Unlike season-long fantasy football lineup decisions, playoff-only leagues require projecting for the entire postseason prior to setting your lineup for kick-off of Wild Card weekend. That includes weighing which players will go deeper into the playoffs, potentially jostling their overall ranking a full 10-15 spots higher because they capped off the year with 60-plus minutes of extra reps over their peers.
The Official FFPC Playoff Challenge — a format I've invested both time and joy into the past few seasons — homepage details it best:
Each team will consist of ten (10) NFL players in a FFPC starting roster format: 1-QB, 2-RB, 2-WR, 1-TE, 2-Flex, 1-K, 1-D (Flex can be RB, WR or TE). This will be your roster for the duration of the playoffs. There will not be any changes, substitutions or free agent pickups for any reason once rosters are locked at the start of the NFL playoffs. As NFL teams get knocked out of the playoffs, so will your players so draft your team accordingly.
The following Playoff-Only Top 50 is based on 0.5 PPR scoring and takes into account my estimation of injuries, role changes, and games played throughout the postseason. Keep in mind that your subjective adjustments are equally as important as this list; you’re likely bumping Damien Williams to RB4 or higher, for example, if you personally believe LeSean McCoy was healthy scratched and glossed over for more than “workload management” purposes in Kansas City’s last two games. A similar approach in building lineups to account for upsets can be used for those willing to take on risk to gain an advantage over larger fields.
Player (Estimated Games Played) -- Positional Rank
1. Lamar Jackson (3) -- QB1
2. Michael Thomas (2) -- WR1
3. Alvin Kamara (2) -- RB1
4. Aaron Jones (2) -- RB2
5. Tyreek Hill (2) -- WR2
6. Patrick Mahomes (2) -- QB2
7. George Kittle (3) -- TE1
8. Travis Kelce (2) -- TE2
9. Davante Adams (2) -- WR3
10. Drew Brees (2) -- QB3
11. Mark Ingram (3) -- RB3
12. Raheem Mostert (3) -- RB4
13. Mark Andrews (3) -- TE3
14. Damien Williams (2) -- RB5
15. Julian Edelman (2) -- WR4
16. Deebo Samuel (3) -- WR5
17. Jared Cook (2) -- TE4
18. Devin Singletary (2) -- RB6
19. Tyler Lockett (2) -- WR6
20. DeAndre Hopkins (1) -- WR7
21. Derrick Henry (1) -- RB7
22. Jimmy Garoppolo (3) -- QB4
23. Emmanuel Sanders (3) -- WR8
24. Marquise Brown (3) -- WR9
25. James White (2) -- RB8
26. Aaron Rodgers (2) -- QB5
27. DK Metcalf (2) -- WR10
28. Russell Wilson (2) -- QB6
29. Gus Edwards (3) -- RB9
30. Latavius Murray (2) -- RB10
31. Tom Brady (2) -- QB7
32. Sony Michel (2) -- RB11
33. Mecole Hardman (2) -- WR11
34. Stefon Diggs (1) -- WR12
35. A.J. Brown (1) -- WR13
36. Travis Homer (2) -- RB12
37. LeSean McCoy (2) -- RB13
38. Dalvin Cook (1) -- RB14
39. Tre’Quan Smith (2) -- WR14
40. John Brown (2) -- WR15
41. Deshaun Watson (1) -- QB8
42. N’Keal Harry (2) -- WR16
43. Tevin Coleman (3) -- RB15
44. Miles Sanders (1) -- RB16
45. Dallas Goedert (1) -- TE5
46. Sammy Watkins (2) -- WR17
47. Marshawn Lynch (2) -- RB17
48. Carlos Hyde (1) -- RB18
49. Cole Beasley (2) -- WR18
50. Rex Burkhead (2) -- RB19