It's fantasy playoff time, which means I'm contractually obligated to roll out the same old tired lineup-construction bromides. You know: Dance with the players who got you here. Don't overthink it. Don't use Trent Richardson.
But to heck with that! Here during wild-card week in fantasyland, I'd rather dish on specific players. You know me; I spend tons of time sitting around my house watching game video and recording potentially pantsless player videos. I have more opinions than Jay Cutler has garbage-time yards. So let's get in some observations on players you may be considering for your flex spots in Week 14.
(Remember, you can see my single-position ranks by clicking here.)
Shane Vereen, RB, New England Patriots: Four touches last week. Four touches last week! Two draws, one shotgun draw and a wheel route. That's four more touches than Bronko Nagurski had last week, and he's been dead since 1990. Plus, Vereen submitted his weekly head-clutching drop on a simple screen. Bill Belichick doesn't just want you to be frustrated with his backfield plans. He wants you to see Brandon Bolden score a random red zone TD and start tweeting about it. That's BB's master plan: to trend on Twitter. Verdict: Vereen is outside my top 25 RBs this week for the first time since Stevan Ridley got hurt. Yes, any Pats rusher can score points any week, but I can no longer invest emotion in any of them. For me, they are the "Homeland" of NFL players.
Kenny Stills, WR, New Orleans Saints: After playing 49 snaps in Week 12, Stills played only 24 this past Sunday. So his production -- five catches, 162 yards and a TD -- comes with a bit of a warning flag. If his workload can vary that much, he's not an elite fantasy option. But I like that the Saints are mixing up his routes in a major way. Because I'm obsessive-compulsive, I charted every one from Sunday:
Kenny Stills, Week 13 route breakdown
The good news is that this usage stands in contrast with much of Stills' rookie year, when he was mostly the clear-out guy. Verdict: Stills' speed is no joke. He's one of those guys who doesn't look like he's running all that hard, and then he's flying by you. I hate those guys. I haven't played much pickup football this season, but last year whenever I got matched up with a relative burner, I tended to get a spontaneous hamstring cramp that forced me to cover Slow Ed the rest of the day. Anyway, Stills is a good flex this week.
Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: He doesn't find the end zone for the first time since Week 8, and I'm getting questions like, "Hey, Harris, big week, gotta beat my brother-in-law ... Mike Evans or Stedman Bailey?" OK, you're allowed to be bummed that after three straight games of at least seven grabs and 124 yards, Evans has 7-for-96 his past two weeks combined. But the tape on this guy! You might have seen him bullying Terence Newman blocking downfield, but you might not have seen his incredible close-to-the-ground hands catch, or his near-catch tap-dance along the sideline after Josh McCown fumbled a snap, or the three deep end zone shots the Bucs gave Evans. Three weeks ago was the first time I ranked Evans ahead of teammate Vincent Jackson, and I'm not stopping now. Verdict: Evans doesn't even belong in a "flex" article. He's a pure WR2. The Detroit Lions play a lot of zone on the back end, which is good for Evans, and Rashean Mathis is still having bad Alshon Jeffery Tryptophan dreams from Thanksgiving, which is also good for Evans. There's something to be said for being a mean, insane person on the field, and I get the idea that Evans is one of those.
Sammy Watkins, WR, Buffalo Bills: Since we're on the topic of rookie receivers, let's get to the strange case of Mr. Watkins. His rookie year represents kind of a double embarrassment for me. To begin the season, I was vocally down on Watkins, not because I didn't like the talent but because EJ Manuel is awful. I looked smart in September, but nobody cares if you look smart in September. As Watkins launched into celebrity in Weeks 5 through 8 as Kyle Orton took over, I was late to adapt. I still had him as my No. 39 wideout in Week 7, behind such luminaries as Pierre Garcon and Wes Welker, because I just couldn't buy Orton. By the time I began to believe, Watkins injured his groin, and he has stunk four games in a row. The Bills say he's still bugged by his hip/groin issues, but his biggest problem Sunday was Orton being Orton. Watkins' nine targets went like this: ball batted at the line; ball thrown behind Watkins; ball thrown into double coverage in the end zone and picked; screen; overthrow; dump-off Watkins caught but nearly got killed because it was too high; ball ill-advisedly thrown toward Joe Haden and picked; screen; ball underthrown. Verdict: Sometimes I try to keep my opinion sticky. It took a few weeks of good production from Watkins to get me to believe, so I want to keep ranking him high. But no. The Beardless Neckbeard has reverted to form. I won't trust any of Orton's weapons in these fantasy playoffs. I'd rather preorder the new Nicki Minaj album. (Hint: I will not preorder the new Nicki Minaj album.)
Andre Williams, RB, New York Giants: Williams was a legit factor in the Giants' game plan even before Rashad Jennings hurt his ankle last week. He had two carries and a pass target (!) inside the Jacksonville Jaguars' 10-yard line, and nobody will doubt the rookie's power. He had a borderline drop on a short pass (it was thrown a little behind him) but caught a middle screen and did good work with it. It was OK stuff. But the larger point about Williams, of course, is that he'll be usable in your playoffs only if Jennings can't go, and Jennings didn't practice Wednesday or Thursday. Verdict: The Tennessee Titans held the Houston Texans to 99 yards rushing last week, which considering how bad they'd been previously is a victory. But I still think the Giants can run all over them. If there's no Jennings, Williams is my No. 19 running back this week. His field vision is approximately at Stevie Wonder levels, but high-volume and short-yardage work can be a wonderful thing.
Quick hits: I wish I could give you an incisive scouting report on Marion Grice in case Andre Ellington can't play. But what I saw from Grice last week after Ellington got hurt was standard fare for Arizona Cardinals RBs: You can tell he has moves, but there's nowhere to run. Grice was nice in the receiving game, but as long as Drew Stanton is the QB, defenses will focus on stopping the run. ... I'm leaning toward trusting Brandon LaFell more than I usually do this week, not because of his two touchdowns this past Sunday but because I don't believe Julian Edelman is healthy. The risk for LaFell in Week 14 is Brandon Flowers following him all over the field, but I'm not sure the San Diego Chargers will do that. ... Martavis Bryant has crashed back to Earth, although he did drop a would-be touchdown last week that would've papered over his rookie wall. You know the upside with Bryant is tremendous, but I wouldn't be using him in my playoff run. ... The Oakland Raiders have cleared Latavius Murray to play in Week 14 but apparently don't plan on starting him. Murray is reportedly practicing with backups, while Darren McFadden is running with the ones. That doesn't entirely steer me away from Murray, because he can still shine in a time-share. But it does enhance the theory that the Raiders are one twist short of a Slinky.