Underdog Fantasy has dropped my favorite fantasy sports game — NFL Playoffs Best Ball. You draft today for points only scored in the NFL Playoffs, with the final tournament prizes being handed out based on Super Bowl scoring. If your team doesn't have Super Bowl players, you won't win the top prizes.

These are quick 6-person drafts with 10 rounds, so 60 players are drafted. The starting lineup consists of 1QB, 1RB, 2WR/TE, and 1 RB/WR/TE flex spot with 5 bench spots. The general guide for roster construction is 1–2QB, 3–4RB, 4–6WR/TE. Cool? Cool.

NFL Playoffs Best Ball Strategy

Rankings are mostly a useless exercise in this format because we are contingent-based drafting the entire time. In other words, each pick we make eliminates chunks of the player pool if we’re maximizing for projected points in our hypothetical Super Bowl matchups. For example, if we draft Lamar Jackson in Round 1, we should prioritize drafting his Ravens teammates (and NFC counterparts) in this draft in an attempt to get as many points in a Baltimore hypothetical Super Bowl. Because the Underdog Fantasy payouts are based on Super Bowl scores, we really should only be focusing on maximizing upside in the Super Bowl.

Of course, there’s one caveat to this — the bye week. If we fully stack the 49ers and Ravens, then we aren’t going to advance past the first round of the tournament. If stacking both teams together, we'll need a full starting lineup for the first round.

Weekly Winners NFL Playoffs Strategy

The primary difference between traditional NFL Playoffs Best Ball and Weekly Winners is not having to worry about advancement, which puts two different overall strategies at play. The first is completely stacking the bye week teams (49ers and Ravens) with the other top contenders (Cowboys, Bills, Chiefs) to maximize scores in the Conference Championship and Super Bowl. The second is to completely fade the 49ers and Ravens, while going all out for the Wild Card round because highly-projected players like Mike Evans and Rachaad White or Kyren Williams and Puka Nacua are late draft picks and easily stackable. Your first 1-3 picks will determine which path you want to travel.

NFL Playoffs If Favorites Win Out

Odds Of Going To The 2023–24 Super Bowl

One minor edge is to look at odds of winning the conference (not the Super Bowl) because the Super Bowl loser will still give us the fantasy points we need in the Super Bowl. Here are the implied odds of winning the AFC or NFC along with the average draft positions on Underdog Fantasy:

1. 49ers (55% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

Teams to stack with: AFC contenders (BUF, KC) ... Highly projected Week 1 players from Round 4+ (HOU, MIA, CLE) for bye week purposes ... Won't face DAL or DET until the NFC Championship when it's hardest to advance in the tournament

Teams to not stack with: Lower-seeded NFC teams (TB, PHI, LAR, GB) ... Have to be careful with BAL stacks due to byes (exactly 5 players total)

Galaxy Brain Note: The consensus 1.01 is Christian McCaffrey, but he's now almost impossible to stack with his teammates. If someone falls to the 2.06, it's typically George Kittle, as Deebo, Aiyuk, and Brock are typically gone at the Round 1-2 turn. That makes things very interesting for some Super Bowl matchups. For example, both QBs in a SF vs. BAL are gone by the CMC's 2nd round pick, so is it now impossible to stack CMC with the Ravens? Sort've. And then Josh Allen is often drafted before CMC's 2nd round pick, so the CMC team is now either not using his scores in the Super Bowl or he needs the Chiefs, Texans, Browns, Dolphins, or Steelers to sneak into the big game in order to fill the high-scoring QB spot. ... Now, the non-1.01 drafters can have a field day with building SF vs. BAL stacks assuming they snag one of the QBs early. Adding Gus Edwards or Justice Hill provides points at RB, while very few of the teams competing against will have both CMC and a QB in that potential matchup. ... One way to combat these issues is to assume an injury to CMC (draft Elijah Mitchell) or Purdy (draft Sam Darnold). That way there's a chance for a full starting lineup.

