The Complete Guide to Fantasy Football for Beginners Part 7: Playoffs

Once late December hits, fantasy football managers enter the most exciting - or stressful - time of the year. You may enter the playoff stages competing for the big trophy, or you might be unfortunate enough to be fighting to avoid that dreaded last place spot. Regardless of where you are, you must forget about everything else and focus solely on winning your playoff matchups. 

I know you’re probably getting sick of hearing this, but playoffs work differently depending on where you look. It also depends on how large the league is, but in most cases the top four or six teams will make it, while the remaining teams will engage in a consolation bracket to determine the last place spot and the rest of the rankings. 

Even if you’ve tailored and toned your lineup nearly perfectly, you still might have gray areas on your team where you aren’t sure if these certain players are worth starting or not. To solve this, look at your player’s playoff schedule before you commit to keeping that guy on your roster. Some players will have extremely beneficial playoff matchups, while other players will face some of the top defenses in the league in these crucial weeks. Know which of your guys are in better positions before the elimination rounds start, because you should enter these critical matchups confident in your squad - there’s no reason to be scrambling for players this late in the season. 

The waiver wire is never as important as it is during these final weeks. By this point in every season, unknown players start to shine and stand out from the rest of the waiver wire, and can be extremely handy to have on your roster in a pinch. Injuries don’t rest: at any moment in any week, you can have a player go down and be sidelined for several weeks. This can happen to anyone, so always have a backup plan. 

If you play in a league where you are unable to sign free agents during playoffs, then you need to make these signings before playoffs start. Most importantly, your defense and kicker can become key factors to making or breaking a title charge. Find a solid defense that is playing bottom-ranked offensive teams in your playoff weeks, and make sure that defense is a part of your squad for all of the playoffs. Avoid signing multiple defenses: this will continue to waste vital spots on your roster that could be used for more important positions. The same logic goes with your kicker: find a kicker who plays in a dynamic offense and has been consistently scoring points week-to-week. He doesn’t have to be amazing, he just has to be solid. 

I don’t normally recommend this, but if you have a talented lineup that you are satisfied with, a sneaky strategy could be to use your final roster spots to simply block your rivals. What I mean is that if your upcoming opponent is weak in a position or lacking depth and you have an extra roster spot to use, sign a free agent that your opponent might need. A solid player is better off on your bench than in the other team’s starting lineup on gameday. 

Added note: most fantasy leagues do not play week 18. This is due to the nature of the NFL: in the final week of the season, many top NFL teams have solidified a playoff spot and choose to rest star players in order to avoid injury in the final week of the regular season. Nobody wants to play a fantasy matchup with all the best players sidelined, so most leagues make the decision to end the fantasy football season in week 17. 

However your playoff system is set up, you know the stakes. One loss will end your title hopes and you can’t slip up. The good news is, after playing with your roster for so long, you start to understand each player well and it’s easy to factor in who’s worth starting and who’s not fit to be in your lineup for these critical matchups. Hopefully by the time you reach this point in your season, you have solid guys set in each position that you can confidently rely on. 

What’s important with these final matchups is to make the same decisions you would make any other week. Don’t use this period to experiment or make any rash decisions. If you wanted to try something new, it ideally should have been in the regular season. Stick to what has been working for you in the previous weeks and if you really need to, sign a safe free agency option that provides a stable floor.