I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who visited/supported Rotoprofessor throughout the 2015 season.  We couldn’t do this without you and your support is very much appreciated.

We will keep the site going in the offseason, though the articles will be a bit more sporadic, and we’ll also be posting NFL Mock Drafts and prospect profiles over on our prospect page.  In other words, make sure to keep checking back!

Thanks again and for those of you who are still battling for a title good luck today!

by Ray Kuhn

Kickers can truly decide a game, but the goal is always to avoid that occurrence. Of course that cannot be completely avoided, so here is how the Kickers rank to close out the season.

1. Shayne Graham – Atlanta Falcons – vs. New Orleans
2. Chandler Catanzaro – Arizona Cardinals – vs. Seattle
3. Stephen Gostkowski – New England Patriots – at Miami
4. Caleb Sturgis – Philadelphia Eagles – at New York Giants
5. Justin Tucker – Baltimore Ravens – at Cincinnati
6. Dustin Hopkins – Washington Redskins – at Dallas
7. Graham Gano – Carolina Panthers – vs. Tampa Bay
8. Nick Novak – Houston Texans – vs. Jacksonville Read more

by Ray Kuhn

As we close out the season, the best opportunities we have seen all year for defenses is upon us. At this point only about a third of teams have something to play for and there are no risks being taken. There are a lot of injuries and teams that are at less than full strength, so we will be seeing a lot of backups this week. While that also covers defensive players, this is most felt at the offensive skill positions. With that in mind let’s take a look at how the Defenses rank to close out the season.

1. Cincinnati Bengals – vs. Baltimore
2. Carolina Panthers – vs. Tampa Bay
3. Denver Broncos – vs. San Diego
4. Pittsburgh Steelers – at Cleveland
5. Arizona Cardinals – vs. Seattle
6. Kansas City Chiefs – vs. Oakland
7. New England Patriots – at Miami
8. St. Louis Rams – at San Francisco Read more

by Will Overton

There’s a lot on line for all of those who are still playing fantasy football in Week 17, so lineup decisions are more important than ever before. Here is how I see the Wide Receiver position breaking down in the rankings this week:

1. Julio Jones – Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans
2. Odell Beckham Jr – New York Giants vs. Philadelphia
3. DeAndre Hopkins – Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville
4. Antonio Brown – Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cleveland
5. Brandon Marshall – New York Jets @ Buffalo
6. Brandin Cooks – New Orleans Saints @ Atlanta
7. A.J. Green – Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore
8. Demaryius Thomas – Denver Broncos vs. San Diego
9. Allen Robinson – Jacksonville Jaguars @ Houston
10. Eric Decker – New York Jets @ Buffalo Read more

by Ray Kuhn

At this point it really is getting to be ridiculous. Now that we are at the finish line of the regular season your preseason rankings should have been long tossed out in the trash and we can all agree that there is very little symmetry between the Week 1 and Week 17 rankings. Regardless, it has been a wild ride, so let’s close out the season by seeing how the backfield options rank one last time:

1. Devonta Freeman – Atlanta Falcons – vs. New Orleans
2. Todd Gurley – St. Louis Rams – at San Francisco
3. DeAngelo Williams – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Cleveland
4. Adrian Peterson – Minnesota Vikings – at Green Bay
5. David Johnson – Arizona Cardinals – vs. Seattle
6. Doug Martin – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – at Carolina
7. Tim Hightower – New Orleans Saints – at Atlanta
8. Darren McFadden – Dallas Cowboys – vs. Washington
9. Charcandrick West – Kansas City Chiefs – vs. Oakland
10. Frank Gore – Indianapolis Colts – vs. Tennessee Read more

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

Week 17 is always a difficult week, which is why most leagues end in Week 16.  However, if you are still battling for a championship let’s take a look at who the best options are:

1. Cam Newton – Carolina Panthers – vs. Tampa Bay
2. Tom Brady – New England Patriots – at Miami
3. Blake Bortles – Jacksonville Jaguars – at Houston
4. Russell Wilson – Seattle Seahawks – at Arizona
5. Ryan Fitzpatrick – New York Jets – at Buffalo
6. Carson Palmer – Arizona Cardinals – vs. Seattle
7. Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh Steelers – at Cleveland
8. Eli Manning – New York Giants – vs. Philadelphia
9. Matthew Stafford – Detroit Lions – at Chicago
10. Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints – at Atlanta Read more

by Ray Kuhn

We have reached the finish line. The fantasy football season which is a marathon, sprint and game of survival all at the same time, but Week 17 is finally here. For those of you who are still alive in your league, there literally is no next week and all of the chips are on the table. If not and you are just taking a crack at DFS to add a little bit of intrigue to the game, here is how the Tight Ends rank to close out the season:

1. Rob Gronkowski – New England Patriots – at Miami
2. Greg Olsen – Carolina Panthers – vs. Tampa Bay
3. Jordan Reed – Washington Redskins – at Dallas
4. Gary Barnidge – Cleveland Browns – vs. Pittsburgh
5. Julius Thomas – Jacksonville Jaguars – at Houston
6. Zach Ertz – Philadelphia Eagles – at New York Giants
7. Travis Kelce – Kansas City Chiefs – vs. Oakland
8. Ben Watson – New Orleans – at Atlanta Read more

by Will Overton

I am a week 16 Championship game advocate because there are just too many variables and things left to chance in Week 17 to decide a champion. That said, I know there are plenty out there who do still play in Week 17 and have very high stakes on the line, so we’re still plugging away with top notch coverage here at Rotoprofessor.

As of now there are no guaranteed to sit kind of guys, which is nice to see. There were also no significant injuries in Week 16, so the talent pool on the wire is a little thin. Based on matchups and recent form there are a few guys jumping out at me who you should take a look at. Let’s break down the top waiver wire targets for those who are still on the lookout for some help:

Sam Bradford – QB, Philadelphia Eagles: I always make sure to include a streaming QB option in my waiver wire columns and Bradford is the widely owned QB I have identified. This one is all about matchup, and a little bit about game script. The Eagles draw the Giants porous secondary which is nice, and it’s almost certainly going to be a shootout similar to the one they just had with the Redskins in which Bradford threw for 361 yards. I like him to put up numbers based on quantity of work, if nothing else. Read more

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

Just hours before the start of Week 16 I know many people have questions running through their heads. Who should I start? Who should I sit? Let’s take a look at how some of the recent news changes things:

Karlos Williams – Buffalo Bills – Running Back
Chris Brown of the Bills’ official website (click here for the post) recently published the following quote from Bills’ head coach Rex Ryan:

“I would think so,” said Rex Ryan of the likelihood of a heavy rushing attack for both teams. “I think with the weather, I think we’re gonna get a lot of run. I mean it sounds like we’re gonna get some Buffalo wind and so I think that’ll probably lead to the fact that we’ll probably see more run.” Read more

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

We keep trying to figure out what the Dolphins are doing in their backfield, as they have seemingly misused Lamar Miller since the day he was drafted.  The hope had been that he would be featured after the coaching change and, to an extent, he was including a 20 carry performance on December 6  (he took those for 113 yards).

Of course his usage has decreased in the two subsequent games:

• December 14 – 12 carries (he took them for 89 yards and 2 TD, making the usage that much more curious)
• December 20 – 9 carries

After the game Adam Beasley tweeted:

“No wonder Lamar Miller was biting his tongue last night. He had EIGHTEEN snaps from scrimmage. Ajayi had 31.” Read more