Over the course of the week we've previewed all four teams; now it's time to look at how the rankings shake out. It looks like the four best non-quarterbacks will be wide receivers, which makes sense -- four of the league's very best players at the position are playing on Sunday.
The difference-makers at other positions look likely to be Joe Mixon and Travis Kelce. With Mixon, it's his overall usage as both a runner and receiver that make the difference. Elijah Mitchell is just as certain to be a featured runner, but he won't be as involved in the passing game. Kelce is the game's best tight end, but Tyler Higbee and George Kittle also look like solid options, and C.J. Uzomah isn't a bad consolation prize in four-team leagues.
In the table, players are ordered by PPR scoring, but totals in Standard (Std) and TD-only (TD) are also shown. Fourth column shows passing and receiving TDs (P/RTD) in the interests of space. Defenses are merged, at least in terms of projected points. Scoring-wise, Kansas City looks best for sacks, Rams 2nd; Rams and 49ers best for interceptions. AFC defenses best avoided in points-allowed scoring systems, with that game more likely to be higher-scoring.
| CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RANKINGS | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Tm | Player | Rec | Run | Total | P/RTD | RuTD | Std | PPR | TD |
| 1 | KC | Patrick Mahomes | 0 | 29 | 336 | 2.77 | .30 | 31.2 | 31.2 | 12.9 |
| 2 | CIN | Joe Burrow | 0 | 7 | 299 | 2.05 | .10 | 24.1 | 24.1 | 8.8 |
| 3 | LAR | Matthew Stafford | 0 | 2 | 284 | 2.28 | .07 | 23.8 | 23.8 | 9.5 |
| 4 | LAR | Cooper Kupp | 103 | 0 | 103 | .76 | .00 | 14.9 | 22.6 | 4.6 |
| 5 | SF | Jimmy Garoppolo | 0 | 1 | 255 | 1.50 | .06 | 19.2 | 19.2 | 6.4 |
| 6 | KC | Tyreek Hill | 71 | 5 | 76 | .73 | .02 | 12.2 | 18.3 | 4.6 |
| 7 | CIN | JaMarr Chase | 86 | 2 | 88 | .73 | .01 | 13.2 | 18.3 | 4.4 |
| 8 | SF | Deebo Samuel | 51 | 43 | 94 | .30 | .54 | 14.5 | 18.0 | 5.1 |
| 9 | CIN | Joe Mixon | 30 | 62 | 91 | .21 | .57 | 13.8 | 17.7 | 4.7 |
| 10 | KC | Travis Kelce | 70 | 0 | 71 | .77 | .01 | 11.8 | 17.5 | 4.7 |
| 11 | CIN | Tee Higgins | 77 | 0 | 77 | .39 | .00 | 10.1 | 15.4 | 2.4 |
| 12 | KC | Jerick McKinnon | 37 | 34 | 71 | .25 | .34 | 10.7 | 15.3 | 3.5 |
| 13 | SF | Elijah Mitchell | 15 | 81 | 96 | .06 | .53 | 13.2 | 15.2 | 3.5 |
| 14 | LAR | Odell Beckham | 57 | 2 | 59 | .59 | .01 | 9.4 | 14.1 | 3.6 |
| 15 | LAR | Cam Akers | 20 | 53 | 72 | .12 | .35 | 10.0 | 13.4 | 2.8 |
| 16 | LAR | Tyler Higbee | 51 | 0 | 52 | .46 | .00 | 7.9 | 13.3 | 2.8 |
| 17 | SF | Brandon Aiyuk | 61 | 1 | 63 | .35 | .01 | 8.4 | 12.8 | 2.2 |
