The NFL regular season may be over, but that doesn’t mean fantasy football has to stop. There are several variations of playoff fantasy leagues. Today, we are going to focus on full-length playoff fantasy football leagues. Here are our top picks to build out a roster for the entire playoffs.
What Are Full-Length Playoff Leagues?
Before we get to the picks, here is a very quick primer on one-and-done playoff fantasy football leagues. Most leagues require a starting lineup similar to this: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, Flex, Flex.
Some leagues will have benches. Others won’t. For leagues with benches, the size of the bench may vary. It’s impossible to cater this advice to each individual variation of playoff fantasy football. Therefore, we will do our best to give recommendations that are useful to everyone.
Full-Length Playoff Fantasy Football Roster
My particular full-length playoff league allows you to select 18 players. The starting lineup consists of QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, Flex, Flex, Flex. Since your league likely isn’t the same as mine, I will focus on the process behind building my roster so that, hopefully, even if you have small rosters and smaller lineups, you are well-equipped to build a winning roster.
Josh Allen, Quarterback, Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen is the best quarterback in fantasy, and he has a very strong chance of playing in at least two games. Given that the Buffalo Bills were the only team to beat the real Kansas City Chiefs this year, investing in their offense is a strong counter-play to managers who go all in on Kansas City.
Lamar Jackson, Quarterback, Baltimore Ravens
Even though Allen may be the best quarterback in fantasy, Lamar Jackson actually claimed the overall QB1 crown this season, edging out Allen (25.46 ppg vs. 23.69 ppg).
Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens have come up short in the postseason every year in which he’s been there, but it would be foolish to dismiss them as Super Bowl contenders.
Like Allen, Jackson is highly likely to play at least two games. If the Bills and Ravens both win, there is a 100% chance that one of them will play three games.
Patrick Mahomes, Quarterback, Kansas City Chiefs
This was the worst year of Patrick Mahomes’ career from a fantasy perspective. He’s now averaged 18.4 fantasy points per game in consecutive seasons after posting at least 20 ppg in each of his first five years as a starter.
We take Mahomes because, if the AFC plays out as expected, we will be guaranteed a quarterback alive in the Super Bowl. While there’s certainly a chance the NFC side of things has someone like Jalen Hurts or Jared Goff, both of whom we may prefer to Mahomes, the strategy is almost always to take quarterbacks from the same conference exclusively.
Jahmyr Gibbs, Running Back, Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are justifiably the favorites to reach the Super Bowl. It will be chalky, but it’s hard to justify not taking every fantasy-relevant Lion in this type of playoff challenge.
Even if David Montgomery were healthy, we’d still be all in on Jahmyr Gibbs. Without Montgomery, Gibbs is a nuclear weapon. Over the past two years, Gibbs averages 16.9 fantasy points per game with Montgomery on the field against 23.7 ppg without him.
Saquon Barkley, Running Back, Philadelphia Eagles
The NFC feels very top-heavy. It’s difficult to envision the NFC Championship Game not being between the Lions and Philadelphia Eagles. Given that the Eagles play this weekend, a Super Bowl run would result in them playing four games, whereas the Lions can only potentially play three. This makes players on the No. 2 seeds immensely valuable.
If your rosters are smaller and you can only load up on one team from each conference, the Eagles are an excellent contrarian play against the chalk that is the Lions.
Derrick Henry, Running Back, Baltimore Ravens
Pairing Derrick Henry with Lamar Jackson virtually guarantees every Ravens touchdown. In full-season fantasy, that could be viewed as capping your weekly upside. In playoff fantasy, it’s covering all your bases.
Henry torched the Pittsburgh Steelers the last time these teams played and ran for 199 yards against the Bills in Week 4. Even if we only get two games out of him, they should be very productive games.
James Cook, Running Back, Buffalo Bills
Who had James Cook leading the league in rushing touchdowns on their bingo card? Despite playing with Allen, Cook ran in 16 scores while adding two more through the air.
With the goal to have as many players alive as long as possible, taking a bunch of Bills and Ravens guarantees we can field full lineups through at least the conference championship games.
Bucky Irving, Running Back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
We have now reached the part of the program where we need to try to score as many points as possible in each round. Not having enough players alive in the Super Bowl is a problem, but not scoring enough points in the early rounds is just as bad.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are home favorites over a Washington Commanders team they beat 37-20 in their regular season meeting. Bucky Irving has completely taken over the Bucs’ backfield to the point where Rachaad White didn’t touch the ball in Week 18. He’s a bell-cow back in every sense of the term, and the Bucs will lean on him in the first round.
Irving averaged 16.9 fantasy points per game from Week 6 onward, which included Week 14 when he left the game early after scoring just 2.8 points. Remove that game, and he’s at 18.2 ppg. Those are RB1 numbers.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, Wide Receiver, Detroit Lions
At wide receiver, we start with the clear top pick. There’s absolutely no value in selecting Amon-Ra St. Brown. Literally, every team is going to do it. But if you don’t, you won’t be able to keep up with the proverbial Joneses. He’s a must-pick.
Jameson Williams, Wide Receiver, Detroit Lions
Jameson Williams is much more on the fringe. He won’t be ranked high enough to be considered a starter until at least the Conference Championship Round. However, if the Lions reach the Super Bowl, the teams with Williams will have an extra viable starter capable of producing big games.
