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Mailbag for January 20, 2022

Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. In this edition: Will Cam Akers put up elite numbers in 2022? Top individual prospects for the remainder of the postseason.

Question 1

What do you make of Cam Akers prospects for 2022? You had him ranked pretty high going into 2021 before his injury. Watching the Rams feed him the ball early in this playoff game makes me think he should be in line for a strong 2022 season.

Peter DiStefano (Downingtown, PA)

Agreed. He ran hard on Monday night. Damn hard. Sony Michel started that game, but Akers finished with more playing time and more touches. I thought Akers looked better than Michel. I expect Akers will be their most productive running back on Sunday in Tampa. All of which is pretty remarkable, with Akers being a half year removed from a torn Achilles.

A week ago, I was thinking Akers would be showing up at camp in 2022 looking to land a role – to be a contributor. Achilles injuries can torpedo careers. I was thinking they’d be looking to add another significant running back in the offseason. But after that game Monday night, I would think the Rams are expecting Akers will be their starting running back next season. They still have Darrell Henderson; he’ll probably get some touches. Maybe they re-sign Michel or add somebody else. Perhaps they think Jake Funk is ready to be their third back. But Akers looks like their top guy. Off the top of my head, when we’re sitting down and drafting next August, I would think Akers will go somewhere between 8th and 12th among running backs.

2 Comments | Add Comment

Question 2

I'm in a season-long league that goes all the way through the playoffs. There are 8 teams left that draft out of the remaining NFL teams, standard, non-PPR. We're the #1 seed and pick first every round. Each team can freeze players from their regular-season roster and I expect the following to be froze: Allen, Stafford, Burrow, Henry, Akers, A. Jones, Kupp, Chase and Hill. We have Brady, Gronk and Evans we could freeze, but I'm concerned with the game flow this week for TB against LA and having that many players from one team. Do we freeze any of them or look elsewhere this week? FYI, QBs in this league get 6 pts per touchdown. They tend to go quicker and not sure I wanna end up with Garoppolo.

Josh Blain (Bardstown, KY)

You definitely don’t want to end up with Garoppolo. We’re in agreement there. I posted an overall playoff board earlier in the week. But we can re-visit that now, since we’ve had a chance to look in more detail at the four upcoming games (for the Wednesday Weekly preview).

There have also been some injury updates. Most notably, Derrick Henry, Leonard Fournette and Clyde Edwards-Helaire are looking likely to be available. CEH was a full participant at practice on Wednesday, while Darrel Williams (toe) didn’t practice at all. So as it stands now, you would think KC will be going with some combination of Jerick McKinnon and Edwards-Helaire at tailback.

Updated projections appear below. For each guy, you’re looking at his expected per-game numbers. The final column shows total expected fantasy points, using the format you outlined (with touchdown passes worth not 4 but 6 points). Rodgers appears as both the first and last player on the list of my top 100 (with Aaron first and Amari 100th).

