The NFL regular season may be over, but that doesn’t mean fantasy football has to stop. There are a number of variations of playoff fantasy leagues, but today, we are going to focus on one-and-done formats with our top start ’em picks for the Super Bowl.
What Are One-and-Done Fantasy 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. Each week, every manager in your league has the full player pool available to choose from.
But there’s a catch.
Once you use a player, you can’t use him again. That’s where the strategy comes in. You need to construct the highest-scoring lineup while making sure you still have options for subsequent rounds.
Below, you will find our recommended picks for the Super Bowl. These are not going to simply be the best players at each position. Each player is carefully selected to maximize scoring potential throughout the entirety of the postseason.
Top Start ‘Em Picks for Super Bowl 59
I am going to switch things up for the Super Bowl and just give you my top picks regardless of what players you have left. Simply put, if you don’t have the top players left, you’re going to lose. I am one of those people. I gambled on a different Super Bowl, and thus, I do not have many Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles remaining. Telling everyone to start Kenneth Gainwell and JuJu Smith-Schuster does you no good.
Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles
However serious Jalen Hurts’ knee injury was, it didn’t stop him from winning the NFC Championship. With two weeks to rest, Hurts is likely to be at or near 100% for the Super Bowl.
Hurts did have his lowest rushing output of the season two weeks ago, running for a mere 16 yards. He also didn’t need to run much, as the game was never competitive.
This week, Hurts should be on his horse much more against a difficult Chiefs defense. When these teams last met in the Super Bowl, Hurts ran for a playoff career-high 70 yards and three rushing touchdowns.
Of course, the Eagles will try to lean on Saquon Barkley but expect Steve Spagnuolo’s defense to know that and not make it that easy. Hurts should throw more and run more, much like he did two years ago.
Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
I actually hope you don’t have Saquon Barkley still available. He’s already put up two monster games this postseason. It’s exceedingly unlikely his fantasy output this week is quite as good as it was in the Divisional Round or Conference Championship.
With that said, Barkley is the obvious top play this week, as the Chiefs use a rotation at running back, with Isiah Pacheco extremely ineffective and Kareem Hunt offering a low ceiling.
Kareem Hunt, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
We all have to start two running backs. Hunt is obviously the second-best option behind Barkley. He’s coming off a 58% snap share, his highest since Pacheco returned.
Andy Reid is well aware that Pacheco is not healthy and very clearly the less effective runner. It’s the Super Bowl. There’s no saving players or giving players sympathy snaps. The best players will play as much as they can. For the Chiefs, right now, at running back, that’s Hunt, and it’s not close.
A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
The best option at wide receiver remains A.J. Brown. Despite his penchant for disappearing and the potential for the Chiefs to erase him, Brown is still the clear WR1 on the Eagles. He’s coming off a game with eight catches, 96 receiving yards and one touchdown against the Washington Commanders, but you probably used him already.
DeVonta Smith, WR, Philadelphia Eagles
Hopefully, you were able to save at least one Eagles wideout. DeVonta Smith has been the most consistent wide receiver in the postseason. Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s been useful.
Smith has caught all 12 of his targets, resulting in exactly four receptions in each of his three playoff contests, for totals of 55, 21, and 45 yards. Not exactly exciting. Nevertheless, if you have him, you’re using him this week.
Xavier Worthy, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
I would argue that Xavier Worthy is the WR1 in this game. He’s now caught at least five passes in seven consecutive games. The Chiefs manufacture touches for him and are willing to give him deliberate looks near the goal line.
Worthy had five catches for 45 yards in the Divisional Round and six receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown in the Conference Championship. His floor is higher than both Eagles wide receivers. If you saved him, now is obviously the time.
Hollywood Brown, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
This is the first player I’ve listed so far that I actually have available. Yeah, it’s been a rough fantasy postseason.
After going catchless on two targets against the Houston Texans, Hollywood Brown caught three of five targets for 35 yards against the Buffalo Bills. That’s nothing to get excited about, but it’s a reminder that he’s the WR2 on this team. When we only have two teams to choose from and undoubtedly used multiple players in this game already, our options are limited. Brown at least has big play potential.
DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
DeAndre Hopkins is clearly not the same player he used to be. I suspect we’ve seen the last of Hopkins as a viable fantasy asset. He’s here to win a Super Bowl.
Hopkins has one catch on three targets the entire postseason. He played 18% of the snaps last week. You’re just hoping for a touchdown.
Dallas Goedert, TE, Philadelphia Eagles
The only position in which I actually saved a viable player is tight end. I have Dallas Goedert remaining and intend to use him (not that I have any chance at winning).
Not that matchups don’t matter anymore — we don’t have a choice — but the Chiefs actually allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to tight ends this season. If you saved Goedert, he could be in for a big game.
Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
I’ll keep this short and sweet. If you saved Travis Kelce, you don’t need me to tell you to use him here, even in the Flex.
