Playoff Fantasy Football Strategy: Stacking, the Jaxon-Smith Njigba Debate and More

The fantasy football season and playoffs may be over, but that doesn't mean you need to be a curmudgeon until the 2026 season kicks off. Why? Because fantasy football isn't over quite yet—the 2026 NFL Playoffs bracket is set, which means NFL Playoff fantasy football contests are here.

If you're new to postseason fantasy football, you're in for a wild ride. Different strategies and game theory take center stage in these small-scale leagues, where each week feels like its own individual playoff. Those strategies, however, vary depending on your league settings, scoring, style of league and overall approach you want to take to the contest.

General Strategy Notes For 2026 Playoff Fantasy Football

Before we get into player-specific questions that I asked some of our in-house rankers, I wanted to highlight some general strategy notes when it comes to approaching your NFL playoffs fantasy football contests that I take into account in my playoff contests.

Know your league type. As simple as this sounds, it's the most important thing to know. There's a huge difference between what's viewed as a "normal" fantasy football league in the playoffs versus Guilloteenie contests in Guillotine Leagues™, where one (or even two) teams get chopped every week. Further, is it a best ball format where you don't have to set a lineup, and the high scorers on your roster get auto-slotted in as your starters? Or is it a league where you manually set your lineup and whoever scores the most points by the end of the playoffs wins? All of these are key distinctions to be aware of before your draft.
Adjusting for Bench vs No Bench leagues. Whether or not your roster has bench slots in your postseason fantasy football league should be a guiding factor in how much risk you're willing to take. If you have, say, three bench slots, taking a player like Jaxon Smith-Njigba somewhat early in your draft (more on him later) makes strategic sense. If you have no bench slots, you're drafting a player with a bye and immediately facing a zero in your lineup that you have to overcome. Don't put yourself in a position to play from behind before the first game even kicks off.
Use betting odds as a guide during your draft. Betting doesn't have to be for you, but you do need to understand its value in these types of contests. This week, the Rams are 10.5-point favorites over the Panthers in their Wild Card game. This provides a lot more confidence in getting more than one week out of a player like Puka Nacua, making him a stronger pick with the 1.01 than a player like Christian McCaffrey, who's done everything you could want out of a potential 1.01, but sits as a 4.5-point underdog to the Eagles in their Wild Card game. Make sure to track all of the NFL Playoffs Betting Odds here.
Pay attention to positional scarcity. This is a common theme to deploy in any fantasy football drafting, but it's even more important in postseason contests where there are fewer teams to draft from. The prime example this postseason is the tight end position, where there's George Kittle and then ... a whole lot of nothing. Sure, you can get Dallas Goedert on a favored Eagles team, or Colston Loveland in what's shaping up as a true 50-50 game against the Packers, but these guys aren't worth investing early capital in just to fill a position. If you don't snag Kittle early in your postseason drafts, punting the position and going week-by-week is a viable strategy.
Stacking. Stacking is a key strategy in both best ball and DFS contests. While it does narrow down the number of outcomes you need to correctly predict, there's a fine line in postseason contests that you need to toe. Say you come out of your postseason draft with a Trevor Lawrence-Travis Etienne-Jakobi Meyers. That would feel pretty damn good on a full-season best ball team, given the upside we've seen. In a postseason contest, though, you lose players after Week 1 if they lose. Skinny stacking (QB+WR/TE) is my preferred route in non-best ball postseason contests, where you can thread the needle of maximizing upside but also not overexposing yourself to a single team. If you want to overstack a team, I much prefer taking late-round shots on the second skill-position player. For Jacksonville, someone like Brenton Strange (or Parker Washington, pending ADP) > Meyers would be the difference here. That way, you have less capital invested in the overall stack, where the third piece may be more replaceable if they lose. When it comes to stacking, it's also important to pay attention to the playoff bracket and make sure you aren't building multiple stacks of teams that will run into each other in the Wild Card game, or even Round 2. Knowing only one team comes out of each conference and getting 1-2 weeks (max) of a stack because you chose teams with early potential matchups is a quick way to cap your overall ceiling.

With some high-level strategy topics out of the way, there are a handful of polarizing players in this year's postseason contests, so I consulted both John Laghezza and Matthew Freedman for some ranker insights ...

Player-Specific NFL Playoff Fantasy Football Strategy Questions

What should I do with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, knowing he has a Round 1 bye?

LAGHEZZA: Properly slotting elite fantasy assets resting through a first-round bye generally separates the wheat from chaff over the course of an entire postseason contest—but how should we treat them in 2026?

In Guillotine Leagues™ or shallow elimination contests, I’m essentially out on idle players in the first. Easy as pie. Too few playoff games with too much random variance. Nothing worse than costly early exits. Plus, in this case, it’s not like Seattle’s going to open as some huge favorite if they draw the Rams … or the Packers … or the 49ers, for that matter.

Does your format allow reserves? If so, scoop Smith-Njigba in the early first with confidence, right after the other potential Wild Card game-wreckers like Puka Nacua and Christian McCaffrey go off the board. The expectation in this case rests on a deep Seahawks playoff run—it’s ok if your WR position appears a bit weak behind your alpha dog. Advance the best players.