UPDATED OVERALL PLAYOFF BOARD
Pos	Tm	Player	G	Pass	TDP	Rec	Run	TD	Josh
QB	GB	Aaron Rodgers	2.44	279	2.23	0	5	.09	69.3
QB	KC	Patrick Mahomes	2.00	287	2.18	0	18	.16	60.3
QB	BUF	Josh Allen	1.85	269	1.90	0	46	.40	58.9
WR	GB	Davante Adams	2.44	0	.00	102	0	.77	55.4
QB	TB	Tom Brady	1.83	279	1.98	0	3	.12	49.2
QB	CIN	Joe Burrow	1.55	282	2.08	0	6	.06	42.6
QB	LAR	Matthew Stafford	1.54	267	2.02	0	2	.02	39.7
RB	GB	Aaron Jones	2.44	0	.00	24	53	.69	36.8
QB	TEN	Ryan Tannehill	1.60	226	1.27	0	15	.36	36.0
WR	LAR	Cooper Kupp	1.54	0	.00	95	1	.68	31.9
WR	KC	Tyreek Hill	2.00	0	.00	64	4	.59	31.6
RB	BUF	Devin Singletary	1.85	0	.00	22	66	.75	31.5
TE	KC	Travis Kelce	2.00	1	.01	66	0	.61	31.3
WR	TB	Mike Evans	1.83	0	.00	71	0	.64	29.3
WR	BUF	Stefon Diggs	1.85	0	.00	71	0	.48	29.0
WR	CIN	JaMarr Chase	1.55	0	.00	86	2	.76	28.4
RB	GB	AJ Dillon	2.44	0	.00	17	46	.51	27.8
TE	TB	Rob Gronkowski	1.83	0	.00	68	0	.50	27.1
RB	TB	Leonard Fournette	1.83	0	.00	20	55	.60	25.7
WR	GB	Allen Lazard	2.44	0	.00	45	0	.38	25.5
RB	KC	Jerick McKinnon	2.00	0	.00	25	35	.48	24.1
QB	SF	Jimmy Garoppolo	1.19	228	1.38	0	1	.06	24.0
RB	CIN	Joe Mixon	1.55	0	.00	22	60	.65	23.2
WR	CIN	Tee Higgins	1.55	0	.00	74	0	.40	23.1
WR	TEN	A.J. Brown	1.60	0	.00	62	1	.35	20.7
WR	KC	Mecole Hardman	2.00	0	.00	45	4	.27	20.2
RB	TEN	Derrick Henry	1.60	0	.00	9	67	.63	20.1
WR	SF	Deebo Samuel	1.19	0	.00	46	39	.84	20.0
WR	LAR	Odell Beckham	1.54	0	.00	51	2	.52	19.6
TE	BUF	Dawson Knox	1.85	0	.00	41	0	.42	18.7
TE	LAR	Tyler Higbee	1.54	0	.00	46	0	.37	18.0
WR	KC	Byron Pringle	2.00	0	.00	42	0	.29	18.0
PK	GB	Mason Crosby	2.44	0	.00	0	0	.00	17.8
RB	LAR	Cam Akers	1.54	0	.00	16	50	.47	17.8
WR	BUF	Gabriel Davis	1.85	0	.00	44	0	.38	17.6
WR	CIN	Tyler Boyd	1.55	0	.00	50	1	.32	17.2
RB	KC	Clyde Edwards-Helaire	2.00	0	.00	12	32	.35	16.3
RB	SF	Elijah Mitchell	1.19	0	.00	12	73	.56	15.9
WR	BUF	Isaiah McKenzie	1.85	0	.00	31	7	.19	15.4
RB	TB	Giovani Bernard	1.83	0	.00	20	17	.22	15.2
PK	KC	Harrison Butker	2.00	0	.00	0	0	.00	15.1
WR	SF	Brandon Aiyuk	1.19	0	.00	58	1	.35	14.4
WR	TEN	Julio Jones	1.60	0	.00	44	0	.24	14.1
PK	TB	Ryan Succop	1.83	0	.00	0	0	.00	13.6
PK	BUF	Tyler Bass	1.85	0	.00	0	0	.00	13.6
WR	LAR	Van Jefferson	1.54	0	.00	41	1	.31	13.3
WR	GB	M. Valdes-Scantling	2.44	0	.00	25	0	.20	13.0
TE	CIN	C.J. Uzomah	1.55	0	.00	34	0	.37	12.9
WR	TEN	Nick Westbrook-Ikhine	1.60	0	.00	36	0	.19	12.7
RB	LAR	Sony Michel	1.54	0	.00	8	40	.34	12.6
TE	GB	Josiah Deguara	2.44	0	.00	20	0	.16	12.6
TE	SF	George Kittle	1.19	0	.00	48	0	.31	12.3
TE	TEN	Anthony Firkser	1.60	0	.00	30	0	.15	12.1
PK	CIN	Evan McPherson	1.55	0	.00	0	0	.00	11.8
WR	TB	Tyler Johnson	1.83	0	.00	28	0	.14	11.4
PK	LAR	Matt Gay	1.54	0	.00	0	0	.00	11.3
WR	BUF	Cole Beasley	1.85	0	.00	24	0	.13	11.2
PK	TEN	Randy Bullock	1.60	0	.00	0	0	.00	11.1
WR	GB	Randall Cobb	2.44	0	.00	20	0	.14	10.6
TE	GB	Marcedes Lewis	2.44	0	.00	17	0	.14	10.6
WR	BUF	Emmanuel Sanders	1.85	0	.00	28	0	.15	10.5
WR	SF	Jauan Jennings	1.19	0	.00	32	0	.26	9.4
TE	TB	Cameron Brate	1.83	0	.00	17	0	.23	9.1
RB	TB	KeShawn Vaughn	1.83	0	.00	6	21	.21	8.7
WR	KC	Demarcus Robinson	2.00	0	.00	17	0	.15	8.4
RB	TEN	Dontrell Hilliard	1.60	0	.00	9	21	.18	8.4
RB	TEN	D'Onta Foreman	1.60	0	.00	7	25	.20	8.4
PK	SF	Robbie Gould	1.19	0	.00	0	0	.00	8.2
RB	KC	Darrel Williams	2.00	0	.00	9	10	.15	7.4
TE	TEN	Geoff Swaim	1.60	0	.00	14	0	.13	6.5
WR	TB	Cyril Grayson	1.83	0	.00	17	0	.10	6.1
RB	BUF	Zack Moss	1.85	0	.00	7	9	.11	5.6
WR	TB	Breshad Perriman	1.83	0	.00	14	0	.08	5.2
RB	CIN	Samaje Perine	1.55	0	.00	9	8	.07	5.0
WR	GB	Equanimeous St. Brown	2.44	0	.00	8	1	.05	4.8
WR	TB	Scotty Miller	1.83	0	.00	11	1	.06	4.3
RB	SF	Kyle Juszczyk	1.19	0	.00	12	1	.08	3.8
WR	TEN	Chester Rogers	1.60	0	.00	9	0	.07	3.6
RB	SF	JaMycal Hasty	1.19	0	.00	7	2	.03	2.5
TE	KC	Blake Bell	2.00	0	.00	5	0	.04	2.4
RB	KC	Derrick Gore	2.00	0	.00	1	6	.06	2.3
RB	CIN	Chris Evans	1.55	0	.00	4	3	.02	1.9
RB	KC	Michael Burton	2.00	0	.00	2	1	.05	1.8
TE	GB	Tyler Davis	2.44	0	.00	3	0	.02	1.7
WR	LAR	Ben Skowronek	1.54	0	.00	5	0	.02	1.7
TE	BUF	Reggie Gilliam	1.85	0	.00	2	1	.06	1.6
WR	TEN	Racey McMath	1.60	0	.00	5	0	.03	1.6
WR	SF	Trent Sherfield	1.19	0	.00	7	0	.04	1.5
TE	LAR	Kendall Blanton	1.54	0	.00	4	0	.01	1.4
RB	TB	Ronald Jones	1.83	0	.00	1	3	.02	1.3
WR	TB	Justin Watson	1.83	0	.00	3	0	.02	1.1
TE	CIN	Drew Sample	1.55	0	.00	3	0	.03	1.1
TE	TEN	Tommy Hudson	1.60	0	.00	2	0	.03	1.0
TE	KC	Noah Gray	2.00	0	.00	2	0	.01	.9
TE	SF	Charlie Woerner	1.19	0	.00	3	0	.02	.9
TE	TB	O.J. Howard	1.83	0	.00	2	0	.01	.8
RB	TEN	Khari Blasingame	1.60	0	.00	1	1	.03	.8
WR	TB	Jaelon Darden	1.83	0	.00	1	0	.04	.8
TE	GB	Dominique Dafney	2.44	0	.00	1	0	.01	.7
WR	GB	Amari Rodgers	2.44	0	.00	0	1	.02	.7

