Playoff fantasy rankings

I'm cheating.

I like what I wrote so much about the rationale behind my fantasy playoff rankings last year that I'm stealing it and using it again.  You won't even be able to see the small changes I made, I promise.

But first, check out this link that details the rules for the playoff fantasy football I like to play.

The playoff fantasy rankings have arrived. With apologies to Brad Childress Derek Anderson, here is the stream of conciousness I care, and I'm not laughing about anything regarding how these rankings turned out. The first consideration is how many games you are going to get from a player. Therefore, I used my mythical playoff bracket (I'll get to that in a minute) to predict how many games each team will play. The second consideration is the likelihood of those predictions coming true. For example, I give the Chargers Saints about a 90 percent chance of playing at least two games, and a 50 percent chance of playing three. While I think the Bengals Packers beat the Jets Eagles, that is more of a 55 percent call, so I can't be that confident Palmer Rodgers gets more than one game, even though I still have them winning. In short, I want all my players to get at least two games, anything above that is gravy and, if you've been watching the playoffs the last few years, very difficult to predict. So these rankings take the likelihood of two games heavily into consideration. The third influence on these rankings is pure fantasy worthiness. Ray Rice LaDainian Tomlinson is obviously going to be ranked higher than Sammy Morris Domonic Rhodes, even though I have the Pats Colts winning that game.

So, here is my playoff bracket, followed by my rankings. Obviously, if you believe the playoff matchups will turn out differently, you should reflect those changes in your own rankings.  Warning:  if you like the Patriots more than I do (and I have them one and done) you move all those guys up significantly.

Round One
Saints over Seahawks
Colts over Jets
Ravens over Chiefs
Packers over Eagles

Round Two
Steelers over Colts
Ravens over Patriots
Falcons over Packers
Saints over Bears

Round Three
Falcons over Saints
Steelers over Ravens

Super Bowl
Steelers over Falcons

Quarterback
Drew Brees
Ben Roethlisberger
Matt Ryan
Joe Flacco
Aaron Rodgers
Peyton Manning
Mike Vick
Tom Brady
Jay Cutler
Mark Sanchez
Matt Cassel
Whitehurst/Hasselbeck

Running Back
Ray Rice
Rashard Mendenhall
Michael Turner
Pierre Thomas
Joseph Addai
LeSean McCoy
Matt Forte
BenJarvus Green-Ellis
Reggie Bush
LaDainian Tomlinson
Jamaal Charles
Shonn Greene
Danny Woodhead
Willis McGahee
Jason Snelling
Marshawn Lynch
Thomas Jones
Brandon Jackson
John Kuhn
Julius Jones
Chris Ivory (Is he healthy?)
LeRon McClain
Domonic Rhodes
James Starks
Chester Taylor
Justin Forsett
Donald Brown

Wide Receivers
Roddy White
Mike Wallace
Derrick Mason
Greg Jennings
Marques Colston
Reggie Wayne
Hines Ward
Anquan Boldin
DeSean Jackson
Pierre Garcon
Jeremy Maclin
Donald Driver
Deion Branch
Lance Moore
Wes Welker
James Jones
TJ Houshmandzadeh
Robert Meachem
Santonio Holmes
Johnny Knox
Devery Henderson
Blair White
Braylon Edwards
Michael Jenkins
Dwayne Bowe
Mike Williams
Devin Hester
Jordy Nelson
Brandon Tate
Earl Bennett
Antwaan Randle-El
Brian Finneran
Brad Smith
Jason Avant
Ben Obamanu
Harry Douglas
Dexter McCluster
Devin Aromashodu

Tight End
Tony Gonzalez
Todd Heap
Jacob Tamme
Jimmy Graham
Heath Miller
Jeremy Shockey
Rob Gronkowski
Dustin Keller
Aaron Hernandez
Greg Olsen
Andrew Quarless
Brent Celek
Tony Moeaki
John Carlson

Kicker
Garrett Hartley
Matt Bryant
Shaun Suisham
Billy Cundiff
Mason Crosby
Adam Vinatieri
Mason Crosby
David Akers
Robbie Gould
Shayne Graham
Ryan Succop
Olindo Mare

Defense/ST
Steelers
Saints
Ravens
Falcons
Packers
Colts
Patriots
Bears
Eagles
Jets
Chiefs
Seahawks

Cheers,
TFAM