Super Bowl Rankings: NFL Playoff Fantasy Football

It all comes down to this. Super Bowl LVII (57) is the final game of the 2022 season and our last chance to play fantasy football until September. If you don’t know by now, I’m a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan. Dating back to last January, my hopes have been very high for this team. Let me be very clear about one thing: Patrick Mahomes is the best player competing in this year’s Super Bowl. However, I do think Philly secures their second title in franchise history and in the last six seasons on Sunday.

We’re here to talk fantasy football, though. My feelings on the game do reflect my Super Bowl 57 rankings, but there is plenty of talent to invest in on both sides of this game. Currently, the Over/Under for this game sits at 50.5 points, depending on which sportsbook you look at. “The Under” has hit for the majority of the NFL playoffs, but I think we’re going to eclipse “The Over” as the two top seeds in each conference go head-to-head with the Lombardi trophy on the line. So, let’s see which players get us there and who we can count on to rack up fantasy points one last time this season.

Super Bowl LVII Positional Rankings

QUARTERBACK

Patrick Mahomes managed to post 21.84 fantasy points in the AFC Conference Championship game after severely injuring his ankle one week prior. He will have two weeks rest before taking the field again. While I do think Mahomes is the best player in the Super Bowl, he doesn’t bring as much rushing upside to the table as Jalen Hurts.

The Philadelphia Eagles defense will face their toughest test yet against Mahomes after taking care of Daniel Jones and a combination of Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson over the last two weeks. However, they were tied in allowing the fourth-least passing touchdowns to opposing quarterbacks this season as well as logging the fourth-most interceptions this season.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense allowed the most touchdown passes (33) to opposing quarterbacks during the regular season. Though they’ve held Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow to just two combined touchdowns, three interceptions, and an average of 243 yards, the Eagles offensive line should lend to better production from Hurts. You can’t go wrong with either quarterback, but give me the guy with the better run game, rushing ability, and receivers at his disposal.

RUNNING BACK

Miles Sanders is running behind the best offensive line of the two Super Bowl teams. He’s fresh off of a two-score game against a tough San Francisco 49ers run defense and is the lead back when it matters for the Philadelphia Eagles. While Kenneth Gainwell offers more upside as a receiver, with five targets to Sanders’ one in the playoffs, Sanders is the better bet to find the end zone.

Isiah Pacheco is an angry runner. He is one of just six running backs this season to average over five yards per carry (minimum of 150 carries, including playoffs). While the Eagles run defense is tougher than most, Patrick Mahomes poses the biggest threat to them yet through the air, which should open up opportunities for Pacheco. His longest run this season is 32 yards with a long run of 18 yards in the postseason. Last week, Christian McCaffrey broke free for two runs of 16 yards or more, including a 23-yard touchdown run with multiple broken tackles.

After a dominant end to the regular season, Jerick McKinnon is taking a backseat to Pacheco during the Chiefs’ playoff run. Pacheco has 29 total opportunities to McKinnon’s 19, including 16 to his eight during the AFC Championship game. That said, he dips below Gainwell in these Super Bowl rankings. Additionally, Clyde Edwards-Helaire is coming off of the Injured Reserve for this game which could complicate the rotation.

Boston Scott is a touchdown-dependent threat if the Eagles are in a goal-to-go situation. A fun player to place an anytime touchdown prop bet on, but nothing more.

WIDE RECEIVER

As far as the wide receiver position is concerned, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith far and away lead all players in the Super Bowl rankings. Brown has one more target (14) than Smith (13) in the playoffs, but both boast at least a 27% target share on the Philadelphia offense. If the Eagles’ offensive line can withstand the Chiefs’ pass rush, both receivers should be able to have success against their secondary.

Juju Smith-Schuster will have two weeks of rest before the Super Bowl to get his knee right. He has the most targets this season amongst Chiefs wide receivers with eight games of eight or more targets. Don’t overlook Marquez Valdes-Scantling, though who logged a season-high 116 yards with six receptions on eight targets and a score last week. One big play could pay off big for playoff fantasy football managers and who better to make it happen than Patrick Mahomes?

The drop-off after the above four receivers is real. Skyy Moore is next in the Super Bowl rankings after logging seven targets last week, but he caught just three of them for 13 yards. He does get an uptick with Mecole Hardman heading to Injured Reserve earlier this week.

TIGHT END

Travis Kelce is the Chiefs’ top pass catcher. You should know this by now. His 152 targets this season lead all Chiefs. In two playoff games, he has 21 receptions for 176 yards and three touchdowns. Enough said. Noah Gray has just two receptions for four yards in the playoffs, but the Chiefs do spread the ball around with nine and 10 different players recording a catch in each respective playoff game this postseason. Make no mistake, he’s extremely touchdown dependent.

Dallas Goedert is the only Philadelphia tight end to consider for Super Bowl fantasy lineups. He has exactly five receptions in each of the Eagles’ playoff games. The Chiefs’ defense has allowed exactly five receptions to the tight end position in each of their playoff games so far, none of which as good as Goedert. In fact, Goerge Kittle, in Week 7, is the only tight end of note the Chiefs faced all season. He caught six of nine targets for 98 yards and a score. Even with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith feasting in the passing game, Goedert has a 22.9% target share of his own this postseason. Look for him to be a major factor in the red zone.

KICKER

DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS