Shuffle Up for the Playoffs: Second season cheat sheet

Well, that was a fun 17 weeks. But we still have 11 games to go. Let's talk about the fantasy playoffs.

The first thing you do prior to a playoff draft is rank all the teams with respect to their game potential. This has nothing to do with who's actually on the teams or how fantasy-friendly those players are; you're simply asking yourself "who could get multiple games out of the tournament?"

Here's how I rank the 12 teams with respect to Game Potential:

1. Saints
2. Packers
3. Patriots
4. Ravens
5. Steelers
6. Giants
7. Texans
8. Falcons
9. Niners
10. Bengals
11. Lions
12. Broncos

How you compose that list above will have a significant say in how you approach your playoff draft. Below is my cheat sheet; season to taste. I may tweak this list as the day goes along, depending on injury news or other information.

Quarterback
1. Drew Brees
2. Aaron Rodgers
3. Tom Brady
4. Ben Roethlisberger
5. Eli Manning
6. Joe Flacco
7. Matthew Stafford
8. Matt Ryan
9. Andy Dalton
10. Alex Smith
11. T.J. Yates
12. Tim Tebow

Running Back
1. Darren Sproles
2. Ray Rice
3. Arian Foster
4. Pierre Thomas
5. Ryan Grant
6. Michael Turner
7. Ahmad Bradshaw
8. Isaac Redman
9. Christopher Ivory
10. Frank Gore
11. Stevan Ridley
12. BenJarvus Green-Ellis
13. James Starks
14. Cedric Benson
15. Willis McGahee
16. Ben Tate
17. Kevin Smith
18. Brandon Jacobs
19. Danny Woodhead
20. Kendall Hunter
21. Jacquizz Rodgers
22. Bernard Scott
23. Mewelde Moore
24. Brandon Saine
25. John Clay
26. Ricky Williams
27. Lance Ball
28. John Kuhn
29. D.J. Ware
30. Maurice Morris
31. Kevin Faulk

Wide Receiver
1. Wes Welker
2. Marques Colston
3. Jordy Nelson
4. Mike Wallace
5. *Greg Jennings
6. Victor Cruz
7. Antonio Brown
8. Hakeem Nicks
9. Calvin Johnson
10. Julio Jones
11. Andre Johnson
12. Roddy White
13. A.J. Green
14. Torrey Smith
15. Deion Branch
16. James Jones
17. Michael Crabtree
18. Robert Meachem
19. *Lance Moore
20. Devery Henderson
21. *Anquan Boldin
22. Donald Driver
23. Nate Burleson
24. Demaryius Thomas
25. Mario Manningham
26. Emmanuel Sanders
27. Eric Decker
28. Titus Young
29. Lee Evans
30. Jerome Simpson
31. Jacoby Jones
32. Hines Ward
33. Randall Cobb
34. Kyle Williams
35. Harry Douglas
36. Jerricho Cotchery
37. Ted Ginn Jr.
38. Andrew Hawkins

Tight End
1. Jimmy Graham
2. Rob Gronkowski
3. Jermichael Finley
4. Aaron Hernandez
5. Tony Gonzalez
6. Ed Dickson
7. Brandon Pettigrew
8. Vernon Davis
9. Jermaine Gresham
10. Owen Daniels
11. Heath Miller
12. Jake Ballard
13. Tony Scheffler
14. Joel Dreessen
15. Dennis Pitta
16. Bear Pascoe
17. Delanie Walker
18. Daniel Fells
19. Tom Crabtree

Kicker
1. John Kasay
2. Stephen Gostkowski
3. Mason Crosby
4. Shaun Suisham
5. Neil Rackers
6. Lawrence Tynes
7. *Billy Cundiff
8. Mike Nugent
9. David Akers
10. Matt Bryant
11. Jason Hanson
12. Matt Prater
13. Shayne Graham

Defense
1. Ravens
2. Saints
3. Patriots
4. Packers
5. Steelers
6. Texans
7. Giants
8. Bengals
9. Falcons
10. Niners
11. Broncos
12. Lions

The defense and kicker spots are mostly about game potential, obviously. That's why the Niners and Akers are ranked so low. If you think San Francisco is going deep into the playoffs, your sheet will look vastly different.

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Images courtesy of US Presswire

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fantasy-roto-arcade/shuffle-playoffs-second-season-cheat-sheet-214954712.html

Chris Tanev Matt Taormina Jake Taylor J.P. Testwuide