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.

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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
PosTmPlayerGPassTDPRecRunTDJosh
QBGBAaron Rodgers2.442792.2305.0969.3
QBKCPatrick Mahomes2.002872.18018.1660.3
QBBUFJosh Allen1.852691.90046.4058.9
WRGBDavante Adams2.440.001020.7755.4
QBTBTom Brady1.832791.9803.1249.2
QBCINJoe Burrow1.552822.0806.0642.6
QBLARMatthew Stafford1.542672.0202.0239.7
RBGBAaron Jones2.440.002453.6936.8
QBTENRyan Tannehill1.602261.27015.3636.0
WRLARCooper Kupp1.540.00951.6831.9
WRKCTyreek Hill2.000.00644.5931.6
RBBUFDevin Singletary1.850.002266.7531.5
TEKCTravis Kelce2.001.01660.6131.3
WRTBMike Evans1.830.00710.6429.3
WRBUFStefon Diggs1.850.00710.4829.0
WRCINJaMarr Chase1.550.00862.7628.4
RBGBAJ Dillon2.440.001746.5127.8
TETBRob Gronkowski1.830.00680.5027.1
RBTBLeonard Fournette1.830.002055.6025.7
WRGBAllen Lazard2.440.00450.3825.5
RBKCJerick McKinnon2.000.002535.4824.1
QBSFJimmy Garoppolo1.192281.3801.0624.0
RBCINJoe Mixon1.550.002260.6523.2
WRCINTee Higgins1.550.00740.4023.1
WRTENA.J. Brown1.600.00621.3520.7
WRKCMecole Hardman2.000.00454.2720.2
RBTENDerrick Henry1.600.00967.6320.1
WRSFDeebo Samuel1.190.004639.8420.0
WRLAROdell Beckham1.540.00512.5219.6
TEBUFDawson Knox1.850.00410.4218.7
TELARTyler Higbee1.540.00460.3718.0
WRKCByron Pringle2.000.00420.2918.0
PKGBMason Crosby2.440.0000.0017.8
RBLARCam Akers1.540.001650.4717.8
WRBUFGabriel Davis1.850.00440.3817.6
WRCINTyler Boyd1.550.00501.3217.2
RBKCClyde Edwards-Helaire2.000.001232.3516.3
RBSFElijah Mitchell1.190.001273.5615.9
WRBUFIsaiah McKenzie1.850.00317.1915.4
RBTBGiovani Bernard1.830.002017.2215.2
PKKCHarrison Butker2.000.0000.0015.1
WRSFBrandon Aiyuk1.190.00581.3514.4
WRTENJulio Jones1.600.00440.2414.1
PKTBRyan Succop1.830.0000.0013.6
PKBUFTyler Bass1.850.0000.0013.6
WRLARVan Jefferson1.540.00411.3113.3
WRGBM. Valdes-Scantling2.440.00250.2013.0
TECINC.J. Uzomah1.550.00340.3712.9
WRTENNick Westbrook-Ikhine1.600.00360.1912.7
RBLARSony Michel1.540.00840.3412.6
TEGBJosiah Deguara2.440.00200.1612.6
TESFGeorge Kittle1.190.00480.3112.3
TETENAnthony Firkser1.600.00300.1512.1
PKCINEvan McPherson1.550.0000.0011.8
WRTBTyler Johnson1.830.00280.1411.4
PKLARMatt Gay1.540.0000.0011.3
WRBUFCole Beasley1.850.00240.1311.2
PKTENRandy Bullock1.600.0000.0011.1
WRGBRandall Cobb2.440.00200.1410.6
TEGBMarcedes Lewis2.440.00170.1410.6
WRBUFEmmanuel Sanders1.850.00280.1510.5
WRSFJauan Jennings1.190.00320.269.4
TETBCameron Brate1.830.00170.239.1
RBTBKeShawn Vaughn1.830.00621.218.7
WRKCDemarcus Robinson2.000.00170.158.4
RBTENDontrell Hilliard1.600.00921.188.4
RBTEND'Onta Foreman1.600.00725.208.4
PKSFRobbie Gould1.190.0000.008.2
RBKCDarrel Williams2.000.00910.157.4
TETENGeoff Swaim1.600.00140.136.5
WRTBCyril Grayson1.830.00170.106.1
RBBUFZack Moss1.850.0079.115.6
WRTBBreshad Perriman1.830.00140.085.2
RBCINSamaje Perine1.550.0098.075.0
WRGBEquanimeous St. Brown2.440.0081.054.8
WRTBScotty Miller1.830.00111.064.3
RBSFKyle Juszczyk1.190.00121.083.8
WRTENChester Rogers1.600.0090.073.6
RBSFJaMycal Hasty1.190.0072.032.5
TEKCBlake Bell2.000.0050.042.4
RBKCDerrick Gore2.000.0016.062.3
RBCINChris Evans1.550.0043.021.9
RBKCMichael Burton2.000.0021.051.8
TEGBTyler Davis2.440.0030.021.7
WRLARBen Skowronek1.540.0050.021.7
TEBUFReggie Gilliam1.850.0021.061.6
WRTENRacey McMath1.600.0050.031.6
WRSFTrent Sherfield1.190.0070.041.5
TELARKendall Blanton1.540.0040.011.4
RBTBRonald Jones1.830.0013.021.3
WRTBJustin Watson1.830.0030.021.1
TECINDrew Sample1.550.0030.031.1
TETENTommy Hudson1.600.0020.031.0
TEKCNoah Gray2.000.0020.01.9
TESFCharlie Woerner1.190.0030.02.9
TETBO.J. Howard1.830.0020.01.8
RBTENKhari Blasingame1.600.0011.03.8
WRTBJaelon Darden1.830.0010.04.8
TEGBDominique Dafney2.440.0010.01.7
WRGBAmari Rodgers2.440.0001.02.7

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