Whether you are riding the momentum of a championship or you're looking for redemption after a disappointing end to the regular season, GuillotineLeagues.com has what you need to keep the fantasy football season going through the NFL Playoffs.
This season GuillotineLeagues.com is offering two unique new ways to play: Playoff Chopionship and Guilloteenie Leagues.
Playoff Chopionship Rules
Start by joining a league. You will find a variety of options with league sizes ranging from 25 to 500 teams and entry fees from $15 to $200 in the contest lobby.
Select a 14-player team from the NFL players in the playoff pool. There is a maximum of three players allowed per NFL team. You will start 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE and 2 Flex (RB/WR/TE). Survive each week of the playoffs by staying out of the bottom 25% of the lowest-scoring teams. If you advance to the next round of the contest, you can edit your starting lineup using players from your bench, but there is no free agency.
Playoff Chopionship Strategy
To give yourself the best chance to win, your goal should be to select players who will advance through the playoffs, allowing you to field as close to a full lineup as possible each week to help maximize your scoring potential. On the NFC side of the bracket, Detroit and Philadelphia are the favorites to advance to the Super Bowl and both offer plenty of strong fantasy assets. For the AFC, Kansas City, Buffalo and Baltimore are the most likely to make a deep run. But there are several other teams that have a legitimate chance to pull off an upset or two. If you can successfully forecast which teams are going to advance and choose players accordingly, you'll be on your way to Chopionship success.
For example, let's predict that all of the favorites win in the Wild Card round. That would mean the Eagles, Vikings, Bucs, Bills, Ravens and Chargers advance. Then the Lions, Eagles, Chiefs and Bills advance. Then the Lions and Chiefs earn their spot in the Super Bowl. In that scenario, one favorable roster composition would look something like:
QB Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen
RB Jahmyr Gibbs, Isiah Pacheco, James Cook, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry
WR Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Khalil Shakir
TE Travis Kelce, Dallas Goedert
That roster gives you three players each from the Chiefs, Bills, Lions and Eagles, plus stars from the Ravens and Vikings who can make strong contributions in the first two rounds of the contest.
Playoff Guilloteenie Rules
The Guilloteenie is a smaller version of the regular season leagues. Each league starts with five teams, and the lowest-scoring team of each round gets eliminated. The last two teams standing compete in a head-to-head Super Bowl matchup. You can play for free or join a paid league with top prizes as high as $800.
Each Guilloteenie league has a five-team snake draft where you each make eight picks. Your starting lineup for every round will be made up of 1 QB (limit 1 drafted per team), 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE and 2 Flex (RB/WR/TE). There are no bench spots, so whoever you draft must be in your starting lineup.
After a team is eliminated, its players go back into the Free Agent pool and will be allowed to be bid on by the remaining teams for the following week. Each team will start with $1,000 FAAB for bidding on players.
Playoff Guilloteenie Strategy
Like the Chopionship, your goal should be to draft (and later acquire in free agency) the top players on the teams that are going to advance through multiple rounds of the NFL Playoffs. Unlike the Chopionship, no one player can be on multiple rosters, so you'll be competing with four other teams to add those players.
I drafted in a $30 league with a top prize of $100 this afternoon. I went into the draft with these strategies in mind:
- Wait on quarterback. While it would be great to lock in a top QB like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson or Jalen Hurts for a potential deep run, the opportunity cost of missing out on useful RBs and WRs isn't worth it. Only five QBs can be drafted, and Baker Mayfield and Jayden Daniels finished right behind the "Big 3" in fantasy points per game.
- At tight end, consider Mark Andrews if he's there in the fourth round or later, otherwise target Travis Kelce in the sixth or later. I understand that I'll be taking a zero with Kelce on bye, but overall, the options at the position are weak anyway.
- Secure running backs early because most NFL teams only have one difference-making fantasy back. The 15th best WR option is more likely to put up a big game than the 15th best RB option, so grab RBs early, and let the WRs fall to you.
- Give a boost in the rankings to players who you expect to advance in the playoffs. Ideally, you want to get at least two games of production out of each player so that you aren't forced into overspending on waiver acquisitions.
Draft Results and Observations:
I had pick 1.04 and, although I was disappointed to miss out on Barkley and Henry, I was able to lock in three strong RBs in the first four rounds. I was pleasantly surprised that A.J. Brown was still there for me late in the third round. (It helped that three teams took QBs in the first three rounds.) I considered taking T.J. Hockenson in the sixth but decided to roll with Kelce. I was happy with the first five rounds and loved some of the WR options that were still on the board, so I figured I could afford to take the zero at the TE position for one week. I feel like my rounds 5 through 8 were easily the best picks of all the teams. Since Week 14, Jordan Addison and Jalen McMillan have combined for 12 receiving touchdowns, and I wouldn't be surprised if Mayfield outscores QBs who were taken way earlier.
I was curious to see how high Jahmyr Gibbs would go, and Precarious Neckties answered by using the 13th overall pick -- easily the biggest risk/reward pick of the draft. He's an elite player, but that was too high for my liking. I would consider taking him as soon as the early fifth round. Amon-Ra St. Brown was the only other bye week player who I thought may get drafted, and ultimately both Jameson Williams and he were auto-drafted by ZSCAR1. We'll have to wait and see if that was by plan or by accident.
Who do you think had the best draft? Drop your comments below.
