NFL Playoff Fantasy Rankings: Best Players to Draft for Postseason Contests

Draft Rankings for Your Playoff Tournaments

The regular season concluded with Ravens-Steelers, but we're just days away from kicking off Wild Card Weekend with Rams at Panthers.

And that means you're in a narrow window to join playoff fantasy contests.

As we've done for over a decade, we've compiled our NFL playoff fantasy rankings below. Use them for home leagues -- or for national, big-money contests found on the FFPC, Underdog Fantasy, and other sites.

Let's begin with a macro view of the NFL playoffs, followed by positional and overall rankings:

AFC Playoff Picture: Bills, Jaguars Couldn't Be Much Closer

(Numbers in parentheses show the team's chances of winning the AFC, based on The Athletic's Playoff Simulator)

1. Denver Broncos (33.3%)
2. New England Patriots (18.3%)
3. Houston Texans (14.4%)
4. Jacksonville Jaguars (13.6%)
5. Buffalo Bills (12.5%)
6. Los Angeles Chargers (4.8%)
7. Pittsburgh Steelers (2.7%)

The Athletic's Playoff Simulator ultimately has the Broncos with the best odds of winning the Super Bowl (16.6%).

NFC Playoff Picture: It's Seattle ... And Then Everybody Else

(Numbers in parentheses show the team's chances of winning the NFC)

1. Seattle Seahawks (48.3%)
2. Los Angeles Rams (20.0%)
3. Philadelphia Eagles (15.3%)
4. Chicago Bears (7.0%)
5. Green Bay Packers (4.2%)
6. San Francisco 49ers (3.2%)
7. Carolina Panthers (1.8%)

Seattle leads the group with a 24.1% chance of winning the Super Bowl.

Playoff Rankings: Top 50 Overall

*Italic text designates an injured player. Writeups coming on Tuesday.

1. Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams

2. Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks

3. Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles

4. A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles

5. Davante Adams, Los Angeles Rams

6. James Cook, Buffalo Bills

7. Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

8. Drake Maye, New England Patriots

9. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles

10. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

11. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

12. Travis Etienne, Jacksonville Jaguars

13. Nico Collins, Houston Texans

14. Kyren Williams, Los Angeles Rams

15. Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

16. Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos

17. DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles

18. R.J. Harvey, Denver Broncos

19. TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots

20. Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots

21. Stefon Diggs, New England Patriots

22. Christian Watson, Green Bay Packers

23. Bo Nix, Denver Broncos

24. Kenneth Walker, Seattle Seahawks

25. Zach Charbonnet, Seattle Seahawks

26. Josh Jacobs, Green Bay Packers

27. Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia Eagles

28. Hunter Henry, New England Patriots

29. Dalton Kincaid, Buffalo Bills

30. Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams

31. Jakobi Meyers, Jacksonville Jaguars

32. Khalil Shakir, Buffalo Bills

33. Parker Washington, Jacksonville Jaguars

34. Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks

35. Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears

36. C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans

37. Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears

38. George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers

39. Luther Burden, Chicago Bears

40. Woody Marks, Houston Texans

41. D'Andre Swift, Chicago Bears

42. Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers

43. Kyle Monangai, Chicago Bears

44. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

45. Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

46. Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars

47. Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans

48. Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars

49. Colby Parkinson, Los Angeles Rams

50. Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams

Playoff Rankings: QBs

1. Matthew Stafford

2. Drake Maye

3. Jalen Hurts

4. Josh Allen

5. Trevor Lawrence

6. Bo Nix

7. Sam Darnold

8. Caleb Williams

9. C.J. Stroud

10. Brock Purdy

11. Jordan Love

12. Justin Herbert

13. Aaron Rodgers

14. Bryce Young

Playoff Rankings: RBs

1. Saquon Barkley

2. James Cook

3. Travis Etienne

4. Kyren Williams

5. Christian McCaffrey

6. R.J. Harvey

7. TreVeyon Henderson

8. Rhamondre Stevenson

9. Kenneth Walker

10. Zach Charbonnet

11. Josh Jacobs

12. Blake Corum

13. Woody Marks

14. D'Andre Swift

15. Omarion Hampton

16. Kyle Monangai

17. Kenneth Gainwell

18. Jaylen Warren

19. Rico Dowdle

20. Bhayshul Tuten

21. Jaleel McLaughlin

22. Emanuel Wilson

23. Kimani Vidal

24. Jawhar Jordan

25. Ty Johnson

26. Brian Robinson

27. Chuba Hubbard

Playoff Rankings: WRs

1. Puka Nacua

2. Jaxson Smith-Njigba

3. A.J. Brown

4. Davante Adams

5. Nico Collins

6. Courtland Sutton

7. DeVonta Smith

8. Stefon Diggs

9. Christian Watson

10. Jakobi Meyers

11. Khalil Shakir

12. Parker Washington

13. Luther Burden

14. Brian Thomas Jr.

15. Romeo Doubs

16. Jayden Reed

17. D.K. Metcalf

18. Jauan Jennings

19. Ladd McConkey

20. Tetairoa McMillan

21. Jayden Higgins

22. Quentin Johnston

23. Ricky Pearsall

24. Rome Odunze

25. Pat Bryant

26. Troy Franklin

27. Rashid Shaheed

28. Cooper Kupp

29. DJ Moore

30. Keenan Allen

31. Kayshon Boutte

32. Josh Palmer

33. Jalen Coker

34. Marvin Mims

35. Christian Kirk

36. Brandin Cooks

37. DeMario Douglas

38. Tyrell Shavers

39. Gabe Davis

40. Kyle Williams

Playoff Rankings: TEs

1. Dallas Goedert

2. Hunter Henry

3. Dalton Kincaid

4. Colston Loveland

5. George Kittle

6. Dalton Schultz

7. Brenton Strange

8. Colby Parkinson

9. Tyler Higbee

10. A.J. Barner

11. Oronde Gadsden

12. Terrance Ferguson

13. Evan Engram

14. Pat Freiermuth

15. Dawson Knox

16. Luke Musgrave

17. Cole Kmet

18. Jonnu Smith

19. Tommy Tremble

Playoff Rankings: Kickers

1. Harrison Mevis

2. Jason Myers

3. Cam Little

4. Will Lutz

5. Andres Borregales

6. Ka'imi Fairbairn

7. Jake Elliott

8. Matt Prater (questionable, quad) or Buffalo replacement kicker

9. Cairo Santos

10. Brandon McManus

11. Cameron Dicker

12. Eddy Pineiro

13. Chris Boswell

14. Ryan Fitzgerald

Playoff Rankings: Defense/Special Teams

1. Rams

2. Seahawks

3. Broncos

4. Texans

5. Eagles

6. Patriots

7. Packers

8. Bills

9. Jaguars

10. Bears

11. Steelers

12. Chargers

13. 49ers

14. Panthers

Next Up

2026 Dynasty Rookie Rankings: The Wild Card Class That Has Scouts Guessing

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Kevin English, Senior Analyst

Kevin brings 15+ years of experience as a fantasy analyst and mid-stakes competitor across various formats (redraft, best ball, dynasty, DFS). He finished 1st in FantasyPros Draft Accuracy competition in 2024. Kevin's work has been featured in The Mercury News, NBC Sports/Rotoworld, and FantasyPros.