| 18 | CIN | Tyler Boyd | 50 | 2 | 52 | .33 | .01 | 7.2 | 11.3 | 2.0 |
| 19 | SF | George Kittle | 51 | 0 | 51 | .32 | .00 | 7.0 | 10.9 | 1.9 |
| 20 | KC | Byron Pringle | 47 | 0 | 47 | .39 | .00 | 7.1 | 10.6 | 2.4 |
| 21 | KC | C. Edwards-Helaire | 12 | 43 | 55 | .08 | .42 | 8.5 | 10.3 | 3.0 |
| 22 | KC | Mecole Hardman | 40 | 5 | 45 | .27 | .03 | 6.5 | 9.8 | 2.0 |
| 23 | SF | Jauan Jennings | 41 | 0 | 41 | .29 | .00 | 5.8 | 9.8 | 1.7 |
| 24 | CIN | C.J. Uzomah | 38 | 0 | 38 | .36 | .00 | 6.0 | 9.1 | 2.2 |
| 25 | KC | Harrison Butker | 0 | 0 | 0 | .00 | .00 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.1 |
| 26 | LAR | Matt Gay | 0 | 0 | 0 | .00 | .00 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| 27 | LAR | Van Jefferson | 37 | 1 | 38 | .28 | .00 | 5.4 | 7.9 | 1.7 |
| 28 | CIN | Evan McPherson | 0 | 0 | 0 | .00 | .00 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| 29 | KC | Kansas City | 7.6 | 7.6 | 1.1 | |||||
| 30 | SF | Robbie Gould | 0 | 0 | 0 | .00 | .00 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
| 31 | LAR | LA Rams | 7.2 | 7.2 | .9 | |||||
| 32 | SF | San Francisco | 6.4 | 5.5 | .9 | |||||
| 33 | KC | Demarcus Robinson | 20 | 0 | 20 | .18 | .00 | 3.1 | 4.8 | 1.1 |
| 34 | SF | Kyle Juszczyk | 14 | 2 | 16 | .06 | .02 | 2.1 | 3.6 | .5 |
| 35 | LAR | Sony Michel | 3 | 18 | 21 | .01 | .12 | 2.8 | 3.3 | .7 |
| 36 | CIN | Samaje Perine | 6 | 6 | 12 | .02 | .03 | 1.5 | 2.3 | .3 |
| S7 | CIN | Cincinnati | 5.6 | 2.2 | .9 | |||||
| 38 | SF | JaMycal Hasty | 6 | 3 | 9 | .02 | .01 | 1.1 | 2.0 | .2 |
| 39 | CIN | Chris Evans | 4 | 3 | 7 | .00 | .01 | 0.9 | 1.4 | .2 |
| 40 | KC | Blake Bell | 5 | 0 | 5 | .05 | .00 | 0.8 | 1.3 | .3 |
| 41 | LAR | Ben Skowronek | 6 | 0 | 6 | .02 | .00 | 0.7 | 1.2 | .1 |
| 42 | LAR | Kendall Blanton | 4 | 0 | 4 | .05 | .00 | 0.7 | 1.2 | .3 |
| 43 | SF | Mohamed Sanu | 5 | 0 | 5 | .03 | .00 | 0.7 | 1.2 | .2 |
| 44 | KC | Michael Burton | 2 | 1 | 3 | .04 | .02 | 0.7 | 1.0 | .4 |
| 45 | KC | Darrel Williams | 1 | 4 | 5 | .01 | .04 | 0.8 | .9 | .3 |
| 46 | SF | Charlie Woerner | 4 | 0 | 4 | .02 | .00 | 0.5 | .8 | .1 |
| 47 | SF | Trent Sherfield | 3 | 0 | 3 | .03 | .00 | 0.4 | .6 | .2 |
| 48 | KC | Derrick Gore | 1 | 1 | 2 | .01 | .01 | 0.4 | .5 | .1 |
| 49 | KC | Noah Gray | 2 | 0 | 2 | .02 | .00 | 0.3 | .5 | .1 |
| 50 | SF | Jeff Wilson | 1 | 1 | 2 | .00 | .01 | 0.3 | .4 | .1 |
| 51 | SF | Trey Lance | 0 | 0 | 5 | .00 | .00 | 0.4 | .4 | .1 |
| 52 | SF | Travis Benjamin | 1 | 0 | 1 | .01 | .00 | 0.3 | .3 | .2 |
| 53 | SF | Ross Dwelley | 1 | 0 | 1 | .02 | .00 | 0.2 | .3 | .1 |
| 54 | LAR | Buddy Howell | 1 | 0 | 1 | .01 | .00 | 0.2 | .3 | .1 |
--Andy Richardson