The normal fantasy football regular season might be over, but the 2025 NFL postseason is here, so fantasy football can continue. If you\u2019ve never played in playoff leagues, give it a try! Whether you\u2019re new or have participated before, this is a primer on strategy and format types, plus my playoff rankings with projected points per game, so you can develop your own draft strategies.<\/p>\n
Playoff Draft (and Hold)<\/p>\n
You know this one, even if you haven\u2019t played it. It\u2019s like seasonal, but you draft a playoff squad. Often, these are small leagues (six teams), and there is a mix of strategies \u2014 targeting players with great upside and\/or matchups, and predicting who will go deepest into the playoffs. Obviously, it will be hard to have a full team without some truly fringe players in this format. Sometimes, pivoting away from the favorites is a smart strategy (or sometimes forced on you due to draft position). Going against the grain, you can load up on a specific team or two, and if they go on a surprise run, you\u2019re golden. This is where stacking \u2014 even if you\u2019re forced into a team you might not love \u2014 becomes a significant strategy to get an edge. Many sites also incorporate bonus points for advancing into the next playoff round(s), adding an extra level of strategy.<\/p>\n
One-and-Done<\/p>\n
You can pick any player, any week, but you can only pick them once. So, if you took Christian McCaffrey this week, you wouldn\u2019t get to use him ever again, even if the 49ers make the Super Bowl. It\u2019s kind of like DFS in that you want to target the best matchups and upside. But unlike DFS, you have to plan ahead, hoping you\u2019re correct about which teams advance. Targeting great fantasy players who are likely to get eliminated is a major part of the strategy. MyFantasyLeague.com<\/a> is generally best for this and Draft-and-Hold formats, even though it\u2019s not the most user-friendly site.<\/p>\n Rolling Team with Bonus<\/p>\n You select a roster before the playoffs, and your players get bonus points the longer they advance. You could take someone on a bye because they will receive more bonus points than those teams playing the first week, especially if they make the Super Bowl. This playoff contest is the most crucial for picking the correct Super Bowl teams \u2026 especially if you gamble on a bye team making it, since players from those teams won\u2019t accrue first-round points. NFL.com doesn\u2019t do this one anymore, but NFFC has a version here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bracket Draft<\/p>\n Not sure what to call it, as this came from a reader (Steven J.), and I\u2019m a fan of the format \u2026 if not that name. Also, this is the most manual-intensive, as I haven\u2019t found a site to automate most of it, but anyway \u2026 the format is in the name. It\u2019s a playoff bracket of sorts, and the advancing managers draft each round. So, you start with eight teams (I prefer even numbers, ha) or seven, as Steven said, and the top six (or five) advance; then two more are eliminated in the divisional round, and so forth until the Super Bowl. So, you get to draft a bunch \u2014 always our favorite thing in fantasy football \u2014 and you\u2019re not stuck with a team of potentially eliminated players, injuries, etc. I like it, Steven!<\/p>\n NFL DFS<\/p>\n World of its own. You know how to play and what to do, or you don\u2019t like it (or can\u2019t legally play it). I don\u2019t need to go into much detail here, but if you haven\u2019t attempted it and can, give it a try. I recommend sticking to single-entry games if you are playing low-level or don\u2019t have much DFS experience.<\/p>\n Fantasy Football Playoff Rankings<\/p>\n NOTE: To make it super duper crystal #bankickers clear, these are how I\u2019d rank players, period. Given all of the formats, it\u2019s a catch-all, if you will. Playing a Draft and Hold would have you skip certain players in favor of those you expect to play more games. A one-and-done approach would have you picking some with better matchups who are still likely to lose, etc. So, feel free to jump in the comments and talk about your picks, favorite formats, or just ask questions!<\/p>\n ALSO: J.K. Dobbins and Terrance Ferguson are in the ranks as if they are returning\/playing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Fantasy Football Playoff Projections<\/p>\n This is a per-game projection for the playoffs. You can use this sheet to calculate the total points a player might score based on how many games you predict they will play (Column F: GP).<\/p>\n