Five Strategies To Help You Win Your Fantasy Football Playoff Leagues

January 13, 2024

If you're playing in 2023 fantasy football playoff leagues, these five strategies will help you make better decisions for setting winning lineups.

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 team of your own in an attempt to win extra cash or good old-fashioned bragging rights amongst your friends.

Just like with fantasy leagues during the regular season, knowing your league's scoring settings and roster requirements is of utmost importance. Is your playoff league a one-and-done league, salary cap format, normal snake draft, or best-ball setup? Is it point-per-reception scoring, half-point PPR, or six points per passing touchdown?

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

1) Choose From Teams With 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 a handful of players from that squad. You won't need to worry as much about that if your playoff league sets DFS lineups for 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's the schedule for super wild-card weekend:

1. Cleveland Browns (No. 5 seed in AFC) @ Houston Texans (No. 4 seed in AFC) on Saturday
2. Miami Dolphins (No. 6 seed in AFC) @ Kansas City Chiefs (No. 3 seed in AFC) on Saturday
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 7 seed in AFC) @ Buffalo Bills (No. 2 seed in AFC) on Sunday
4. Green Bay Packers (No. 7 seed in NFC) @ Dallas Cowboys (No. 2 seed in NFC) on Sunday
5. Los Angeles Rams (No. 6 seed in NFC) @ Detroit Lions (No. 3 seed in NFC) on Sunday night
6. Philadelphia Eagles (No. 5 seed in NFC) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (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 Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers quite attractive in those formats. The Ravens have a 25.1% chance to win the Super Bowl, while the Niners have a 27.9% shot at the Lombardi Trophy.

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.

Lamar Jackson, Zay Flowers, Gus Edwards, Justice Hill, Isaiah Likely, Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle, 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, the 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 absolutely 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.

Lamar Jackson, Brock Purdy, Josh Allen and Dak Prescott are likely to be the most popular QB picks this year and just so happen to the the top-four point-scorers at their position in 2023.

Hurts, who finished as the QB2 in total fantasy points during the regular season, is trending down after dislocating a finger on his throwing hand in Week 18. His top two receivers -- A.J. Brown (knee) and DeVonta Smith (ankle) -- are also dealing with injuries.

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 that gets eliminated won't cost you at all in the long run.

Don't avoid an entire team just because you think they 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.

Basically, it's all about the matchups and potential game script.

For example, even if you don't expect the Buccaneers to beat the Eagles on Monday night, don't shy away from running back Rachaad White, who finished the regular season as the RB6 in half-point PPR scoring. The Eagles defense is limping into the postseason.

The Dolphins' offense hasn't looked right in back-to-back losses and will now be forced to go on the road as a wild-card team to play in expected frigid temperatures in Kansas City against the defending Super Bowl champions.

Even if receiver Jaylen Waddle returns from an ankle injury, Tyreek Hill should be featured plenty against his former team. The 29-year-old Cheetah finished as the WR2 in half-PPR scoring, led the NFL with 1,799 receiving yards, and was tied for the league lead with 13 touchdowns.

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

4) Play The Matchups

We have all had to make tough decisions on a weekly basis 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 Bills won their final five regular season games to win the AFC East, and their defense is peaking at the right time. Additionally, they'll be facing a Steelers offense that put up just 17.9 points per game, which was tied for the fifth-lowest mark in the NFL.

Buccaneers wideout Mike Evans had only six catches for 92 yards and no touchdowns in the final two regular season games, but he finished the 2023 regular season as the WR5 in half-PPR scoring with 1,255 yards -- his 10th straight season of 1,000 yards -- and was tied for the league lead at his position with 13 TDs. Philly's D was the No. 1 matchup for opposing receivers in fantasy this year.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford wasn't a top-10 fantasy signal-caller in 2023, but he'll be facing off against the team he spent the first 12 years of his career with, a Lions defense that was vulnerable through the air. The Rams offense has some elite weapons for Stafford to work with.

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 Brock Purdy and Deebo Samuel/Brandon Aiyuk, Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown (injuries pending), Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill, Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown and Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua/Cooper Kupp.

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