• RB1 Christian McCaffrey (1.2 ADP)

• WR2 Deebo Samuel (4.6)

• WR4 Brandon Aiyuk (6.9)

• QB1 Brock Purdy (7.6)

• WR6 George Kittle (11.1)

• RB14 Elijah Mitchell (51.4)

• Largely undrafted: WR29 Jauan Jennings, RB26 Jordan Mason, RB29 Kyle Juszczyk

2. Ravens (42% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

Teams to stack with: NFC contenders (DAL, DET, PHI) ... Highly projected Week 1 players from Round 3+ (DET, LAR, TB, PHI) for bye week purposes ... Won't face BUF or KC until the AFC Championship when it's hardest to advance in the tournament

Teams to not stack with: Lower-seeded AFC teams (CLE, HOU, JAX, IND) ... Have to be careful with SF stacks due to byes (exactly 5 players total)

Galaxy Brain Note: I like Lamar Jackson's ADP of 1.03 because he's so easily stackable, even with the 49ers' pass catchers. It's almost impossible to stack CMC with a QB in this potential matchup, so we no longer have to worry about those teams dusting us when we drop new tournaments. Right now, the BAL-SF Super Bowl lineup that'd project best with Lamar at 1.03 is Aiyuk if he falls in Round 2, Zay Flowers in Round 3, Gus Edwards, and Isiah Likely. If you do draft them together, you have to draft exactly 5 of them so you can build a full lineup in the Wild Card and Super Bowl.

• QB1 Lamar Jackson (3.1 ADP)

• WR8 Zay Flowers (12.4)

• RB9 Gus Edwards (27.9)

• WR17 Isiah Likely (35.3)

• RB13 Justice Hill (46.3)

• WR24 Odell Beckham (47.8)

• Largely Undrafted: WR30 Mark Andrews, WR33 Rashod Bateman, WR53 Nelson Agholor, RB24 Dalvin Cook

3. Bills (26% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

Teams to stack with: NFC contenders (SF, DAL, DET, PHI) ... Won't face BAL or KC until the AFC Championship when it's hardest to advance in the tournament

Teams to not stack with: Lower-seeded AFC teams (HOU, KC)

Galaxy Brain Note: This is probably my favorite team to stack the 49ers with because Josh Allen and James Cook have an opportunity to match Purdy and McCaffrey, while the Bills have plenty of dart throw options in the final rounds. A CMC-Allen-Kittle-Cook-Gabe-Shakir team looks really good. As does a Deebo-Allen-Diggs-Cook-Gabe squad. Everything aligns well between BUF and SF.

• QB4 Josh Allen (9.4 ADP) --> ADP is cheap

• WR10 Stefon Diggs (14.7)

• RB3 James Cook (19.6) --> ADP is cheap

• WR15 Gabe Davis (36.9) --> Left Week 18 (knee)

• WR25 Dalton Kincaid (45.5) --> ADP is cheap

• Largely Undrafted: WR32 Khalil Shakir, WR47 Dawson Knox, RB23 Leonard Fournette, RB28 Latavius Murray

4. Cowboys (22% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

Teams to stack with: AFC contenders (BAL, BUF, KC) ... Won't face SF or LAR until the NFC Championship when it's hardest to advance in the tournament

Teams to not stack with: Lower-seeded NFC teams (GB, DET)

Galaxy Brain Note: I love to stack the Ravens and Cowboys, as we've seen Dak Prescott show an elite ceiling with Coach McCarthy. Lamb-Flowers-Dak-Gus-Cooks-Ferguson or Lamar-Flowers-Pollard-Dak-Cooks-Ferguson-Odell are solid upside builds and easily achievable based on ADPs. The Cowboys' defense should be better with DT Johnathan Hankins (ankle) coming back from injury. They are legit contenders.

• WR1 CeeDee Lamb (2.2 ADP) --> Maybe the true 1.01

• RB4 Tony Pollard (20.6)

• QB6 Dak Prescott (21.6)

• WR20 Brandin Cooks (35.3)

• WR23 Jake Ferguson (42.5)

• Largely Undrafted: RB19 Rico Dowdle, WR40 Michael Gallup, WR52 Jalen Tolbert

5. Chiefs (18% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

Teams to stack with: NFC contenders (SF, DAL, DET, PHI) ... Won't face BAL until the AFC Championship when it's hardest to advance in the tournament

Teams to not stack with: Mid-seeded AFC teams (MIA, BUF)

Galaxy Brain Note: The advantage with the Chiefs is flexibility. Mahomes-Rice-Pacheco are all upside plays across each starting position, making them pair-able with the 49ers or other NFC favorites. A CMC-Kittle-Mahomes-Rice-Pacheco team is achievable with all the Super Bowl ceiling needed to win the tournament. As is a CMC-Purdy-Kittle-Pacheco-Toney team. The Pacheco ADP is what stands out to me most in these builds with CEH and McKinnon in-and-out of lineups recently. Pacheco has mostly handled business.

