2025 overall fantasy football playoff rankings

The 2024-25 NFL regular season has officially come to an end and it is officially time to start preparing for some playoff fantasy football. Your regular season leagues wrapped up with their playoff brackets, but now it’s time for fantasy football just involving the 14 teams taking part in the 2025 NFL Playoffs.

There are many different ways to play fantasy during the playoffs. One of the most popular involves choosing a roster of players with no more than one player from each of the playoff teams. Fantasy football rankings helped you throughout the regular season, but we have to take a different angle on them as we head into playoff fantasy football.

The draft for a playoff fantasy football league is usually different from regular season fantasy football. Instead of a given player only being available to one team, everybody can pick from the same pool of players. Each person picks their roster from the full list of available players to open the playoffs. Theoretically, multiple opponents could have the same fantasy roster. However, with 14 playoff teams, the odds of that happening are slim.

When you’re picking no more than one player from a given team, you’re not just thinking about who the best players are. You need to pick good players, but arguably the most important aspect is accurately predicting who wins each playoff game. You want your weakest players getting eliminated in the Wild Card round, and your best players surviving to the Super Bowl.

For example, look at the quarterback position. It is the highest scoring fantasy position, and so you want a quarterback you think can make it to the Super Bowl. However, you also have to factor in a potential bye. Do you want the chance of four games with Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson, knowing they likely will play each other in the second round and then one of them might have to go into Arrowhead Stadium and beat the Chiefs? Or do you take Patrick Mahomes for no more than three games, but knowing his path to the Super Bowl is easier?

The longer a player you picked lasts in the playoffs, the better you’ll do, so strategy takes on a different approach in playoff fantasy football. For these rankings, the most important aspect is accurately predicting who wins each playoff game. That is of course, nearly impossible, but the closer you are, the better your team will likely be.

I prefer upside and thus will likely go with Allen or Jackson for that potential fourth game, but you have to decide how much you want to risk.

The Ravens have ruled out their wide receiver due to a knee injury suffered in Week 18. We’ve moved him from No. 59 to No. 86 in our overall rankings. You’re probably best just passing on him entirely, but he’s got some upside if he can get healthy and you want to roll the dice on big performances in subsequent rounds coupled with a Ravens Super Bowl run.

Update (Monday): According to reports Watson suffered an ACL tear and is out for the playoffs:

The Green Bay Packers wide receiver went down in Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears, while trying to cut on a route. Watson entered Week 18 dealing with a knee injury. The team listed Watson as Questionable to return with a knee injury.

Watson was later ruled out by the Packers.

Christian Watson was not the only injury the Packers saw on Sunday. Starting quarterback Jordan Love was pulled from the game early against the Bears after injuring his throwing elbow, and was replaced by Malik Willis. Green Bay listed Love as Questionable to return with an elbow injury.

The quarterback was spotted throwing on the sideline after leaving the game:

Love should be good to go for Green Bay next week against the Philadelphia Eagles. Speaking with the media after the game head coach Matt LaFleur said that Love was held out as a “precaution,” and will be ready for next weekend.

Love admitted after the game that his elbow did not feel “100%,” but that he was confident about his availability next weekend.

Update (Monday): Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who left the team’s Week 16 loss to the Washington Commanders early with a concussion, remains in concussion protocol ahead of the team’s game against the Green Bay Packers.

Update (Wednesday): The Eagles expect that Hurts will practice on Wednesday.

In addition, Philadelphia waived reserve quarterback Ian Book on Tuesday, another sign that Hurts will be ready for the weekend.

Buffalo WR Amari Cooper was excused from the team’s Week 18 game for personal matters. Speaking to the media on Monday ahead of the Bills’ Wild Card game against the Denver Broncos, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott stated that he “hopes” to have Cooper back for the weekend.

Update (Wednesday): Cooper is back in the building, according to McDermott.

Update (Tuesday): The Detroit Lions clinched a bye week with their Week 18 win over the Minnesota Vikings. That could not come at a better time for the NFC North Champions, who have been depleted by injuries on both sides of the football.

But help may be on the way. Speaking with the media on Tuesday head coach Dan Campbell stated that he “expects” David Montgomery — who suffered a sprained MCL late in the season — to be back for the Divisional Round. We had him ranked No. 81 due to the uncertainty. We’ve moved him up to No. 39 with considerable upside above that.