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Who should I start for fantasy football playoff leagues in 2026? Fantasy football outlooks for Matthew Stafford, Drake Maye, Aaron Rodgers, C.J. Stroud, Caleb Williams, Jordan Love.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common fantasy football playoff league lineup decisions involve players like Matthew Stafford, Drake Maye, Aaron Rodgers, C.J. Stroud, Caleb Williams, Jordan Love. However, don't worry, we are here to help you make these decisions and build winning lineups in playoff leagues. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for playoff leagues and the 2026 NFL playoffs. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Fantasy Football Matchup Outlooks
Below are some fantasy football outlooks written by our NFL team here at RotoBaller, bringing you their fantasy football analysis and advice on which players to consider starting in playoff leagues:
Caleb Williams, QB, Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams finished the 2025 regular season as the QB5 for the year under first-year head coach Ben Johsnon. He completed 330 of 568 (58%) for 3,942 yards and a 27:7 TD: INT ratio. From a fantasy standpoint, he also contributed 383 rushing yards and three touchdowns, giving him a solid rushing floor. Although there were some lower moments on the season where he scored 12 or fewer fantasy points in three of his 17 contests, for the most part, Williams was a solid fantasy option, and should continue to be so in the playoffs.
The Bears take on division opponent, the Green Bay Packers, in round one, who struggled to stay healthy down the stretch and have a very beatable defense after losing Micah Parsons (knee) for the season. This will be Williams' first career playoff start, and the Bears are currently underdogs(+1) to the Packers at home, so there is some risk for Fantasy managers in playoff leagues. However, if the Bears do make a run, it will likely be because the second-year signal-caller is performing at an elite level, making him a solid fantasy option for the playoffs.
Aaron Rodgers, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
Across 16 games played in 2025, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed 65.7% of his pass attempts for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Rodgers delivered a bit of a vintage performance in Week 18 to help power Pittsburgh into the playoffs, completing 31 of 47 pass attempts for 294 yards and a touchdown in a win over the Baltimore Ravens. Entering Wild Card Weekend, Rodgers will get some much-needed pass-catching help in the form of wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, who missed the final two games of the regular season due to a suspension.
However, Rodgers will face one of the league's best defenses in the Houston Texans in the first round of the AFC playoffs. In the regular season, Houston ranked seventh among NFL defenses in both passing yards (3,486) and passing touchdowns (20) allowed. Rodgers has played some of his best football of the season in recent weeks, but fantasy managers in playoff leagues may want to be cautious given his matchup against Houston.
Jordan Love, QB, Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (concussion) will start on Saturday in the Wild-Card playoff game against the division-rival Chicago Bears after missing more than two and a half games due to a concussion, according to Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. "There's nobody else I'd rather have than Jordan," head coach Matt LaFleur said. Love has not played since suffering a concussion in the second half of the Week 16 loss to the Bears.
The 27-year-old mostly had a normal week of practice last week before being held out of the Week 18 regular-season loss to the Minnesota Vikings, so he shouldn't have any limitations this weekend on the road. In the first meeting with Chicago on Dec. 7, Love threw for 234 yards, three touchdowns, and one pick. Chicago's defense allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to QBs in 18 weeks, so Love, coming off injury, will be in play as a QB sleeper play in the first round in fantasy playoff leagues.
C.J. Stroud, QB, Houston Texans
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud rested in the second half of the season finale versus the Colts after completing 14 of 23 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Once it was known that the Jaguars were up big in their game against the Titans, thus eliminating the Texans from winning the division, the team decided to give Stroud the rest of the day off with a playoff spot already locked up. Houston will travel on the road to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild-Card round. The 24-year-old signal-caller has had another solid season, completing a career-high 64.5% of his passes for 3,041 yards, 19 touchdowns, and eight interceptions while adding 48 carries for 209 yards and another score on the ground in 14 games.
The Ohio State product has posted 7.0 yards per attempt or higher in 10 of 14 games this season. The Steelers sit in the middle of the pack against the pass in most metrics, ranking 14th in net yards per pass attempt (6.3) and 16th in dropback EPA (0.060). Stroud and the Texans may need to air it out more often Monday night, with how dominant Pittsburgh has been against the run recently, allowing a league-low 73.3 rushing yards per game over the final four weeks.
In one career game versus Pittsburgh in Week 4 of the 2023 season, Stroud threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns, posting the second-highest yards per attempt (10.2) in a game of his career. Stroud projects as a quality option for fantasy managers in playoff leagues and can be trusted as a borderline QB1/QB2.
Who Should I Start Tool
You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.
Playoff League Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Matthew Stafford, Drake Maye, Aaron Rodgers, C.J. Stroud, Caleb Williams, Jordan Love. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in playoff leagues.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Playoff League Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for playoff leagues (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Playoff League Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for playoff leagues for Matthew Stafford, Drake Maye, Aaron Rodgers, C.J. Stroud, Caleb Williams, Jordan Love:
More Fantasy Football Analysis
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