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FanDuel advice: Wide receivers in Wild Card weekend
Some of the position’s superstars made it to the postseason, so let’s look at which ones are the best plays.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Apologies to Julio Jones and Odell Beckham Jr., but the class of wide receivers in this year's NFL playoffs is incredible. We have maybe the game's best receiver (Antonio Brown), the guy who has been the hottest in the game down the stretch (Doug Baldwin) and bona fide superstars in DeAndre Hopkins and A.J. Green.
Ranking running backs for Wild Card weekend was a chore. Ranking wide receivers was a delight.
I mean, that’s not really true. When everyone is good, there’s that much more pressure to figure out exactly who is the best. But still, it’s a lot more fun to pick between a bunch of good options than a bunch of garbage ones.
Each week of the playoffs, I’m ranking the players at each position for fantasy, taking their FanDuel salaries into account. That means that prices matter; the same production from a $6,300 guy is more important than it is from an $8,300 guy. Below are the rankings, with rationales to follow:
Wide receivers
| Rank | Wide receiver | Team | Opponent | Salary |
| 1 | Doug Baldwin | SEA | @MIN | $7,300 |
| 2 | DeSean Jackson | WAS | GB | $7,000 |
| 3 | DeAndre Hopkins | HOU | KC | $8,800 |
| 4 | Antonio Brown | PIT | @CIN | $9,500 |
| 5 | Jeremy Maclin | KC | @HOU | $7,200 |
| 6 | A.J. Green | CIN | PIT | $8,300 |
| 7 | Pierre Garcon | WAS | GB | $6,300 |
| 8 | Tyler Lockett | SEA | @MIN | $6,200 |
| 9 | Martavis Bryant | PIT | @CIN | $6,900 |
| 10 | James Jones | GB | @WAS | $5,700 |
| 11 | Marvin Jones | CIN | PIT | $5,500 |
| 12 | Markus Wheaton | PIT | @CIN | $5,900 |
| 13 | Cecil Shorts III | HOU | KC | $5,200 |
| 14 | Albert Wilson | KC | @HOU | $4,900 |
| 15 | Stefon Diggs | MIN | SEA | $5,800 |
| 16 | Randall Cobb | GB | @WAS | $6,500 |
| 17 | Jermaine Kearse | MIN | @MIN | $6,000 |
| 18 | Nate Washington | HOU | KC | $5,300 |
| 19 | Mike Wallace | MIN | SEA | $4,700 |
| 20 | Jamison Crowder | WAS | GB | $4,700 |
- Sometimes you just have to steer into the skid. Doug Baldwin is really, really good. He can't possibly be as good as he's been of late. I don't care. He's No. 1, especially when he's more than two thousand off the top salary at the position.
- In theory, I really like A.J. Green against the middling Pittsburgh pass defense. The problem is that it's AJ McCarron, not Andy Dalton, throwing him the ball. He did have three touchdowns in four games with McCarron, but still, the offense had 30-plus points in three straight and four of five games before Dalton's injury and hasn't gone past 24 since. Green is hard to trust all the way.
- It looks like Cecil Shorts III and Nate Washington will both be healthy for Houston come Sunday. When both were on the field together this season (which, admittedly, was rare), Shorts tended to get more looks. If the Texans are going to find success in the playoffs, they really need a second wide receiver. I like Shorts to fill the role.
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