What’s likely to be more valuable, having Williams for the Super Bowl or whatever someone like Nico Collins or Courtland Sutton does in what is likely one game? I’d rather take my chances on Williams.
Xavier Worthy, Wide Receiver, Kansas City Chiefs
It feels like Xavier Worthy’s close to his rookie season largely flew under the radar. Perhaps it’s because Worthy benefitted immensely from layup targets.
Worthy isn’t really winning on legitimate routes. Instead, the Chiefs are scheming him the ball. While that doesn’t bode well for his long-term success, for fantasy purposes, we don’t really care how he gets the receptions.
From Weeks 11-17, Worthy averaged 15.5 fantasy points per game. During the three most important weeks of the fantasy season, Weeks 15-17, Worthy scored at least 19.6 fantasy points in all of them.
If the Chiefs make the Super Bowl again, you are going to want Worthy. But even if they don’t, he’s good enough to be worth starting for the one or two games they play.
Puka Nacua, Wide Receiver, Los Angeles Rams
This pick is entirely about scoring as many points as possible. Puka Nacua may very well only play one game. If that’s all we get, it’s perfectly fine as long as he does what he’s been doing.
If you remove the game he got hurt and the game he got ejected, Nacua’s 17-game pace put him on track to earn 200 targets. He’s an elite talent with the perfect QB in the perfect system. There’s no 1A/1B debate with Cooper Kupp anymore. Nacua is the No. 1.
Nacua averaged 18.8 fantasy points per game this season, but that bumps up to 21.8 ppg if you remove the two games he did not finish. The Minnesota Vikings allowed the most fantasy points per game to wide receivers this season. If Nacua does only get to play one game, he should go out with a bang.
Justin Jefferson, Wide Receiver, Minnesota Vikings
The general rule of thumb is that you want to construct a roster that can conceivably keep as many players alive as possible. Taking Justin Jefferson and Puka Nacua guarantees losing an elite player after the first round. Again, though, there are only four weeks, and we need to accumulate as many points as we can.
The Los Angeles Rams vs. Vikings game has the highest total of Wild Card Weekend. Regardless of who wins the game, both Jefferson and Nacua can have monster fantasy outings.
A.J. Brown, Wide Receiver, Philadelphia Eagles
I’ve decided to plant my non-Lions flag on the Eagles. The nature of this format allows me to somewhat hedge my bets. We can go all in on three or four teams.
Of course, if something wild happens, like the Bucs or Rams making the Super Bowl, this strategy will fail. However, it really feels like the NFC’s representative will be the Lions or Eagles. It’s chalky, but going contrarian is only worth it if you truly believe in the upset.
A.J. Brown averaged 16.7 ppg this season. The Eagles may want to run, but when they face tougher opponents like everyone in the postseason, Brown should have a chance to see more volume. Either way, he’s very likely to play at least two games, if not three. And would it really shock anyone if the Eagles upset the Lions and reached the Super Bowl?
DeVonta Smith, Wide Receiver, Philadelphia Eagles
As someone who was all in on DeVonta Smith this season, his 2024 was quite underwhelming. Nevertheless, he’s capable of posting big games, like the 30-point effort he gave fantasy managers in Week 17 with Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee at quarterback.
If you’re loading up on Eagles, you have to include Smith.
Sam LaPorta, Tight End, Detroit Lions
Sam LaPorta’s follow-up to his record-breaking rookie season did not quite go as planned. However, the close to his 2024 season looked much more like the guy we saw as a rookie.
On the season, LaPorta averaged a paltry 10.8 ppg. That’s not doing anyone any good. From Weeks 13-18, though, LaPorta was at 15 ppg. That’s more like it.
We can leave Goff out of a Lions stack because we are very likely going to have the AFC’s quarterback, but if we’re going all in on the Lions, we need everyone, and that includes LaPorta.
Travis Kelce, Tight End, Kansas City Chiefs
During the regular season, the Chiefs made it a point to try and not overwhelm Travis Kelce. At 35 years old, they wanted to lighten his usage … and they did.
Kelce’s 12.2 fantasy points per game marked a career low since 2015. Yet, we need him, especially if we’re banking on the Chiefs returning to the Super Bowl.
Last season, Kelce’s decline started with him averaging 14.6 ppg. However, in the playoffs, Kelce dominated, averaging a vintage 21.5 ppg. It would be far from surprising to see his usage similarly tick up during these final three games.
Mark Andrews, Tight End, Baltimore Ravens
Of the top six tight ends in ppg, all of them were on teams that missed the playoffs. The guy at No. 7 is on the Chiefs and not playing this week. We need a tight end to put in our lineup during the Wild Card Round.
Mark Andrews’ usage still isn’t where it’s been in previous years. Yet, the fantasy production has been there because he keeps scoring touchdowns. From Week 6 onward, Andrews scored in all but two games. He closed the season with a touchdown reception in each of the Ravens’ final six contests.
With Zay Flowers looking very doubtful for this Saturday, we should see Andrews running more routes, as Jackson will need someone other than Rashod Bateman to catch passes. Plus, the Ravens can legitimately make a run. If they do, we want Andrews for subsequent rounds.