4 Comments | Add Comment

2 Reader Comments on Question 1:

Robert McKinlay

Belews Creek, NC

2022-01-21T16:27:24Z

All of us with Akers as RB1 in dynasty hope he has fully recovered. May be good to have Funk on Taxi Squad.

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY

2022-01-21T16:55:47Z

Michel and Henderson are both under contract for 2022 (Henderson cheaply). Funk unlikely to be the No. 2 anytime soon.

4 Reader Comments on Question 2:

Fantasy Index Staff

Seattle, WA

2022-01-21T17:29:23Z

Andy's mistaken on this one, I believe. Michel is completing his fourth season. He was drafted late in the first round in 2018. That's the same draft that included Rashaad Penny, and neither of those guys had their fifth-year options picked up. The financing played a role in the Patriots choosing to trade him. Knowing they wouldn't re-sign him for 2022, the Patriots figured they'd be better off getting something in return and instead going with the Harris-Stevenson combo. Unless I missed something, I believe Michel will be an unrestricted free agent in March.

Donald DeKeyser

Green Bay, WI

2022-01-21T18:20:29Z

With 8 teams left,is this an elimination format from now on? That is the way our league is. If thats the case you don't want to rely on overall rankings. You're focus should be on winning this week. Even picking first, there's no way you will replace Gronk or Evans with anyone better. As for Brady, do you think you'll get enough of an upgrade to offset the downgrade at your other positions? If you think Mahommes will kill it and Brady will be shut down by the Rams this week then go for it. The guy who will play 2.15 games won't do you any good if you don't win this week. Good luck!

Andy Richardson

Port Chester, NY

2022-01-21T18:40:39Z

I looked up Michel's contract status before posting. The spotrac link read "In 2022, Michel will earn a base salary of $4,523,000, while carrying a cap hit of $4,523,000." Going back and checking it again, it reads that, but then there are lines drawn through the 2022 numbers below it. So...Maybe the text was referencing *if* the option was picked up. Here's the link.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/los-angeles-rams/sony-michel-25126/

Paul Barnes

Orlando , FL

2022-03-30T02:59:27Z

Hello Ian,

I have neglected to get back to you on the football season wrap-up. Thanks for the shout-outs in the Blackout Pool. Couldn't handle the pressure in the end - but fun to compete for sure.

With your help, I captured the 'grand slam' in both my pools (most weeks won, head-to-head, cumulative points, and NFL playoffs). I expect to see Jonathan Taylor, Deebo Samuel, Mark Andrews or maybe even Tom Brady covers in July. Your faith in the Bengals got me through the playoffs.

Wow, has the fantasy football publications business evolved since 1987. Congratulations to the longevity and success of Fantasy Index. My best to Bruce as well.

In my oldest pool, we will be celebrating our 40th fantasy football season in 2022. For us, the Sunday of Labor Day is reserved for golf in the afternoon, happy hour and dinner on the barbie, then draft in the evening. What a day!

Keep it up for as long as you can my friend.

Paul Barnes

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I have purchased your magazine since my first fantasy football season ever 12 season ago and love the insight you offer. Thank you for the great service, I look forward to many many more years of enjoying your subscription!

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The magazine is exactly the same as last year, which is perfect. Boys, we have a chance to repeat in the 33rd year of the NWFFL. I am counting on you to help pull it off. FI has been a league staple for decades, one of my guys has every edition. A few years ago, we devised a clever way to use one of your lists to draft a team for an absent owner, the sob won it all. We love you guys. Peace!

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A little feedback from a long time customer.

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I have locked on to Fantasy Index as my go to for the last 5 years and have won the pool 3 of those years and finished no lower than 4^th.

Interesting to see how much more accurate you were at the end of the year compared to other books my competitors used.

Having it in a format that allows me to work the forecasts to match our scoring system and then receive updates as the season approaches is invaluable. Whoever your sources are for the forecasts are the best. Hang on to them. Thanks for the help!!

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You are appreciated and valued part of my Fantasy Football Operations department even if i never speak your name in fear that others in my league will discover the wondrous bounty of knowledge contained in your pages…

From the bottom of a champion's heart,

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In addition to the magazine, I started buying the weekly updates years ago when my dad taught me a lesson. The draft came and dad was sitting in the 12 hole for his pick. He told me he felt very comfortable about who he was going to select but would not tell me who his prized gem was to be. I was doubtful. The pick? Priest Holmes (his first dynamite year). I remember telling my dad, "that is a decent pick but they plan to pull him at the goal line." Ever the teacher, dad explained he had purchased the Fantasy Football Index update and read Holmes would get the goal line carries. "Update?", I asked. That was 2002 and Holmes had 21 rushing TDs and Dad won the title! Lesson learned.

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Mailbag for January 20, 2022

Question 1

Question 2

2 Reader Comments on Question 1:

Robert McKinlay

Andy Richardson

4 Reader Comments on Question 2:

Fantasy Index Staff

Donald DeKeyser

Andy Richardson

Paul Barnes

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