• WR9 Travis Kelce (14.8 ADP) --> ADP is rich

• QB5 Patrick Mahomes (15.9)

• WR11 Rashee Rice (18.5)

• RB5 Isiah Pacheco (20.6) --> ADP is cheap

• WR27 Justin Watson (54.2)

• Largely Undrafted: RB18 Clyde Edwards-Helaire, WR39 Richie James, WR40 Kadarius Toney, RB23 Jerick McKinnon, WR47 Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR52 Noah Gray, WR57 Mecole Hardman, WR60 Justyn Ross, WR61 Skyy Moore

6. Eagles (12% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

Teams to stack with: AFC contenders (BAL, BUF, KC, MIA) ... Likely won't face DET or LAR until the NFC Championship when it's hardest to advance in the tournament

Teams to not stack with: Top-seeded NFC teams (TB, SF, DAL)

• WR5 A.J. Brown (13.3 ADP) --> Left Week 18 (knee)

• QB3 Jalen Hurts (17.4) --> Left Week 18 (finger)

• WR12 DeVonta Smith (27.9) --> Left Week 17 (ankle)

• RB8 D'Andre Swift (32.2)

• WR20 Dallas Goedert (43.6)

• Largely Undrafted: RB17 Kenneth Gainwell, WR43 Julio Jones

7. Dolphins (10% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

Teams to stack with: NFC contenders (SF, DAL, DET, PHI) ... Likely won't face BUF until the AFC Championship when it's hardest to advance in the tournament

Teams to not stack with: Top-seeded AFC teams (KC, BAL)

• WR3 Tyreek Hill (5.7 ADP)

• RB2 Raheem Mostert (20.7) --> Left Week 16 (ankle)

• WR13 Jaylen Waddle (28.3) --> Left Week 17 (ankle)

• RB10 De'Von Achane (30.0)

• QB7 Tua Tagovailoa (32.6)

• Largely Undrafted: WR35 Cedric Wilson, RB24 Jeff Wilson, WR50 Durham Smythe

8. Lions (10% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

Teams to stack with: AFC contenders (BAL, BUF, KC) ... Likely won't face SF, PHI, or GB until the NFC Championship when it's hardest to advance in the tournament

Teams to not stack with: Mid-seeded NFC teams (LAR, DAL)

• WR7 Amon-Ra St. Brown (10.5 ADP)

• RB6 Jahmyr Gibbs (21.8) --> ADP is cheap

• RB11 David Montgomery (37.9) --> ADP is cheap

• WR21 Sam LaPorta (41.9) --> Out weeks (knee)

• QB8 Jared Goff (44.3)

• WR29 Jameson Williams (55.1) --> ADP is cheap

• Largely Undrafted: WR48 Josh Reynolds, WR83 Donovan Peoples-Jones

9. Browns (6% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

• WR14 Amari Cooper (27.3 ADP)

• WR22 David Njoku (39.4)

• WR12 Jerome Ford (41.3)

• QB9 Joe Flacco (48.0)

• Largely Undrafted: WR37 Elijah Moore, RB21 Kareem Hunt

10. Rams (4% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

• RB7 Kyren Williams (22.1 ADP)

• RB18 Puka Nacua (29.8)

• RB19 Cooper Kupp (35.8)

• QB10 Matthew Stafford (50.5)

• Largely Undrafted: WR38 Demarcus Robinson, WR59 Tyler Higbee

11. Texans (4% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

• WR26 Nico Collins (46.6 ADP) --> ADP is cheap

• QB11 C.J. Stroud (53.0)

• Largely Undrafted: RB17 Devin Singletary, WR39 Dalton Schultz, WR51 Noah Brown

12. Bucs (2% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

• WR26 Mike Evans (46.2 ADP)

• RB15 Rachaad White (51.2)

• Largely Undrafted: WR36 Chris Godwin, QB13 Baker Mayfield

13. Packers (2% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

• Largely Undrafted: RB16 Aaron Jones, WR34 Jayden Reed, QB12 Jordan Love, WR49 Christian Watson, WR58 Dontayvion Wicks, WR59 Romeo Doubs

14. Steelers (2% Odds Of Making Super Bowl)

• Largely Undrafted: WR42 George Pickens, WR54 Diontae Johnson, RB22 Najee Harris, RB29 Jaylen Warren