Five Fantasy Football Strategies To Help You Win NFL Playoff Leagues

If you won a fantasy football title in the regular season and are looking for more hardware -- or if you want redemption after a bad year -- the fantasy football season isn't over just yet! You can add to the excitement of the NFL playoffs by assembling a brand new fantasy football team(s) of your own in an attempt to win extra cash or good old-fashioned bragging rights amongst your friends.

Just like with fantasy football leagues during the regular season, you can draft a fresh fantasy football team for the NFL playoffs. First of all, understandig your league's scoring settings and roster requirements is of utmost importance. Is your NFL playoff league a one-and-done league, salary-cap format, normal snake draft, or best ball setup? Is it point-per-reception scoring, standard scoring, or six points per passing touchdown?

Fantasy football strategy for the NFL playoffs will depend on the specific settings in your league, but here are a few that will put you ahead of your competition.

• Quarterback fantasy football rankings
• Running back fantasy football rankings
• Wide receiver fantasy football rankings
• Tight end fantasy football rankings
• Kicker fantasy football rankings
• FLEX fantasy football rankings
• Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
• Superflex fantasy football rankings
• IDP fantasy football rankings
• Dynasty fantasy football rankings

1. Choose From NFL Teams With The Best Odds To Make A Run

If you're convinced that a certain team will make it deep into the postseason, then it makes sense to have more exposure to players on that team. You won't need to worry as much about that if your playoff league sets DFS lineups each week of the postseason.

In best ball formats -- where you set one lineup at the beginning of the playoffs and ride it out until the Super Bowl -- the winning squad will most likely be the one that features the most players that advance to Super Sunday. So choose wisely.

Here is the schedule for Wild Card Weekend:

1. Los Angeles Chargers (No. 5 seed in AFC) at Houston Texans (No. 4 seed in AFC) on Saturday
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 6 seed in AFC) at Baltimore Ravens (No. 3 seed in AFC) on Saturday night
3. Denver Broncos (No. 7 seed in AFC) at Buffalo Bills (No. 2 seed in AFC) on Sunday
4. Green Bay Packers (No. 7 seed in NFC) at Philadelphia Eagles (No. 2 seed in NFC) on Sunday
5. Washington Commanders (No. 6 seed in NFC) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 3 seed in NFC) on Sunday night
6. Minnesota Vikings (No. 5 seed in NFC) at Los Angeles Rams (No. 4 seed in NFC) on Monday night

In leagues that reward multipliers each week that a player advances, you will receive double the points in the Divisional Round, triple the points in the conference championship, and quadruple the points if your player advances to the Super Bowl.

That makes stud players on the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs quite attractive in those formats. The Lions are the current betting favorites at +280 to win the Super Bowl, while the Chiefs are at +350 to win the Lombardi Trophy for the third straight time.

While they won't accumulate points this weekend because they'll be on bye, you are guaranteed to receive double the points when they play their first game in the Divisional Round.

Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and DeAndre Hopkins, among others, will be popular picks in this specific format this year.

2. Quarterbacks Reign Supreme

Quarterbacks typically score the most fantasy points, regardless of format, so they become even more vital to your team's success in a three- or four-week playoff format. In normal postseason snake drafts, QBs should all come off the board first.

In leagues where you must start at least one player from each team in a best ball format, finding the right quarterback is paramount. At the most important position, you'll want your QB spot to be maximized to the fullest.

In this format, you will definitely want your QB to have a realistic chance to make a Super Bowl run, which would allow them to play in three or four games, depending on whether they have a first-round bye, thus maximizing your potential points.

Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson are likely to be the most popular QB picks this year with their teams being the best betting favorites to win the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

Jackson could be well on his way to winning a second straight MVP. He also finished the regular season as the overall QB1 in fantasy points, thanks to 4,172 passing yards, 41 TDs, and only four picks. Jackson added a league-high 915 rushing yards and four rushing TDs.

3. Choose Key Players On Potential Losing Teams

This strategy is especially important in salary cap and one-and-done leagues. In these types of leagues, choosing a player who gets eliminated won't cost you at all in the long run.

Don't avoid an entire team just because you think it won't advance past the first round. Instead, your goal should be to capitalize on great matchups, even if you aren't sold on their team moving past Wild Card Weekend. It's all about the matchups and potential game script.

For example, even if you think the Bucs could lose to the Commanders, don't shy away from impressive rookie running back Bucky Irving, who finished as a top-15 RB in half-point PPR scoring. Washington's run defense isn't anything special.

The Rams rested starters in the Week 18 regular-season finale and dropped from the No. 3 to No. 4 seed. It earned them a matchup against the 14-win Vikings at home in the Wild Card round on Monday night at SoFi Stadium.

It's a daunting matchup, for sure. However, the Rams beat Minnesota 30-20 back in Week 8 in L.A., and the Vikings defense allowed a league-high 32.6 half-PPR points per game to receivers. The Rams just so happen to have two of the best WRs in the game in Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. That's our queue for you to fire them up in playoff lineups.

Finding value in teams that are being overlooked is key. Zig when others zag.

4. Play The Matchups

We have all had to make tough decisions every week in season-long leagues, and it usually always comes down to the matchups. As you look to maximize value in salary-cap and one-and-done leagues, consider the matchups first and foremost.

The Chargers defense allowed the fewest points per game (17.7) and had the sixth-most sacks (46) in the league during the regular season. They'll be facing struggling Texans QB C.J. Stroud, who is down two of his best targets in receivers Stefon Diggs (knee) and Tank Dell (knee).

It's hard to leave Justin Jefferson out of any fantasy lineup, and he has massive bounce-back potential heading into Wild Card weekend against the Rams after catching just three passes for 54 yards in the Week 18 loss to the Lions. Jefferson was the overall WR2 in 2024 and caught eight passes for 115 yards against L.A. on Oct. 24.

Don't be afraid to roll the dice on rookie QB Jayden Daniels in his playoff debut. He's come a long way since losing to Tampa Bay in Week 1 in his NFL debut. His dual-threat abilities earned him QB5 honors in his first full season, and the Bucs defense allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per game to opposing signal-callers in 2024.

5. Pair A QB With His Top Receiver

This strategy is often successful in season-long leagues as well, but it also has merit in most playoff formats. The right quarterback-receiver combination could yield big results and set you apart from your competition.

The best combinations this year include Lamar Jackson and Zay Flowers (knee) and tight end Mark Andrews, Josh Allen and Khalil Shakir, Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin, Jalen Hurts (concussion) and A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua/Cooper Kupp.