Fantasy Football: Advice for a successful playoff run

The following is an excerpt from the latest edition of Yahoo’s fantasy football newsletter, Get to the Points! If you like what you see, you can subscribe for free here.

No matter when your fantasy playoffs start, we’ve hit the money weeks of the fantasy season. You might be playing for a playoff spot this week or challenging for key seeding. The stakes are going up.

I try not to change too much of my overall strategy — the goal is always to make good decisions. But there are some subtle changes to how I approach this time of year.

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Approaching the waiver wire

👀 I’m much more opponent-focused when setting my FAB offers on free agents. In the early part of the year, you’re essentially opposing the entire room. Now it’s important to consider what your other playoff opponents need, and how much leverage they have.

🔮 I’m more likely to have look-ahead players stashed on my bench, especially at fringe positions like D/ST. I seldom carry two defenses in the fall, but that changes in December.

💰With six teams on bye this week, the secondary FAB market is more interesting than usual. Make sure you’re auditing free agents from the bye-week teams; in most Yahoo leagues, you can add these players as late as Monday.

Lineup-setting

⛈️ I will always consider weather, but it’s a tie-breaker for me. Heavy winds are your biggest concern. Teams can still produce in the snow and rain.

🫤 If I’m a heavy favorite in my matchup, I’ll lean into floor with my borderline calls. If I’m a significant underdog, I’ll think more about upside. Heavy underdogs might also want to try to correlate scoring; perhaps look for a quarterback and receiver on the same team so that you give yourself a chance at scoring that compounds.

🫡 Listen to everyone you respect, but make your own decisions. Measure a handful of times, cut once. And get as much information as possible before a final decision.