Yahoo Fantasy Football Playoff Picks: NFL DFS lineup advice for second round GPP tournaments

Matt Lutovsky

Yahoo Fantasy Football Playoff Picks: NFL DFS lineup advice for second round GPP tournaments image

Just like last week, there are only four games on the NFL playoff slate in the divisional round, and the potential NFL DFS picks are limited. To differentiate your daily fantasy football lineups, you have to take some chances that, at first blush, look silly -- especially with such good defenses fighting it out in the second round. Our Yahoo lineup goes with the "stars-and-scrubs" strategy, so let's hope for a few touchdowns that make the casual fan say "Who?".

Our primary stack is a Saints QB-WR combo, but we're not going with any heavy game stacks. Perhaps at our own peril, we're fading Rams (yikes) and Patriots (less yikes), and we might fade that Chargers-Patriots game even more if the blizzard forecasts for game day in Foxboro intensify. 

DIVISIONAL ROUND DFS: FD GPP Lineup | DK GPP LineupLineup Builder

Yahoo Fantasy Football: Second round playoff NFL DFS tournament lineup

QB Drew Brees, Saints vs. Eagles ($35). Brees shredded the Eagles back in Week 11, throwing for 363 yards and four TDs. However, with only four total TDs in his final four games of the regular season, it's safe to say Brees has slowed down a bit. Still, we know what kind of potential he has, especially at home, and the Eagles pass defense still has holes, which was shown by Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, and Deshaun Watson all throwing for at least 339 yards against it in Weeks 14-16. Brees is the third-most expensive QB on the slate, and we're hoping his price coupled with his slow finish to the regular season, has more than a few people looking to fade him. 

RB Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys @ Rams ($33). Zeke handled 30 touches and totaled 169 yards and a score against the Seahawks in the wild card round, and he'll likely see a similar workload if the Cowboys can keep it close this week. The Rams were one of eight teams to allow at least 100 RB rushing yards per game this year, and Elliott is as good of a bet as any RB to score or lead all backs in receiving this week. He's $4 cheaper than Todd Gurley (who's banged up) and only $1 more than Alvin Kamara (who's sharing RB touches), making Elliott a fantastic option.

RB Marlon Mack, Colts @ Chiefs ($25). Mack will likely be a chalky play given that he's one of the few backs with a highly favorable matchup on paper (and an affordable price). Kansas City allowed the third-most fantasy points to RBs during the regular season and never really showed signs of improvement. Mack beasted last week (148 yards, TD), which is similar to what he did in Weeks 15 and 17 (258 rushing yards, three TDs). He also scored in Weeks 14 and 16. There's zero doubt he's the Colts workhorse even if he doesn't catch many passes, and he'll likely be leaned on heavily early against the Chiefs.

EARLY 2019 FANTASY RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST Kicker

WR Keenan Allen, Chargers @ Patriots ($23). We'll have to watch the weather and be ready to pivot here, but we like Allen as an underpriced WR1. The Patriots did fairly well against wide receivers in the second half, limiting guys like Antonio Brown (49 yards), JuJu Smith-Schuster (40), Adam Thielen (28), Stefon Diggs (49), and Davante Adams (40), but they also faced a bunch of teams with underwhelming passing games (Titans, Jets twice, Dolphins, Bills). Overall, we expect the Chargers to throw often with Melvin Gordon still clearly banged up, and Allen should be the primary beneficiary. He only received six targets in last week's game against Baltimore's tough pass defense, making him a prime bounce-back candidate. He might be the third-highest priced WR on the slate, but at $10 below Michael Thomas and $7 below Tyreek Hill, we still consider him a value.

WR Michael Gallup, Cowboys @ Rams ($12). Admittedly, it might be foolish to think Gallup will score in back-to-back weeks, but the rookie receiver remains a key part of Dallas's passing offense. He received six targets last week, and he had at least 50 yards in each of the Cowboys final two games, scoring a touchdown in one and posting the game-winning two-point conversion in the other. The Rams didn't allow a WR touchdown in Weeks 13-16 (though Alshon Jeffery did have a 160-yard game in that span), and although they allowed a couple late WR scores against the 49ers in Week 17, it definitely looks like the return of Aqib Talib has righted the secondary. Still, you need to take chances this week, and if you want to jam in guys like Brees, Zeke and Travis Kelce, that means finding values. At $12, Gallup is the type of boom-or-bust play who could pay off with just one big catch.

WR Ted Ginn, Saints vs. Eagles ($14). It was big-play guy Tre'Quan Smith who really went off against Philadelphia in Week 11 (10 catches, 13 targets, 157 yards, TD), so we're hoping for lightning to strike twice with this pick of Ginn. Possibly forgotten by many, Ginn returned in Week 16 after a 12-week layoff (knee). He immediately made an impact, catching five of eight targets for 74 yards. The veteran speedster is always a boom-or-bust play, but he came up big in the postseason last year, posting lines of 4-115-1 (six targets) and 8-72 (11 targets). Against a Philadelphia defense that allowed the sixth-most fantasy points per game to WRs during the regular season, he has a lot of potential.

TE Travis Kelce, Chiefs vs. Colts ($30). Kelce is the best TE with the best matchup, so paying up for him makes sense even if he'll be a popular pick. However, with Zach Ertz ($8 cheaper) and Eric Ebron ($4) also playing, he might not be as chalky as you think. The Colts allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to TE this year, so it's safe to assume Kelce will get plenty of opportunities to pay off.

MORE SECOND ROUND DFS: Top stacks

FLEX Wendell Smallwood, Eagles @ Saints ($12). It's likely the masses will be onto Darren Sproles after he led the Eagles backfield in touches (15) last week and is priced at only $11, but we're targeting Smallwood, who wasn't far behind Sproles in backfield work against the Bears (10 touches). The Saints were brutal against RBs this year, allowing the third-fewest fantasy points, but the Eagles were one of the few teams that found success against them, as Josh Adams posted 72 yards and a score on only 10 touches in a Week 11 blowout loss. That doesn't necessarily mean much, but with Philadelphia's offense playing pretty well and Smallwood becoming a bigger part of it, he has some upside.

D/ST Chargers @ Patriots ($14). Look, there are no favorable matchups for D/STs this week, which shouldn't come as a shock in the second round of the playoffs. Most will probably target the Saints playing at home in a noisy dome against "backup" Nick Foles, and at $11, it probably makes sense to take them. We're opting to spend up slightly in order to differentiate our lineup a bit, and with weather concerns a possibility in New England, we like this pick even more. The Chargers can bring elite pressure, which is the one thing that has even slightly bothered Tom Brady in his career. And while New England hasn't allowed many sacks this season, Brady has shown some cracks down the stretch, throwing four INTs in Weeks 13-17. The Chargers big-play defense is never a bad GPP option, and we're hoping for at least one big play coupled with a low score and a few sacks here.

Matt Lutovsky

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Matt Lutovsky has been a writer and editor for The Sporting News since 2007, primarily writing about fantasy sports, betting, and gaming.