a rookie before going down to injury, and he could be the wild card in the group of New England receivers. Michael Floyd probably hadn't finished packing his bags in Arizona before the Patriots were on the phone looking to sign him. He's seen minimal action so far in a Patriot uniform, but he's now had a few weeks to learn the offense and he healthy enough to make a contribution as well. Everyone knows that Brady doesn't have a favorite receiver, and any one of these guys could have a big game or finish with 1 reception for 15 yards. 

The other two big names are Antonio Brown and Julio Jones. Brown is the biggest receiving threat that the Steelers can throw at New England this week, and he's been a DFS darling all season, no matter who they are facing. Against the Patriots earlier this season, he had 11 targets, and finished with seven recetpions for 106 yards. If New England focuses on stopping LeVeon Bell, or they get out to an early lead, Ben Roethlisberger is going to have to throw to catch up and Brown's going to be his #1 target. Expect him to have a big game, no matter what the final outcome is. Julio Jones is in a similar situation. He's clearly the best receiving option that the Falcons have, and he will be the most talented receiver on the field this week against Green Bay. He didn't see much action in the Atlanta's big win over Seattle last week, but all reports indicate that he's 100% and ready to go. He's currently not listed on the team's injury report. With the Falcons expected to score more than 30 points this week, Julio is a guy who's going to see a lot of action. 

Knotts

Geronimo Allison: Geronimo Allison will be expected to take on a bigger role in this offense with Adams injured even if he does play

Davante Adams: Health remains a big question for Adams, likely will not practice until at least Saturday

Alexander

Randall Cobb: Still too cheap relative to target volume in white hot offense.

Julian Edelman: Expect Edelman to hog targets again for the Pats. Pittsburgh had some issues defending the slot this season.

Davante Adams: Probably the highest touchdown probability of any wide receiver on the slate.

Antonio Brown: Pats will game plan to shut him down, but will also have their hand full with Bell. WR1 potential in any given week.

Julio Jones: Did you see what Dez Bryant did to this secondary last week? There are better strict point per dollar plays at wide receiver, but Julio will score the most raw points.

Howe

Julian Edelman: Edelman is the weekend's safest (and maybe healthiest) No. 1 wideout. If the Patriots throw 35+ times, at least 10-12 will come Edelman's way.

Geronimo Allison: Allison still comes cheaply, despite his everpresent role in the Packers' injury-ravaged receiving corps.

Antonio Brown: Brown is more of a GPP stab this week, but he's superhuman and has surprised us in a rough-looking spot more than once.

Hindery

Mohamed Sanu: Green Bay is likely to double Julio Jones and force the Falcons secondary receivers to make plays. This is exactly the type of game that Sanu was signed for $32.5M for in the offseason. Expect him to see a bunch of targets and have a big game.

Feery

Antonio Brown: Multiple touchdown upside at an affordable price.

FANDUEL CONSENSUS RANKINGS, WEEK 20: TIGHT ENDS

Feery

Jared Cook: Cook has seen a ton of volume of late, and there's zero signs that will be stopping with the season on the line.

Alexander

Martellus Bennett: The Steelers gave up a fair amount of tight end production to close out the season. As long as Bennett is healthy, his ceiling is right there with Jared Cook's.

Jared Cook: The mega-chalk at tight end.

Austin Hooper: Not a bad flier given Green Bay's struggles in the back-end of their secondary, the Falcons 33 point implied team total, and the ownership that will be concentrated on Cook.

Howe

Jared Cook: Cook is the weekend's only option with a floor above 0 points, so he's virtually all you need in your cash portfolio.

FANDUEL CONSENSUS RANKINGS, WEEK 20: KICKERS

Howe

Matt Bryant: His team projects the highest, he kicks in a dome, and he has long range. And most importantly, his high floor and ceiling come at a small premium compared to the rest of the pack.

Feery

Matt Bryant: Great kicker in a home shootout, no reason to overthink position this week. 

FANDUEL CONSENSUS RANKINGS, WEEK 20: DEFENSES

All of the defenses are depressed this week, giving everyone the ability to build teams a little easier. New England tops the list of value plays at defense this week, largely because the face the Steelers on the road with the lowest team total this week. The Patriots have seven INTs over their last three games, and have held opposing quarterbacks just 539 passing yards over those same three week. Add in that Ben Roethlisberger is a different quarterback on the road and struggled pretty badly last week against the Chiefs, and you can see why the Patriots are the defense everyone wants. 

With the Falcons and the Packers expected to be in a shoot-out this week, they are the bottom two defenses despite their ultra-minimum pricing. The Falcons are expected to score more than 30 this week, and are playing at home against a defense that gave up 31 points to the Cowboys last week. The Packers can put 30 points on anyone, and the Falcons have the weakest of the four defenses still playing. Neither defense is going to be stingy this week so if you're playing one of them, you're basically hoping for a TD return. 

Feery

Pittsburgh Steelers: Steelers can force turnovers, and the Patriots surprisingly gave up a few last week. 

Good luck this weekend!

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