The NFL postseason begins with one of the most challenging and unique fantasy football playoff formats you can participate in, the Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC) Playoff Challenge. The format is highly compelling and the rewards are generous and impressive. The unique format allows you to pick just one player from every team. My rankings here are generated accordingly.
The starting lineup format is as follows: 1-QB, 2-RB, 2-WR, 1-TE, 4-Flex, 1-K, 1-D (Flex can be RB, WR or TE). A complete FFPC scoring breakdown is featured here. A main scoring point to note is that TEs get 1.5 points for every reception.
Please note that the ranks here are customized for the FFPC Playoff Challenge. They also are based on my projected chances of each NFL team to reach the Super Bowl or play in the most possible amount of postseason games.
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Top 70 Rankings - FFPC Playoff Challenge
Below I include my Top 70 overall rankings at the skill positions, and the Top 14 Defenses and Kickers. I then also provide analysis on the Top 35 skill position players.
- Patrick Mahomes – QB is the most important position in playoff fantasy football, and he has the best chance to play in the most games from the Wild Card Round to the Super Bowl.
- Aaron Rodgers – Positioned well to end a four-game losing streak in NFC Championship Games.
- Davante Adams – The safest non-QB superstar pick in the playoff field.
- Travis Kelce - Finished nearly 40 PPR points behind Mark Andrews in the regular season, but with TEs getting 1.5 points for a reception in the FFPC format, he is still a Top 5 play on an AFC favorite. Would naturally get a bump a few spots down in other formats, as would all other TEs.
- Tom Brady – Buccaneers averaged 405.9 yards per game, second in the NFL under his guidance. The offense is less potent with some key WR injuries, but Brady is still the guy with the best chance to knock off Rodgers.
- Tyreek Hill – Finished as fantasy WR6 and still clearly the best upside WR in the AFC field.
- Cooper Kupp – Don’t count out the Rams from winning the NFC, and if they do, you know Kupp will be the key.
- Rob Gronkowski – If you miss on Kelce, Gronkowski is primed for a strong postseason run and will have to produce more with the missing wideouts in Tampa Bay.
- Josh Allen – The best fantasy QB during the regular season, but the Bills look like less of a threat to the Chiefs than they did last season.
- Derrick Henry – He is expected to return for the playoffs, and may give Tennessee a real chance of winning the AFC. Once the Titans clear Henry, you should feel confident about starting him. When team medical staffs clear a player for action with no limitations, I don’t hold back from using him for fantasy purposes.
- Leonard Fournette – “Lombardi Lenny” is back for the postseason and may play a major role on offense for Tampa Bay. UPDATE 1/14: Leonard Fournette is a game-time decision for the Wild Card Round.
- Aaron Jones – He is in a time share with A.J. Dillon, but Jones is more versatile and is the most proven playoff RB in Green Bay.
- Matthew Stafford – He could either take the Rams to the Super Bowl with some big plays or get them eliminated in the first round with confounding errors.
- Stefon Diggs – Disappointing regular season, but still a prime TD threat.
- Clyde Edwards-Helaire – Expected to return and has run hard this season very often when healthy. UPDATE 1/14: CEH has been ruled out for the Wild Card Round.
- A.J. Brown – The return of Henry can only help him post big postseason numbers
- Mike Evans – Working though a hamstring problem but still a major TD threat.
- Sony Michel – Was a playoff force as a rookie, and should be a sturdy performer in this postseason.
- Joe Burrow – Monster finish to the regular season could translate into two impressive postseason outings.
- Ja'Marr Chase – Top 5 fantasy WR as a rookie, I’m betting he is ready for the big postseason stage.
- Dak Prescott – He is the key for Dallas reaching their first NFC Championship Game since 1996.
- Joe Mixon – Mixon Ranked third in the NFL with a career-high 1,205 rush yards and fourth with a career-high 13 rushing TDs.
- Deebo Samuel – Samuel can be the guy that boosts the 49ers to an upset in the first round.
- Tee Higgins – He had four 100-yard outings in his final six games.
- Kyler Murray – The Cardinals were often mediocre in the second half of the season. Murray did not rush for a score in his last five games and had more than one TD pass once during that span.
- Ezekiel Elliott – Looking better as we head into the NFL playoffs.
- James Conner – TD machine could be the guy that gives the Cardinals their best chance of playing more than one postseason game.
- Najee Harris – You always hesitate to draft guys who could easily be one and done, but many players we don’t project to be eliminated after one game will be zapped out. At least you can be very confident that Harris will give you one game of quality all-around production.
- A.J. Dillon – A good TD option for the NFC favorites, even if Jones outplays and outsnaps him
- Odell Beckham Jr. – Caught all five of his TD passes from Weeks 12 through 17. .
- Jimmy Garoppolo – He has won an NFC Championship and could post respectable numbers for fantasy playoff purposes if the 49ers win any playoff games.
- Jalen Hurts – You may get only one game out of Hurts, but he will put up a fight with good dual purpose production.
- Dallas Goedert – One impressive outing is still worthy of a roster spot at the TE position.
- Zach Ertz – Arizona’s best pass-catcher heading into the postseason.
- George Kittle – Finished the regular season quietly, but should be pumped for the playoffs.
- Elijah Mitchell – The clear feature back on a team that hopes to ride the running game to a first round win over Dallas.
- Diontae Johnson – The numbers will be there against Kansas City. You will surely get one very good performance from Johnson.
- Dalton Schultz – If Dallas advances to the NFC title game you will get at least two possible quality outings at the TE position from Schultz.
- CeeDee Lamb
- Amari Cooper
- Dawson Knox
- Ryan Tannehill
- Brandon Aiyuk
- Chase Edmonds
- Devin Singletary
- Damien Harris
- DeVonta Smith
- Darren Waller
- Derek Carr
- Josh Jacobs
- Hunter Renfrow
- Mac Jones
- Allen Lazard
- Marquez Valdes-Scantling
- Christian Kirk
- Tyler Higbee
- Miles Sanders
- Darrel Williams
- Pat Freiermuth
- Rhamondre Stevenson
- Jauan Jennings
- Cedrick Wilson
- C.J. Uzomah
- Hunter Henry
- Jordan Howard
- A.J. Green
- Tony Pollard
- Julio Jones
- Gabriel Davis
- Tyler Boyd
Defense Rankings
- Green Bay Packers
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Los Angeles Rams
- Buffalo Bills
- Dallas Cowboys
- Arizona Cardinals
- New England Patriots
- Tennessee Titans
- Cincinnati Bengals
- San Francisco 49ers
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Pittsburgh Steelers
Kicker Rankings
- Harrison Butker
- Ryan Succop
- Mason Crosby
- Matt Gay
- Tyler Bass
- Nick Folk
- Evan McPherson
- Matt Prater
- Greg Zuerlein
- Randy Bullock
- Robbie Gould
- Jake Elliott
- Daniel Carlson
- Chris Boswell
More Fantasy Football Analysis