Fan Duel Strategy NFL Playoffs: Best Players For Postseason Wildcard Round

The regular season is over, and in the postseason bargains are not nearly as important as simply having players produce. For the playoffs, I’ll point out nice bargains if they are there, but my focus is only to recommend players I believe will perform in a big way for you. And remember, scoring is IMPORTANT. Here is FanDuel’s scoring system.

Quarterbacks

Russell Wilson, Seahawks ($7,900): Wilson shines brightest when the stakes are highest, so I’m ignoring his atrocious Week 16 effort vs. the Cardinals, and looking at his second half performance vs. the 49ers as more indicative of what’s to come this postseason. While Seattle won’t have the vaunted “12th Man” behind them this week, they’ve actually been a better road team on the year. While Wilson is capable of laying eggs in any given game, his upside is tremendous and he’s usually very efficient as a touchdown thrower despite throwing it fewer times than most modern QBs. Philadelphia’s run defense is stout, and with Travis Homer and off-the-couch Marshawn Lynch as his main running backs, Wilson is likely to be leaned on heavily. He has all the upside of Drew Brees and Deshaun Watson, but he comes at a bit of a discount.

Tom Brady, Patriots ($7,600): Brady has been a major disappointment in 2019, but if you’re bargain hunting, he’s the cheapest of this week’s starters. Brady hasn’t thrown for more than two touchdowns since Week 13, but if they’re going to topple Tennessee, it’ll likely have to be behind Brady’s right arm. Tennessee ranked inside the Top 10 against the run this year, and Sony Michel has not been the sturdy bell cow that the Pats thought they were getting with their first round pick. The Titans have been friendlier to opposing QBs, however, ranking just 21st per Football Outsiders. It’s been an underwhelming and uncharacteristically inaccurate season for Brady, but the playoffs are a different animal. He still has huge upside at a fair price considering his postseason resume.

Running Backs

Derrick Henry, Titans ($9,300): Henry is the most expensive player out there this week, but if Tennessee plans on advancing, it’s going to have to be on his broad shoulders. Henry has been unbelievably consistent this season, rumbling for 80 or more yards 10 times, eclipsing 100 yards six times, scoring in 11 games and registering double-digit carries in all 16 games this year. He’s a workhorse in the purest sense of the word, and opportunity rules fantasy football. The Patriots had the No. 1 defense in football, but they were No. 1 against the pass. Titans coach Mike Vrabel is smart, having played under Bill Belichick, and won’t be silly enough to get cute and try to win with Ryan Tannehill. He’ll pound the rock with Henry, who averaged 149.3 yards per game in Tennessee’s final six tilts.

Boston Scott, Eagles ($6,600): Scott may see the lion’s share of the carries this week against the Seahawks, who ranked just 26th against the run this year. Miles Sanders’ availability affects my enthusiasm for Scott this week, but regardless of Sanders’ availability Scott will have a significant role in the Wildcard Round game plan against the weakest run defense on this week’s slate. At $6,600 it makes a ton of sense, since you need to find value somewhere with limited options.

Devin Singletary, Bills ($6,200): Singletary has big upside, but also carries risk, as Buffalo’s game plan isn’t obvious. Houston has been most vulnerable through the air, but while Josh Allen has shown he can put up passing numbers, his accuracy issues have got to be frightening. Buffalo has used Singletary consistently; he’s averaged 17.2 rushing attempts since Week 11, which is precisely the workload DFS players are looking for. He’s only scored one touchdown (receiving) in that span, however, which has kept his price down. Touchdowns are fickle, so I’m willing to roll with him and hope the positive touchdown regression begins this week. He’s a big talent with big opportunity. Good enough for me.

Wide Receivers

Michael Thomas, Saints ($8,900): Not much to explain here. Thomas has been far and away the best WR in the NFL this year, and if New Orleans is going to win this week, they’ll rely heavily on him. He’s notched double-digit receptions in nine games, gone for 100 or more yards 10 times, and scored in eight games. Plug and play.

Adam Thielen, Vikings ($6,200): Thielen is a diamond in the rough here, thanks to an injury-plagued back half of the season that saw him miss all or most of every game from Week 7 through Week 14. When he came back, he was non-existent, leading to this bottom-of-the-barrel price tag. The thing is, he’s a superbly talented pass-catcher who was being brought back slowly, and will be needed if the Vikings have a prayer of keeping up with New Orleans. The Saints have a stout run defense, so Minnesota can’t just feed Dalvin Cook endlessly, and Stefon Diggs is just one man. This is where Thielen regains his mojo as a touchdown machine and provides potentially the best value of any player on FanDuel this week.

Tight Ends

Zach Ertz, Eagles ($6,900): Everything I write here about Ertz also applies to Dallas Goedert, especially if Ertz’s ribs don’t allow him to suit up. The TEs in Philadelphia are currently the best pass-catchers on the roster for Carson Wentz, and will therefore be peppered with targets all day long. In addition to what should be a massive target share, the Seahawks are the second-best matchup for opposing TEs left in the playoffs (18th) behind only the Titans (20th) who aren’t facing any noteworthy TEs this week. Goedert costs $6,700 this week, so be sure to have one of them on your team. The rest is a complete crapshoot.

Darren Fells, Texans ($4,800): Maybe you blacked out for a bit when you got to TEs and didn’t throw Ertz or Goedert into your lineup. Or you didn’t keep enough money in reserve to afford them. If so, Fells is extremely high-risk – six  catches, 31 yards, zero TDs in his last three starts – but he also has real TD upside. Fells found the end zone seven times this season, and scored them over five different games. I’m not excited to use him, but Buffalo isn’t daunting and DeAndre Hopkins will have his hands full against CB Tre’Davious White.