Before locking in your Fantasy Football lineups for the postseason, you need to see what SportsLine's advanced computer model has to say. When it comes to ranking players, SportsLine's model is beating human experts this season when there are big differences in ranking. And the model is the closest-to-the-hole overall, meaning it has best pinpointed where every player will finish each week.
With an unpredictable playoff schedule ahead of us, that could literally be the difference between winning your Fantasy Football playoff league or going home empty-handed.
The NFL playoffs bring a different style of Fantasy Football that places a premium on players and teams that will go deep into the playoffs and all the way through to the Super Bowl. The more games a player has, the more points he can earn your team.
SportsLine's computer model ranked key fantasy players by multiplying their 2017 point averages by the number of expected playoff games. And the results were pretty surprising.
A player the model loves for the duration of the playoffs: Rams RB Todd Gurley, who led the NFL with 19 TDs and 2,093 yards from scrimmage and was one of the most explosive fantasy players throughout the regular season. SportsLine's model says he'll finish as the top running back and third overall player in the playoffs.
One surprise: Jacksonville's defense, in a scoring system similar to the one you'd find on CBS Sports, out-scores players like Le'Veon Bell, Alvin Kamara, and Rob Gronkowski.
The Jaguars finished the season No. 2 in points allowed (16.8), No. 1 in passing yards allowed (169.9), and No. 2 in total defense (286.1). They shut out the division-rival Colts and held the Texans (twice), Ravens, Steelers, Bengals, and Browns to single-digits.
The Jags should also start the NFL Playoffs with a bang. They face the Bills in the Wild Card round as nine-point favorites and Buffalo may be without star RB LeSean McCoy (ankle), who is questionable. Even if 'Shady' plays, he likely won't be 100 percent. Lock in the Jags as your fantasy football defense.
And a massive shocker: Patriots QB Tom Brady, who threw 32 touchdown passes to just eight interceptions, is beaten out as the top overall player by Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith.
Smith finished the regular season strong with an average of almost 270 yards and a total of three TDs in his last three games. He gets the benefit of an additional Wild Card playoff game against the Tennessee Titans and can get you extra points on the ground. Smith has rushed for 355 yards this season and has at least four rushing attempts in six of his last eight games.
The Titans secondary ranks 25th in the league against the pass and has given up huge numbers recently to quarterbacks like Jared Goff (301 yards), Jimmy Garoppolo (381), and Tom Savage (365).
The model is also calling for a surprising QB to finish in the top 10, and his team could be in for a deep run in the playoffs.
So who should be in your Fantasy Football lineup for the playoffs? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy Football rankings for every player, plus see which QB could lead you to victory in your Fantasy Football playoff league, all from the model that's been crushing experts, and find out.
