Five players who could change their Dynasty Fantasy Football value the most this NFL playoffs

It's a funny thing about this game we play, Fantasy Football. The most important part of the NFL season, the playoffs, is largely irrelevant to most Fantasy Football managers. But for Dynasty managers, this is a time to watch for future value and there are still several players playing in the Divisional Round who could see their value spike or fall, based on the results of this weekend and the remaining playoffs.

Unsurprisingly, most of the players on this list are guys who are younger and less proven. That makes sense, right? The less information we have, the more we should be open to changing our opinion based on a few games. But there is at least one veteran who could change perception, and for me, that is Sam Darnold. 

Darnold has put together back-to-back solid regular seasons. He's still just 28 years old. He is under contract through 2027. It feels like he should be a high floor QB2 at the very least. But he turned into a pumpkin in the playoffs last year, turned the ball over twice, and lost to the Rams in the Wild Card Round. And the Vikings moved on. This year, the Seahawks earned the top seed and a bye into the Divisional Round, so we're still waiting to see Darnold in the playoffs. If he repeats last year's performance we will have to wonder just how long his leash in Seattle is. On the other hand, if he leads the Seahawks to the Super Bowl, he should have multiple years of security as an NFL starter.

In my early January Dynasty rankings update I had Darnold at QB25, behind Bryce Young, J.J. McCarthy, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Tyler Shough, and Matthew Stafford. He could pass several of those QBs in the next month. 

This week on FFT Dynasty I did a one-man mailbag answering your questions about 2026 rookie picks, Rashee Rice, and more. We are back to two episodes a week for the offseason and have a ton of great content planned for the Spring. Check it out:

Luther Burden had a quiet start to the playoffs with three catches for 42 years in a win over the Packers. That came after he averaged 81 receiving yards per game in the final month of the regular season. He was one of the most polarizing wide receivers in the 2025 class and I am not sure his rookie season did much to change that. In truth I could have put any number of Bears in this article, but Burden seems to have the widest range of potential outcomes. After Week 18 I had him ranked as WR17 in Dynasty and a month from now anywhere from WR12-25 seems possible. One Bears rookie, Colston Loveland, has already secured his spot as a top five tight end heading into next year.

Like Burden, Jayden Higgins had an uneven rookie season that wasw better in the second half than the first. Now he may get the playoff spotlight against New England without WR1 Nico Collins on the field. There are Dynasty analysts who believe Higgins has nearly as much upside as Burden, and there are others who believe he's a Dynasty WR3 at best. I have him at WR32 for the moment, but he could certainly change my mind with a big performance under the brightest lights against a difficult matchup.

If you have read any of my Dynasty coverage this season, you know I am a big believer in TreVeyon Henderson. While it is hard to say he had a bad rookie season, with 1,132 yards from scrimmage and 10 TDs, it has been disappointing that he has been unable to wrestle more work from Rhamondre Stevenson. And Stevenson has been very good as of late. If that continues and Stevenson looks like he'll stay in New England next year I may have to reevaluate my RB8 ranking of Henderson in Dynasty. But if Henderson looks like the star I believe he is, you'll be hearing a lot more from me about him heading into 2026.

Ricky Pearsall isn't a rookie, but it feels like we may know even less about him than we do the rookies above. He has played 20 games in his two NFL seasons and he has played less than 60% of the snaps in six of those. Pearsall is fighting to play this weekend and has the potential to increase his value if he matches his production in his last two games, when he caught 11 passes for 181 yards. As of now, I have Pearsall as WR30, the perfect picture of a boom/bust WR3. That is probably where he stays unless he's able to give us multiple good performances in the playoffs.