Playoff Fantasy Football Strategy and Undervalued Teams To Target For 2026

It’s NFL Playoff Season here at Fantasy Life, which means it’s time to run through all the various fantasy offerings available across the industry. I did a deep dive into the Guilloteenie format earlier this week, and this article will focus on some of the additional ways to play.

Before we get into specific strategy, a few general things to keep in mind ...

Strategy for Playoff Fantasy Football Contests

Know Your Contest Rules

This may sound obvious, but you’d be shocked at how many people don’t know entirely what they’re signing up for. For years, I played in a fantasy baseball home league that penalized for strikeouts. Guys who hit 40 homers but struck out 200 times a year were massively outscored by players who simply hit singles with minimal strikeouts. Despite that fact, my leaguemates would always load up on the sluggers, while I rode the slap hitters to multiple championships.

For the playoffs, every contest is going to have a different wrinkle that is going to impact team construction. Do you need to set a lineup manually, or is it best ball? Is there a maximum number of players you can select from a given team? What about for each position? Knowing all the little intricacies for each contest can give you a big edge over the less educated portion of the field.

Try to Maximize Games Played

Outside of Guilloteenies, most postseason fantasy contests are set in stone after the draft. There is no free agency, so the team that you draft is the one that you’re stuck with.

That gives you very little wiggle room. Once a player that you draft is eliminated from the postseason, you’re stuck with a zero in that lineup spot moving forward. The earlier that player is eliminated from the playoffs, the fewer fantasy points they’re going to be able to contribute to your lineup.

That means that targeting players on good teams that you expect to make deep postseason runs is arguably the most important aspect of the draft. I would rather have someone who I think can give me three or four games of production than someone with more fantasy production who might only give me one.

Stacking teams is also necessary in these formats. If you’re not building your rosters so that you’ll have close to a full starting lineup in the Super Bowl, you’re almost certainly not going to win any of the big prizes. Spreading your exposure between three or four teams who could meet in the Super Bowl is how these tournaments are ultimately won.

Don’t Be Afraid to Think Outside the Box

In most of these big playoff contests, you’re going to be competing against thousands of other people. Your individual league will be smaller, but winning that isn’t the ultimate goal. We want to compete for the big prizes at the top of the overall leaderboards, which means we’re going to be going up against other lineups that look pretty similar to ours.

For example, let's say the Rams make it to the Super Bowl, and we were lucky enough to land Puka Nacua and Matthew Stafford. That’s great news for us … but it’s also great news for every other person who landed the Nacua-Stafford combo. Any points that the duo gets us in the Super Bowl are also going to go to every other person in the same situation.

But what if we added an additional pass catcher for the Rams late in the draft? Someone like Terrance Ferguson or Konata Mumpfield? Maybe those guys don’t end up in your lineup very often in the lead-up to the Super Bowl, but if one of them catches a touchdown from Stafford in the final game, it could vault you over all the other Rams’ stacks you’re competing with.

Pivoting from chalkier teams to lesser-valued squads also feels highly viable this year. There is no true Leviathan that is a lock to make the Super Bowl. Five different squads are priced between +230 and +565 to win the AFC. The NFC is a bit more top-heavy, but the Seahawks, Rams and Eagles are all priced between +175 and +400. Going all-in on a team that is not one of the favorites in their conference might not work out often, but when it does, it could pay huge dividends.

Roster Strategy For Playoff Fantasy Football

Running Backs Reign Supreme

One thing I’ve noticed during my postseason drafts so far is that the running back position dries up way faster than it does at wide receiver. After the top eight runners come off the board, you’ll be left with a handful of uninspiring options. Receivers go significantly deeper, especially when you factor in that you’ll want to be stacking your quarterback.

With that in mind, I want to target two starting running backs in my first three picks in most contests. Ideally, those players will play in different conferences, giving me a chance for them to meet in the Super Bowl. I’m if not picking first (where I’m taking Puka Nacua 100% of the time), I’m looking to land one of James Cook, Saquon Barkley or Kyren Williams with my first pick. After that, I’ll be looking to run things back with someone like Travis Etienne, TreVeyon Henderson, RJ Harvey or Kenneth Walker within the next two rounds. If I can get two RBs on good teams to anchor my lineup, I’m fine with rolling the dice on the other positions later in the draft.

