The regular fantasy season may be over but there is no time to sit around and gloat or commiserate, the playoffs are here and they bring with them a host of playoff competitions with opportunities to win big.
One of the longer-running contests out there is the FFPC Playoff Challenge, with $500,000 to first place and over $1.4 million in total prizes. Entry is $200. For those looking for a lower fee, the Football Guys Playoff Challenge uses the same format but is only $35 per entry with $100,000 to first. The FFPC Challenge sees 7800 teams competing in a total points format where the main thing that matters is scoring the most points.
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FFPC Playoff Challenge Strategy, Advice & Players to Target (2023 Fantasy Football)
What makes this contest different from some of the other playoff contests is that we’re not drafting, all we have to do is simply choose 12 players from the 14 playoff-bound teams, with the big caveat being, you can only select one player per NFL team. This means that you won’t be able to stack Josh Allen with Stefon Diggs or any other stack for that matter.
Each team is made up of one QB, two RBs, two WRs, one TE, four FLEXs, one kicker and one defense (FLEX can be RB, WR or TE). There are no bench spots. Scoring is the same as normal FFPC contests, which is full PPR, with tight end premium (extra 0.5 per reception). Players who play in the Superbowl will accumulate double points, and thus will likely be the most important players on your roster. Once you’ve selected the players and the games have started there is no setting lineups or management required, just sit back and enjoy the sweat.
While we’re free to choose the best possible lineup we can, it’s important to think about player rostership levels and the number of expected games they’re likely to play. Patrick Mahomes might be the MVP, but having a first-round bye week means that the maximum amount of games he can play is three as opposed to the likes of Josh Allen, who could play in a maximum of four.
George Kittle will likely be popular in this tight end premium format, having scored an average of 24.4 fantasy points in this scoring over the last four weeks, but in that time the Niners played some weak defenses and Deebo Samuel wasn’t active, this weekend that could change. Could Deebo Samuel be the low-rostered player that could carry the Niners to the Superbowl? Whichever way you decide to go, it’s important to map out the route to the Super Bowl for each player and make sure you’re not contradicting your thinking with plays.
Year after year we see Wildcard Weekend deliver some surprises, last year that was the Bengals, who went on to go all the way, and having Joe Burrow as your quarterback proved very useful as he was rostered by a fraction of teams compared to the more obvious picks of Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.
The best approach to this contest is like a DFS contest, where we aim for some chalky pieces, and then get different in a couple of key spots. Justin Jefferson could have a big enough eruption spot against the Giants where his score carries you deep in this contest. The Vikings are seen as a team who lucked their way to the playoffs and people might not be counting on the Vikings to go deep in the playoffs, but it’s not out of the question that Jefferson has two big games and he’s the kind of chalky selection we shouldn’t be afraid of.
Saquon Barkley has a nice matchup against the Vikings, but the last time the two teams met Richie James had 17.0 PPR points in Week 16, it’s unlikely many people will wish to roster James over Barkley but if the Giants progress they’ll likely face a tough Niners defense who have been excellent against the run all year, but have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to slot wide receivers.
While being contrarian can help, the biggest priority should be having as many possible players playing in the Divisional Round, where eight teams are playing. This means you’ll be losing at least four of your players and there is some level of skill in trying to decide who you would prefer to lose early on and which positions it would be best to lose. Typically, people tend to want their kickers to go out early as while they do provide a floor, they lack the ceiling we need when competing with thousands of other managers.
It does makes sense though to choose a kicker who typically scores well in case they squeeze through to the next round. If you’re high on the Jaguars’ skill players and believe they can make it through to the Divisional Round then it seems obvious that Cameron Dicker should be your kicker. Dicker averages 8.2 points per game, which is the sixth-most among the position and this will allow you to be confident in your Jaguars pick.
At defense, there are options like the Ravens and Dolphins who have been able to keep scoring low and pick up turnovers which lead to points. Neither team feels overly likely to progress but the defense could do a solid job in the opening weekend, particularly if they face high passing volume, which typically leads to turnovers.
These are the kind of global views we must have to takedown this contest and a few other plays and theories that stand out are below.
The Eagles have a bye week, which makes them slightly less favorable than they could be in this format, and most people will be drawn to the passing game but Sanders had 11 touchdowns this year which was the seventh-most among running backs.
Have we forgotten about ‘Playoff Lenny,’ who has scored 10 touchdowns in eight playoff appearances?
The Seahawks
Faced with a tough Niners matchup in the Wildcard Round, the Seahawks players won’t garner much attention, as most people expect them to be ejected swiftly from the playoffs, but weird things can happen in the playoffs and if they somehow squeak through they’d have a very winnable matchup with the Vikings or Giants.
According to reports, Lamar Jackson is hopeful he will be able to play this week, and while the team has some skepticism, if Jackson does play we know that he has a huge ceiling. Teams don’t need to lock their rosters in until the start of the games, so pivots can be made if Jackson is unlikely to play.
If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant – which allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and by how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.
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