It’s the first week of the fantasy football playoffs, and we probably should have our lives (or at least our rosters) together enough to get us onto the next round. But, if you’re getting itchy about your chances with your current makeup of guys, we (as always) are here to help. Below you’ll find three players at each position available in at least 50% of Yahoo! leagues, with one of those players available in at least 90% of leagues. If you can’t find a player who can help you, and you’re a massive underdog, could I suggest starting your fantasy baseball research?
QUARTERBACKS
C.J. Stroud (45% rostered) versus Arizona
Stroud has only two top-12 starts this season, and none since San Francisco in week eight, but spiritually, his game against the Chiefs was a QB1 game. He began to look more like rookie C.J. Stroud, hitting his two behemoth receivers (Nico Collins and Jayden Higgins) on high-difficulty throws downfield and across the middle of the formation. This week, he faces a Cardinals defense that allows the twelfth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks, but one that has given up three touchdowns to QBs in three of its last four games (against Trevor Lawrence, Brock Purdy, and Matthew Stafford). They’re also the tenth-best matchup in the per-target model and the running back per-touch model, making this a game where the Houston offense should dominate against the drain-circling Cardinals.
J.J. McCarthy (33% rostered) at Dallas
It worked last week against one defensive tomato can; why not another? Nine showed up last week, and threw for three touchdowns as the Vikings drubbed the Commanders 31-0. This week, he gets another easy matchup, as he travels to Dallas for Sunday Night Football. The Cowboys allow the most fantasy points to quarterbacks on the season, and Quinnen Williams hasn’t stemmed the flood. Since week eight, only two quarterbacks have fewer than 23 fantasy points against them: Geno Smith (who is Not Good) and Jared Goff (because Jahmyr Gibbs went beast mode). The Cowboys are a prime matchup, ranking sixth in my quarterback passing model.
Marcus Mariota (8% rostered) at N.Y. Giants
The Commanders are doing the smart thing and not letting Jayden Daniels explode his elbow, so we are turning back to the Marcus Mariota show. He gets a soft landing at the division-rival New York Giants, as well. In his last start against Denver, he finished with 294 passing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, as well as 55 rushing yards. He needed a fifth quarter to do so, but he was also going against Denver, so those two things offset each other. It wasn’t a one-week wonder either, as over his last two starts, he has 500 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, and three touchdowns (with two picks).
The Giants are a great matchup for him, as well, as they are second in fantasy points per game to quarterbacks on the season, and have allowed 17 or more fantasy points to the last four quarterbacks to face them. The Giants are also the fifth-best matchup of the week in my per-target model. They’ve also allowed nine-straight quarterbacks to notch multiple touchdowns, providing not only Mariota, but his pass catchers with a good opportunity to produce.
RUNNING BACKS
Chris Rodriguez (38% rostered) at N.Y. Giants
Rodriguez is the RB1 in Washington, but he hasn’t really ended up anywhere thrilling so far, finishing as a top-36 RB in four of the last five weeks, but finishing inside the top-28 just once. So, he’s provided pretty consistent flex value or deep league RB2 value (but if you’re in a deep league, he’s already snatched up). This has more to do with the Giants than the running back stylings of Mr. Rodriguez; they rank as a top-fifteen matchup on the week, which means that Chris Rodriguez is your best bet to just put some points on the board for your fantasy football team.
Devin Singletary (29% rostered) versus Washington
The Commanders are not a good running back matchup, but Devin Singletary has elevated himself to a 50/50 split with Tyrone Tracy since the Cam Skattebo season-ending injury. Singletary has made his presence felt, playing 48% or more of snaps in two of the last three games, while averaging 15 touches for 65 yards, and scoring three touchdowns in the previous three games. He’s like Chris Rodriguez, but his floor is slightly lower, and his chances of a touchdown are marginally higher.
Michael Carter (5% rostered) at Houston
Emari Demercado might be back for this one, which would throw a wrench in the whole proceedings, but if you need a PPR running back with a target floor, look no further than Michael Carter, who has 20 targets in his last four games, where he’s averaging 8.3 PPR points without scoring a touchdown. The Texans are a brutal matchup, but it’s likely this one continues the Jacoby Brissett rollercoaster: go down big, then throw it all over the yard in comeback mode. That puts Michael Carter squarely in my sights this weekend if I’m exceptionally desperate in a deep PPR league.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Jayden Higgins (42% rostered) versus Arizona
Higgins has quietly become a high-volume target over the last five weeks, getting an 18.1% target share and a 26.1% air yards share, which rank third and second on the Texans, respectively. He’s finished as a top-36 receiver in four of his last five games, and a top-26 receiver in three of the previous five games. He’s getting a mess of targets, and he’s going up against the Cardinals’ pass game that ranks fifteenth in my per-target model (which is still a favorable matchup for Higgins). C.J. Stroud is returning to his rookie-year heights, and Jayden Higgins is a big part of that.
Darius Slayton (38% rostered) versus Washington
Jaxson Dart is back from his injury this week, and in his first stint as quarterback, he heavily targeted Darius Slayton. From weeks four through ten, Slayton averaged 5 targets, 3.4 receptions, and 50.4 yards per game. While he did not score any touchdowns, he provided incredible floor volume, and his depth of target ranks tenth in the league, meaning that any Jaxson Dart target could be a big play for Slayton. The Commanders have a terrible pass defense and are allowing a ton of fantasy points to receivers, ranking third in my per-target model.
Andre Iosivas (10% rostered) versus Baltimore
With no Tee Higgins, the Bengals are likely to turn to Iosivas as their WR2 in this divisional matchup. Iosivas has become a “what the heck flex” option in the last six weeks, where he has three double-digit games in his previous five contests, including two games with 4+ catches, 60+ yards, and a touchdown. That feels like an Andre Iosivas game in this one, especially since he scored the last time these two teams met up in Baltimore on Thanksgiving.
TIGHT ENDS
Dalton Schultz (47% rostered) versus Arizona
Schultz is becoming a target hog for Houston, averaging seven targets over the last six weeks, and finishing with a 5/44 line, on average, in that timeframe. In the previous six weeks, Schultz is TE10 in fantasy points per game, and he has a great matchup this week against the Cardinals, who are sixth in my per-target model against tight ends.
Isaiah Likely (11% rostered) at Cincinnati
We all know what the Bengals are doing against tight ends: they are far and away the best possible matchup for the position this season, allowing 24.2 points per game to tight ends. The #2 team, the Dolphins, currently allows 16.4 PPR points to tight ends. That 7.8 points per game difference is the same as the #2 team and the #30 team in PPR points per game to tight ends, the Philadelphia Eagles. As for Likely, he has 12 targets in the last two games (an 18% share) and had three red zone targets last week. He also had two not-touchdowns that should have been scores, and if he averaged 4.5 catches for 60 yards, with three touchdowns over the last couple of weeks, his rostership would probably be three times as high.
Gunnar Helm (0% rostered) at San Francisco
The 49ers currently have zero Mike linebackers. They’re all gone. Fred Warner gave way to Tatum Bethune, who is hurt and not playing this week. He ceded his role to Nick Martin, who is hurt and not playing this week. The 49ers will be starting Curtis Robinson alongside Dee Martin, and we might get a look at Garrett Wallow. So, that’s all to say that the bad tight end defense is going to get even worse. Helm had only two targets last week, but had 19 targets in the three games before that, averaging 5.3 catches for 34.3 yards per game in those contests.
