Fantasy football advice, Conference championships: FanDuel wide receivers
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Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
Losing wide receivers last week: Torrey Smith. Steve Smith Sr. Dez Bryant. Demaryius Thomas. Emmanuel Sanders. Kelvin Benjamin.
Losing wide receivers in the first week of the playoffs: Calvin Johnson. Golden Tate. A.J. Green. Antonio Brown. Martavis Bryant. Larry Fitzgerald. Michael Floyd.
We went from a league where there was a whole host of big-name receivers available to a league where there are only three guys priced above $7,500 in FanDuel this week. The middle tier -- guys like Doug Baldwin and the New England duo -- is still there in force, but I've advocated all season for a super-elite roster-anchor, and we're running out of those.
Remember, I’m ranking the players at every position in FanDuel every week of the playoffs. That means taking FanDuel salaries into account -- you’d often rather get 18 fantasy points out of a $4,500 guy than 19 out of a $7,900 one. The wide receiver chart follows, with rationales after that:
Wide receivers
| Rank | Player | Team | Opponent | Salary |
| 1 | Doug Baldwin | SEA | GB | $6,200 |
| 2 | Jordy Nelson | GB | @SEA | $8,900 |
| 3 | T.Y. Hilton | IND | @NE | $8,200 |
| 4 | Jermaine Kearse | SEA | GB | $5,800 |
| 5 | Randall Cobb | GB | @SEA | $8,800 |
| 6 | Davante Adams | GB | @SEA | $6,000 |
| 7 | Hakeem Nicks | IND | @NE | $5,500 |
| 8 | Julian Edelman | NE | IND | $7,500 |
| 9 | Brandon LaFell | NE | IND | $7,000 |
| 10 | Donte Moncrief | IND | @NE | $5,300 |
| 11 | Danny Amendola | NE | IND | $5,900 |
| 12 | Ricardo Lockette | SEA | GB | $4,800 |
| 13 | Reggie Wayne | IND | @NE | $5,000 |
- I feel comfortable saying Baldwin will not be the top-producing receiver of the week. But he's the one I feel most comfortable saying will have some numbers. The Packers struggle against wide receivers, and with Paul Richardson done for the year, the Seahawks have one fewer option. Baldwin might not be the best receiver of the week. But he's affordable, and I couldn't confidently tell you who will be No. 1.
- I'm playing a hunch with the top two Green Bay guys. Nelson has been quiet of late, and he never stays quiet for long. It's hard to imagine both he and Cobb could have big games -- let alone Adams -- so I'm just going to run on a feeling that Nelson is the guy. That's not the best analysis, but we're parsing really small windows here.
- I couldn't use Hilton this week with any confidence. He's so obviously the best Colts receiver, meaning he'll so obviously draw Darrelle Revis, meaning ... well, likely not great things. He's good enough that he's still ranked highly, but it's scary.
- Look, I don't know about Edelman and/or LaFell, let alone Amendola. If you told me I could pay an extra grand and use "best-scoring New England receiver" or something, I'd be all in. But these guys go back and forth so much that I don't know how you feel good picking any one over any other one.
- I could make an argument for Hilton. I could make an argument for Nicks. I could make an argument for Moncrief. I couldn't, though, make an argument for Wayne. He's not remotely usable.
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