Given the wide-open field and quality of the Seahawks’ defense, forcing Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a top priority as one of the most valuable pieces in the game. Despite Seattle averaging the second-fewest dropbacks per game (30.5) in 2025, JSN was still one of only three players to earn at least a dozen targets six different times. Six! With that, you gotta play to score, and he won’t do much good if you get bounced early—so it’s critical you stick to your guns.

UNIVERSAL NOTE: There’s a certain degree of dedication required in playoff contests. Invest in a Seahawk third overall, and you’re all in, which is fine. Tight end AJ Barner goes late enough to stack with Sam Darnold to set up a parallel plan beginning in round two. Remember, nothing’s more important than getting as many players into the Super Bowl as possible.

FREEDMAN: From an agnostic perspective, I don't think you can take Smith-Njigba ahead of at least five WRs, maybe 10 RBs and TE George Kittle. Getting a zero from a guy you invested premium draft capital into is a surefire way to get eliminated in Round 1 of a playoff contest.

From a strategic perspective, one could employ a barbell approach with JSN. Either commit to the bit and somewhat aggressively (but reasonably) target him in drafts because you think the Seahawks will make it to the Super Bowl … or fade him entirely because you think the Seahawks are fraudulent and will be eliminated in their first playoff game. If you're in 10 postseason contests, you could maybe target JSN in half and fade him in the other half.

Trevor Lawrence’s late-season run has been a fantasy goldmine, but how comfortable are you drafting him (and Jags) with a Round 1 matchup against the Bills?

LAGHEZZA: My first thought went straight to the movie Training Day. How’s my comfort level with Trevor Lawrence? Oh, I’m very comfortable …

Witty Denzel references aside, any success I’ve had in the NFL’s second season spawned from boldness (Joe Flacco’s miracle run in 2013 comes to mind). Josh Allen still ranks as the field’s undisputed highest ceiling player, but I’m worried Buffalo’s going to struggle with this Jacksonville defense and lose outright. (Ducks) I know—someone out there in upstate NY wants to put me through a table for that.

Why wouldn’t we love Trevor Lawrence? The former 1.01 is fantasy football’s QB1 over the last month of the regular season—even if you remove Week 18, when most of his competition rested. The public is cold on the Jags, who coincidentally line up well with the Seahawks when meshing prices. Just sayin’ ...

FREEDMAN: Lawrence was awesome for the last six games of the season (1,600 yards and 15 TDs passing, 28-149-4 rushing), so I'm fine getting him after QBs Matthew Stafford, Drake Maye and Josh Allen … but the Jags are 1.5-point underdogs to the Bills in Round 1, and this is the first postseason for HC Liam Coen.

I'm not fading Lawrence, but I won't be disappointed if someone else drafts him.

Who are your “swing for the fences” picks in playoff fantasy drafts that could be difference makers if things break their teams’ way?

LAGHEZZA: Big payoffs occur where opportunity intersects with talent on underdogs:

Ladd McConkey, WR, LAC: Splitting targets caused inconsistent production for L.A.’s second-year wideout in a disappointing WR29 finish. However, McConkey was drafted inside the top-25 overall for a reason, and a similar run to the one we saw from Weeks 6-10 (18 FPG) as the overall WR4 isn’t off the table. Beware a healthy Chargers team—they’re arguably the best team New England’s faced all year. An upset in Foxboro would throw most brackets into disarray.
Woody Marks, RB, HOU: Somehow, Pittsburgh clawed its way into the playoffs to host the 12-win Texans for Monday night’s Wild Card finale. Derrick Henry just exploded for over 6.0 yards per carry and Marks checks all the boxes, projecting for roughly 20 touches as a 3.5-point favorite. He’s commanded ~60% of all backfield opportunities in games played since the bye, including the lion’s share of all receiving and high-value green zone work. If you view Houston’s defense as a carrying tool to the championship, Marks will need to play a critical role from a late ADP.

FREEDMAN: I hate myself for saying this … but it's not hard to imagine the Eagles once again getting to the Super Bowl, and RB Saquon Barkley is far cheaper now than he was a year ago. Sure, this season he's not a first-team All-Pro and the Offensive Player of the Year—but he still had 1,413 yards and 9 TDs in 16 games. If TreVeyon Henderson had done that this year, people would be losing their minds.

And speaking of Henderson, I can also imagine the Patriots making the Super Bowl from the AFC, which feels wide open without the Chiefs, Ravens and Bengals. In four games since the bye week, he has 308 yards and four TDs. If he did that over the next four games, you'd probably be satisfied—and we know he has the explosive upside to do much more if the Pats decide to unlock him in the postseason.

Players Mentioned in this Article

JaxonSmith-Njigba
WRSEA
PPG
11.78
Proj
15.67
TrevorLawrence
QBJAC
PPG
14.78
LaddMcConkey
WRLAC
PPG
6.22
Jo'quavioiusMarks
RBHOU
PPG
5.26