2021 NFL Playoff Fantasy Football: Super Bowl Rankings

It’s finally here. Super Bowl LVI between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams. This is the first Super Bowl in a while that I truly do not care who wins, positively speaking. There are so many great players and stories to root for this upcoming weekend. Like many of you out there, I’d like to see a lot of scoring, and expect to, with some of the league’s biggest offensive stars on both rosters. With that said, we should be in for a fun-filled game full of playoff fantasy football goodness as the 2021-22 season officially comes to a close. It’s only fitting that the consensus 2021 Fantasy Football MVP, Cooper Kupp, will be out there to cap off his incredible season.

Whether you need rankings for a “one-and-done” league where you choose players once and then never again throughout the NFL postseason, setting a Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) lineup, or any other type of playoff fantasy football format, look no further than the positional rankings below. Of course, all rankings are subject to change throughout the week as injury, Covid-19, or other breaking news becomes available. Good luck!

NFL Super Bowl Positional Rankings

QUARTERBACK

With so many elite NFL and fantasy football quarterbacks alike in this year’s NFL postseason, I still cannot believe the final two standing are Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford. The good news for those playing playoff fantasy football is that both Burrow and Stafford are still quarterbacks you can feel good about plugging into your lineups on Sunday.

Joe Burrow finished as QB5, just 1.02 points ahead of Matthew Stafford, during the fantasy football regular season. While they’re very evenly matched, I’m giving Stafford the edge in the Super Bowl rankings. Both quarterbacks continue to impress keeping drives alive with their rushing ability. Burrow is averaging three rushes per game while Stafford averages five, and has found the end zone twice. It’s also no secret to anyone either that both quarterbacks have two of the best sets of offensive weapons in the league.

What’s hard to ignore here is the uphill battle the Cincinnati offensive line has against Aaron Donald and the Rams’ defensive line this Sunday. Beyond that, the already talented Los Angeles secondary should be able to play a bit more freely as Burrow’s pocket collapses. Protecting Burrow is going to be a key factor if the Bengals want to secure their first-ever Super Bowl title.

Furthermore, 40 of the Bengals’ 72 postseason points have come from kicker Evan McPherson’s leg. That’s a whopping 55.5% of their scoring. They have kicked exactly four field goals in all three of their incredible playoff run thus far. If they continue to move the ball and stall toward the red zone, it could be more of the same this Sunday. Consider this a green light to throw a dollar on McPherson’s +15000 MVP odds while you’re at it.

RUNNING BACK

In three postseason games, Joe Mixon has at least 11.6 PPR points in playoff fantasy football. Mixon is averaging 22.3 opportunities (carries + targets) per game with at least 20 touches (carries + receptions) in each contest. With an extra week off, I like a healthy Mixon and his chances to lead all running backs in fantasy points in the Super Bowl.

Cam Akers is the most legitimate threat to Mixon as the top running back for playoff fantasy football this weekend. Keep in mind, Akers is still sidelined with a shoulder injury he suffered against the San Francisco 49ers. That is the biggest injury to monitor this week. If he is unable to go, obviously Sony Michel is the no-brainer plug into your playoff fantasy football lineups. The less Akers practices, the more I expect Michel to eat into Akers’ postseason workload. That also widens the gap between these Rams and Joe Mixon.

Samaje Perine is the only other running back worth considering. If the Bengals fall behind, Perine is more likely to work in as a passing-down back. I do, however, expect Mixon to be on the field as much as possible, severely limiting Perine’s ceiling. It’s a major gamble to think Perine somehow finds the end zone instead of Mixon or any Cincy receivers on Super Bowl Sunday.

WIDE RECEIVER

Cooper Kupp has 20 receiving touchdowns in 20 games played this season. Kupp is also the all-time leader in receptions (170) and receiving yards (2,333) in a single season, including the playoffs. There is a legitimate chance he hits the 2,500 mark in yards on top of his likeliness to find the end zone. I definitely don’t need to continue to build a case for this guy to be the top receiver in any playoff fantasy football format this weekend.

Ja’Marr Chase is Joe Burrow’s best receiving option heading into Super Bowl LVI. He leads Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, in that order, in targets, receptions, and receiving yards. Chase is going to see plenty of looks from Burrow on Sunday. Odell Beckham, Jr. is averaging just over six catches for just over 78 yards in every game this postseason. He enters his first Super Bowl coming off of his first 100-yard game in three seasons. I can’t wait to see what he does on the NFL’s biggest stage. Lock in OBJ for yet another easy double-digit playoff fantasy football performance.

In 31 outings on defense this postseason, the Bengals have only allowed four plays to go over 30 yards through the air. Three of those four went for 40 or more yards. Just one of those resulted in a touchdown. That being said, given Van Jefferson’s expertise as a deep threat, his value takes a hit ahead of this weekend. Jefferson only has five catches to his name this postseason anyway. I expect Kupp and OBJ to continue to feast.

TIGHT END

As far as tight ends go for playoff fantasy football, this bunch is far from the elite options we lost along the way in this NFL postseason. Furthermore, the two tight ends you would expect to start are both dealing with injuries. Los Angeles’ Tyler Higbee continues to miss practice with a knee injury. C.J. Uzomah, of the Bengals, who is the more doubtful of the two, is also absent from practice ahead of the big game.

With that said, I have each of the aforementioned tight ends’ backups ranked ahead of them. Please keep in mind that is subject to change as the weekend approaches. Regardless of Higbee’s status, I still like Kendall Blanton. During the regular season, the Bengals allowed the seventh-most points to opposing tight ends. In Higbee’s absence in the Conference Championship, Blanton hauled in all five of his targets for 57 scoreless yards. If the Bengals take away the deep ball, Blanton could see a lot of action underneath.

KICKER

DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS