Our own Pat Fitzmaurice has been among the most accurate fantasy football experts in the industry over the last several years. Fitz was THE most accurate in-season ranker in 2020. What better way to prepare for your fantasy football start/sit lineup decisions than by reviewing his rankings? You can do just that below.
You can also find our expert consensus fantasy football rankings for the week here. And you can sync your fantasy football league for free using our My Playbook tool for custom advice, rankings, and analysis.
Fantasy Football Rankings
Fitz’s Fantasy Football Takes
Quarterback
Welcome back to the circle of trust, Justin Fields. Perhaps we never should have cast Fields out of that circle. Yes, his struggles in the first few weeks of the season were real. There may be additional struggles ahead. Fields isn’t a pinpoint passer, so if he isn’t getting it done with his legs, he can produce some disappointing point totals. But when Fields is cooking as a passer and then slathers on the rushing gravy … that’s some good eatin’. Over his last two games, Fields has thrown for 617 yards and eight touchdowns. He feasted on the Denver and Washington pass defenses in those two games. Now he gets a tasty matchup against the Vikings, who have allowed the eighth-most fantasy points per game to QBs. The Vikings love to blitz but only rank 21st in pressure rate, according to Pro Football Reference. Minnesota’s opponent passer rating is 110.8, third-worst in the league behind only the Broncos and, uh, the Bears themselves. Play Fields every week, even when the matchup isn’t as pristine as this one.
Running Back
Saquon Barkley is still a respected brand name in fantasy football, and no doubt his fantasy managers will be pleased if he returns from a high-ankle sprain to face the Dolphins this week. It’s a seemingly enticing matchup. Miami ranks 24th in DVOA against the run and has yielded the 14th-most fantasy points to RBs. But Barkley might not be 100% healthy yet, and the Giants’ offensive line has been a disaster this season. You’re probably starting Saquon if you’re rostering him, but I do not have lofty expectations for him in his first game back.
Wide Receiver
Don’t be afraid to start Garrett Wilson this week even though his target-delivery mechanism is Zach Wilson. The Eagles’ pass defense was terrific last season. This season … not so much. Philadelphia has given up the third-most fantasy points per game to opposing WRs, and CB Darius Slay, who was likely to be tasked with covering Wilson on a good number of his routes, is questionable with a knee injury.
Tight End
I’m starting to think that Logan Thomas could have low-end TE1 value or even midrange TE1 value the rest of the way. As noted in the wide receiver section above, Commanders QB Sam Howell hasn’t been throwing to WRs Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson as much as we expected. Thomas has drawn a 14% target share so far. He had 9-77-1 on 11 targets last week against the Bears, and I think Thomas will continue to see nice target totals since Howell seems more comfortable throwing to the middle of the field than to the boundaries. Thomas gets a juicy Week 6 matchup against a Falcons defense that has allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to TEs.
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