Just because the 2023 NFL Playoffs are here doesn’t mean the fantasy football season has to end. If you’ve never played fantasy football playoff leagues, well, give it a try! Here’s a primer for the strategy and types of formats, plus my rankings for the playoffs with projected points per game, so you can develop your draft strategies.
One-and-Done
You can pick any player, any week, but you can only pick them once. So, if you took Tyreek Hill this week, you wouldn’t get to use him ever again, even if the Dolphins make the Super Bowl (but if you hold him and he doesn’t…). It’s kind of like DFS, in that you want to target the best matchups and upside, but unlike DFS, you have to plan ahead, hoping you’re correct about which teams advance. Targeting great fantasy players who are likely to get eliminated is a major part of the strategy. MyFantasyLeague.com is generally best for this and Draft-and-Hold, even though the site isn’t the prettiest or friendliest, ha.
Rolling Team with Bonus
You select a team before the playoffs and your players get bonus points the longer they advance. You could take someone on a bye because their bonus points will end up more than getting that one week, especially if they make the Super Bowl. This playoff contest is the most crucial to picking the correct Super Bowl teams… especially if you gamble on a bye team making it, since players from those teams won’t accrue first-round points. NFL.com doesn’t do theirs anymore, but NFFC has a version here.
Playoff Draft (and Hold)
You know this one, even if you haven’t played it. This is just like seasonal, but you draft a playoff squad. Often these are small leagues (six teams), and it’s a mix of the two above — targeting players with great upside, matchups and predicting who goes deepest into the playoffs. Obviously, it’s going to be hard to have a full team without some truly fringe players in this format. Sometimes, pivoting off the favorites is a smart strategy because you could actually load up on a team or two, and if they go on a surprise run, you’re golden. This is where stacking — even if you’re forced into a team you might not love — becomes a significant strategy to get the edge. Many sites also incorporate the round bonus points, adding an extra level of strategy.
NFL DFS
World of its own. You know how to play and what to do, or you don’t like it (or can’t legally play it). I don’t need to go into much detail here, but if you haven’t tried it and can, give it a try. I recommend sticking to single-entry games if you are playing low-level and/or inexperienced.
2023 NFL PLAYOFF WILD CARD SCHEDULE, MATCHUPS AND LINES
Saturday
Browns at Texans, 4:30 p.m.
Dolphins at Chiefs, 8:00 p.m.
Sunday
Steelers at Bills, 1:00 p.m.
Packers at Cowboys, 4:30 p.m.
Rams at Lions, 8:00 p.m.
Monday
Eagles at Buccaneers, 8:15 p.m.
Fantasy Football Playoff Rankings
Per Game Projections
These are ranks and projections — I didn’t get into how deep I think teams will get. That’s your call (or hop over to our Sports Betting section for your research!)
They are ONLY projected ranks on points per game (for example, Sam LaPorta might miss this week, but if he played, etc.).
(PPG appears in the NOTES column — and sorry I can’t get rid of the BYE and ECR columns)
If you draft-and-hold, etc., you can simply take the projected FPPG and multiply the games played you’re predicting to get an overall list of ranks on total points.
(Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
2024-01-08 21:49:55
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