Week 14 Fantasy Football Rankings: Gauging the Riskiest Starters

Are you willing to take some big risks in the first round of your fantasy football league's playoffs, or are you going to continue to play it safe like you did all year? 

Either way, there are a few guys it will take a fair amount of courage to drag into your starting lineup. 

Let's take a look at the most risky fantasy players in Week 14.  

Ben Roethlisberger

Although Ben Roethlisberger is one of the premier quarterbacks in the game today, he hasn't reached the Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers level as a fantasy guy. 

Pittsburgh's offense is more wide open than it's ever been during Roethlisberger's career, but right when he shows the ability to throw for 350 with three touchdowns, he goes consecutive weeks not eclipsing the 200-yard mark.

However, if there's a year to start Roethlisberger as your fantasy signal-caller, it's this year, largely due to all the speed he has at wide receiver.

He faces the top-ranked secondary of the Cleveland Browns tonight—a unit that features an up-and-coming shutdown corner in Joe Haden.

Will the Steelers go pass-happy and continually take shots down the field against their rival or simply allow their defense to win the game? 

Willis McGahee

McGahee is probably the most underrated facet of the Broncos' 6-1 run that's vaulted them to the top of the AFC West. 

He's rushed for more than 100 yards in Denver's two most recent wins over the Chargers and Vikings and found the end zone last week. 

With Tim Tebow coming off his best passing effort of the year and the fact that he's facing the Bears 28th-ranked pass defense, you have to wonder if John Fox will allow him to throw the football more, thus limiting the carries for McGahee. 

Don't forget that Chicago's run defense is surrendering a shade under 100 rushing yards a contest. 

Not the greatest matchup for Willis. 

Stevie Johnson

Johnson has 13 grabs and two scores in the Bills' last two games. 

So he's back on track, right? 

Not so fast. 

Buffalo's offense is respectable, but they've certainly been worse on the road this season. 

Johnson has nine less catches on the road than he does at home, and he is averaging a mere 10.5 yards per catch away from Ralph Wilson Stadium. 

Could this be like the games against the Dolphins and Cowboys, in which the Bills get destroyed and look like the same old Bills? 

Or a shootout between Ryan Fitzpatrick and Philip Rivers?