Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill are obviously the top wide receivers this week. Both the Titans and the 49ers were poor against wide receivers in the second half of the season, but injuries hurt both teams. Both Adams and Hill move around the formation enough to avoid the opponent’s top defenders, so I’m not overly concerned of either getting shut down.
Last week Hill was bottled up pretty good by the Texans, but that just helped the Chiefs go for seven touchdowns in seven possessions in a rout. Both players have big upside but Adams is truly the Packers only consistent receiver, which means they will do everything they can to get him open while Hill. That pushes Adams to my No. 1 spot this weekend.
After Hill and Adams, we have a fairly tight group of receivers to choose from. A.J. Brown was the big play man during the regular season, but with Derrick Henry seeing 230+ touches in each of the Titans playoff games, it has been tough for anyone associated with the passing game. We continue to believe that the Titans will need to throw the ball more often, especially last week against the top scoring offense in the league, but so far they’ve been able to get by with 15 or fewer passes in their first two playoff games. Can they do that against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs? I don’t think so, but I thought the same last week.
Deebo Samuel is the only other receiver gong this weekend who has seen a good percentage of his team’s targets. He just missed a touchdown last week and has been getting usage on the ground as well as through the air. He scored a touchdown the last time these teams met and he has a good chance to do the same this week.
Mecole Hardman saw a decent workload with four targets against the Texans and is dynamic and fast enough with the ball to like his upside this week. And Sammy Watkins, despite his limited usage, remains worthwhile on such a small slate.
Half PPR Wide Receiver Rankings, Championship Round
Rank | Player | Team | Opp |
---|---|---|---|
Rank | Player | Team | Opp |
1 | Tyreek Hill | KC | vs TEN |
2 | Davante Adams | GB | @ SF |
3 | A.J. Brown | TEN | @ KC |
4 | Deebo Samuel | SF | vs GB |
5 | Emmanuel Sanders | SF | vs GB |
6 | Sammy Watkins | KC | vs TEN |
7 | Corey Davis | TEN | @ KC |
8 | Mecole Hardman | KC | vs TEN |
9 | Kendrick Bourne | SF | vs GB |
10 | Allen Lazard | GB | @ SF |
11 | Tajae Sharpe | TEN | @ KC |
12 | Geronimo Allison | GB | @ SF |
13 | Demarcus Robinson | KC | vs TEN |
14 | Marquez Valdes-Scantling | GB | @ SF |
15 | Jake Kumerow | GB | @ SF |
16 | Kalif Raymond | TEN | @ KC |