The Fantasy Football Playoff Worry Meter: Who Can You Trust?

Scott Engel takes an in-depth look at players who are causing major concerns as the final two games of the Fantasy Football Playoffs approach, and assigns "worry" values to all of them.

In recent weeks, some of your most important players have not delivered the statistical output we have expected and needed.

Now you need to know, can you trust these bigger name performers who have started to disappoint during the two upcoming biggest weeks of the fantasy postseason?

We have evaluated these “worrisome” players who seem hard to sit right now because of past production, yet haven’t met expectations late in the season.

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The Fantasy Football Playoff Worry Meter

Each player is assigned a “Worry Meter” value based on the forward-looking descending criteria below.

4 – Get Him out of your Lineup!

3 – There is not much apparent promise for a big week, but he can provide respectable production.

2 – There are some reasons to be concerned, but you can keep playing him for a good chance of quality production.

1 – Any recent concerns will be quickly dispelled.

We have not included tight ends, because outside of the Top 3, they all make us worry. After reviewing the list below, you will be able to make your lineup decisions with more realistic expectations in mind, instead of obsessing over whether to start and sit these guys.

The Panic Candidates

Running Backs

Alvin Kamara: Two games of less than 11 Fantasy points in his last four. Three receptions in the three games prior to Week 15. But had seven catches in Week 14. Has rushed for a TD in three of his past four games.

WORRY METER: 2 – The receptions were up last week because the Saints were playing from behind last week. He was not involved in the passing game in the previous three games, all wins. Kamara has become more TD dependent and tied to game script since Taysom Hill took over, so he is more of a fantasy RB2 right now.

Miles Sanders: Averaged 37 yards per game in the three outings prior to Week 14. Then became the first running back since 2012 to rush for 100 yards against the Saints, ending a 55-game run. Ripped off an 82-yard TD run.

WORRY METER: 2 – He was a 4 before Jalen Hurts was inserted to the lineup. He ran harder in Week 14, and working in an RPO offense certainly helps the outlook. A Week 16 matchup with Dallas looks great. Get him back into lineups for this week. He still is not much of a goal-line runner and it was only a one game rebound, plus he still is not getting the ball enough (14 carries vs. the Saints), but it looks like the QB change has sparked Sanders and the Eagles offense.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire: Less than 15 Fantasy Points scored in six of his past seven games. Five games with no rushing TDs in his last six. Has carried the ball more than 15 times just once in his last six games. One game of more than four catches during that span.

WORRY METER: 3 – It seems like the upside is gone for now, but 21 touches and a 74 percent snap rate in Week 14 is encouraging. Still, Edwards Helaire just doesn’t have enough fantasy juice for a guy in the league’s best offense, and the Chiefs have a 61.8 pass to run ratio, You can’t bench Edwards-Helaire during your fantasy playoffs in most cases, but he won’t be the reason why you win it all.

Giovani Bernard: Has not scored 10 Fantasy points since Week 8. Bernard has rushed for over 40 yards just twice this season. He has two TD runs this season and has caught more than four passes in a game just twice.

WORRY METER: 4 – It is confounding why some fantasy players still consider starting Bernard. He has been useless in the second half of the season and the Bengals offense has been downright awful without Joe Burrow. He was benched for awhile and had rushed for eight yards against the terrible Dallas defense. You should cut Bernard if you still have him.

Ezekiel Elliott: He has failed to register 10 Fantasy Points in five of his past seven games. Elliott’s last rushing TD came in Week 5.

WORRY METER: 4 – You really have to strongly consider benching Elliott for the rest of your Fantasy playoffs. He is still being started in 89 percent of CBSSports.com leagues, so many fantasy players are leaving him in based on reputation. Playing Elliott in the final two weeks will depend on what you other options are, not on where you drafted him or what he has done in the past. The Cowboys have scored 20 points just once in their last eight games, so the TD chances are not there in a sagging, limp offense.

Wide Receivers

Tyler Lockett: Since he had a historic 200-yard, three TD outing against Arizona in Week 7, Lockett has one TD catch and no games with 70 receiving yards.

WORRY METER: 3 – Lockett does have five-plus catches in four of his past five games, and Russell Wilson may look for him more on higher percentage passes in the next two games as teams continue to take away the deep ball. Lockett seems to lack upside right now, but he has three double figure fantasy outings in his last four games. He’s gone from a high-end fantasy WR2 to a WR3 streamer.

Chris Godwin: No 100-yard games and three TD catches this season. A season-low 25 yards last week vs. Minnesota.

WORRY METER: 2 – Receptions are keeping his numbers up, as he had three outings of six-plus catches prior to Week 14. Godwin had 15-plus Fantasy Points in each of those games.

Chase Claypool: The run of promise appears to be temporarily over. Claypool has averaged 7.1 Fantasy Points in his past three games. His last game with 70-plus receiving yards came in Week 5.

WORRY METER – 2 – Claypool has cooled off after a strong start to the second half of the season. But he can easily get back on track in a Week 15 matchup with the Bengals. He had two TD catches and scored 21.3 points vs. Cincinnati in Week 10.

Terry McLaurin: He has four catches, 38 receiving yards and less than eight total Fantasy points in the past two weeks.

WORRY METER – 2- The Washington offense was bogged down by Pittsburgh and San Francisco, but in a big game vs. Seattle this week, getting the ball to McLaurin will be very important. Maintain faith in McLaurin, who had six consecutive games of 13-plus Fantasy Points prior to his two-game outage.

Quarterbacks

Russell Wilson: He settled down and threw four TD passes against the Jets, but in three of the games prior to Week 14, he scored 15 points or less. Wilson has not thrown for 250 yards since Week 9. He had four total TD passes from Weeks 11 through 13.

WORRY METER – 2 – Wilson showed against the Jets that he can adjust and still produce well enough even as defenses attempt to take away big plays downfield. The “Let Russ Cook” edition from earlier in the season may be gone, yet Wilson can still be the efficient and very productive Top 5 fantasy QB he was in past years.

Kyler Murray: The running upside is not there, as he has not rushed for 50 yards or a TD in the past four games. Murray has not thrown more than one TD pass in two of his past three games.

WORRY METER – 3 – Most analysts agree that Murray has not looked like himself since injuring his shoulder in Week 11. Murray has not hit 20 points since then. Right now, Murray is just another decent, but not outstanding fantasy QB and can only be considered a streamer.

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