Let Your Skill Players Dictate Your Quarterback

If our goal is to maximize our ceiling and our potential number of games played, it makes sense to build around certain teams. That means that whoever you draft at running back and wide receiver (and tight end to a lesser extent) should dictate which quarterbacks you’re looking to select.

The good news is that most of the people that you’re drafting with are going to be thinking the same way. For example, if you drafted Etienne and Jakobi Meyers early, you’re probably not going to have a ton of competition for Trevor Lawrence at quarterback. You can’t necessarily wait forever to grab him, but you shouldn’t necessarily feel “rushed” to scoop him up either.

Wait As Long As Possible For the “Onesie” Positions

You only need to start one player at QB and TE in these formats, so there is less need to draft these positions aggressively. There also isn't much separating most of the options at these positions, further reducing the need to attack them.

The big caveats here are George Kittle at tight end and Josh Allen at quarterback. They are arguably in a tier of their own in terms of fantasy production, so grabbing one of them could give you an edge over the rest of your leaguemates.

However, that edge comes with a price tag. Allen and Kittle will both come off the board very early, and it’s possible that both guys play just one game. Allen is a mere 1.5-point road favorite in the Wild Card round, while the 49ers are 4.5-point road underdogs.

With both players looking like potential early exits, is it worth paying the premium for them? It’s a big question that you’ll have to ask yourself. Personally, I find myself shying away from the Bills and 49ers in these contests, which gives me the luxury of waiting at QB and TE.

Undervalued Teams to Target In Playoff Fantasy Football

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars are considered longshots to win the AFC, despite finishing the year as the No. 3 seed. They rattled off eight straight wins to end the season, and they were undoubtedly one of the best teams in football over that stretch. They ranked sixth in EPA per play on offense and first for EPA per play on defense over the final eight weeks, so they’re legit contenders in my eyes.

The Jaguars will have home-field advantage vs. the Bills in the Wild Card round, and if they can get past them, they’ll likely have a date with the unproven Patriots in the second round. More importantly, if they can get past Buffalo, who else does Jacksonville really have to fear? Allen is the last QB with any real credentials in the AFC, so if they can knock them off, they have a real chance to make the Super Bowl.

Lawrence has been playing as well as any QB in football down the stretch, while Meyers, Parker Washington and Brenton Strange have all provided value as pass catchers. You could even target Brian Thomas Jr. and Bhayshul Tuten if you wanted to get really creative with Jacksonville.

Houston Texans

The Texans’ offense doesn’t offer as much value as the Jaguars’ on paper, but they’re a slightly safer bet to make a deep run. They’ll start the playoffs with a matchup in Pittsburgh, and they’re 3.5-point favorites over the Steelers. Pittsburgh managed to squeak into the playoffs by the skin of its teeth, and they look like an extremely exploitable opponent.

After that, Houston will likely travel to Denver to take on the Broncos, and there’s no reason they can’t win that matchup. They did lose to the Broncos at home in Week 9—their last loss of the season—but it was a three-point loss that was decided as time expired. They had an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter, so they’re another underdog who could very easily make a deep postseason run.

Nico Collins is the clear guy to target for Houston, while Woody Marks has emerged as their clear-cut top running back. Dalton Schultz also has some appeal at tight end, while some of the team’s depth receivers (Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel, Christian Kirk) make sense in deeper stacks.

Philadelphia Eagles

The two NFC West superpowers are the favorites in the NFC, but I can’t help but gravitate toward the defending champs. They’re listed at roughly +400 to win the conference, compared to +175 for the Seahawks and +232 for the Rams.

Would it shock anyone if the Eagles turned things around in the playoffs? Their defense is clearly championship-caliber; it’s just whether or not the offense is going to show up. They have more than enough talent on that side of the ball, with Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert all capable of posting big fantasy production.

They draw an excellent first-round matchup against a dreadful 49ers’ defense, and the Eagles are listed as 4.5-point favorites in that contest. After that, they will likely head to Chicago for a winnable matchup vs. the Bears. Both of the NFC West teams will likely have to go through each other before even reaching the NFC Championship. That makes Philly my favorite team to target of the bunch, especially since they shouldn’t be quite as popular as the other two.

Players Mentioned in this Article

PukaNacua
WRLAR
PPG
15.03
Proj
16.82
SaquonBarkley
RBPHI
PPG
8.53
MatthewStafford
QBLAR
PPG
13.10
Proj
16.56
TerranceFerguson
TELAR
PPG
2.99
Proj
2.83