Postseason Fantasy Football: Playoff Challenge rankings, position-by-position ahead of wild-card weekend

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The regular season might be over, but your Fantasy fix can continue through the postseason. You can either find a Fantasy playoff challenge game or create one yourself with friends, and it's a fun way to follow the NFL postseason through the Super Bowl.

There are many forms of Fantasy playoff challenge games. Most of the ones I play in cover the length of the playoffs from the wild-card round through the Super Bowl. Points are accumulated during the postseason, so you want players who will play in as many games as possible. A wild-card team that advances to the Super Bowl -- think Tampa Bay last season -- gives you four games of production, which is awesome.

For my rankings, I mapped out the postseason of what teams I expect to advance. I would encourage you to do the same with how you select players for your team.

In the AFC, I have the Chiefs beating the Steelers, the Bills beating the Patriots and the Bengals beating the Raiders in the wild-card rounds -- all the favorites. I have the Titans beating the Bengals and the Chiefs beating the Bills in the divisional round. And then I have the Chiefs upsetting the Titans in the AFC Championship Game.

The tough calls for me will be the second round, where I could see Cincinnati beating Tennessee if Joe Burrow gets hot, and Buffalo could also upset Kansas City. All four of the top teams in the AFC, in my opinion, could reach the Super Bowl.

The NFC is tougher with a couple of matchups, but I have the Buccaneers beating the Eagles, the Cowboys beating the 49ers and the Rams beating the Cardinals in the wild-card round -- again all favorites. The toughest call for me is San Francisco and Dallas, and the 49ers could easily win that game.

In the divisional round, I like the Packers over the Rams and the Buccaneers over the Cowboys. And then I have Green Bay beating Tampa Bay to advance to the Super Bowl, but that game could also go either way -- like it did last year.

We'll see if it plays out that way, and I'll be updating these rankings each week. Enjoy your Fantasy playoff challenge, and this should be an awesome postseason with plenty of great teams.

Quarterbacks

1. Patrick Mahomes
2. Aaron Rodgers
3. Tom Brady
4. Josh Allen
5. Dak Prescott
6. Joe Burrow
7. Ryan Tannehill
8. Matthew Stafford
9. Kyler Murray
10. Jimmy Garoppolo
11. Jalen Hurts
12. Derek Carr
13. Mac Jones
14. Ben Roethlisberger

If you like the Chiefs, Buccaneers or Bills to advance to the Super Bowl then gravitate toward Mahomes, Brady or Allen at quarterback since all of them could play four games. That gives them an edge over Rodgers, who can only play three games at most.

Prescott could easily lose in the wild-card round to a great 49ers team, so take that into account with his ranking. He also could get hot and take Dallas to the Super Bowl, and I consider him the biggest difference-maker on this list. Burrow and Tannehill have a high probability to play at least two games, which gives them value if they somehow get more than that on a Super Bowl run.

The Rams-Cardinals game could go either way with both teams struggling at the end of the regular season, but I give the Rams an edge at home. And aside from Garoppolo winning in the wild-card round, I don't have much faith in Hurts, Carr, Jones or Roethlisberger playing more than one game.

Running backs

1. Derrick Henry
2. Aaron Jones
3. Joe Mixon
4. Devin Singletary
5. Darrel Williams
6. Leonard Fournette
7. Ezekiel Elliott
8. Sony Michel
9. Elijah Mitchell
10. Chase Edmonds
11. Josh Jacobs
12. Najee Harris
13. Miles Sanders
14. Damien Harris
15. A.J. Dillon
16. James Conner
17. Clyde Edwards-Helaire
18. Tony Pollard
19. Rhamondre Stevenson
20. Jordan Howard
21. Ke'Shawn Vaughn
22. Boston Scott
23. D'Onta Foreman
24. Cam Akers
25. Brandon Bolden
26. Eno Benjamin
27. Le'Veon Bell
28. Giovani Bernard
29. Jerick McKinnon
30. Kenneth Gainwell

Running back has the most injuries to monitor when you factor in missed time recently for guys like Fournette, Henry, Edwards-Helaire, Conner, Edmonds and Sanders. Henry and Sanders are reportedly fine, but Fournette (hamstring) and Edwards-Helaire (shoulder) aren't playing in wild-card weekend.

For the Buccaneers, look for a committee of Vaughn, Bell and Bernard against the Eagles, and hopefully Fournette is back for the divisional round if Tampa Bay advances. And Edwards-Helaire being out is great for Williams, which is why he's ranked so high. As for Arizona, Conner could be out for wild-card weekend with a rib injury, which bodes well for Edmonds.

I ranked these guys with the expectation of how many games they could play relative to their production. Fournette, if healthy, could get three games, and we saw how good he was this year before suffering a hamstring injury in Week 15. And the hope is Henry, who is expected back for the divisional round, will be healthy after missing the final nine games of the regular season with a foot injury.

Jones, Mixon, Singletary, Williams, Elliott and Michel have the chance for multiple games, which is why I have them ranked ahead of guys like Mitchell, Edmonds, Jacobs and Najee Harris. However, if you like the 49ers to beat the Cowboys, then Mitchell should be ranked higher, and the same goes for any other upsets you might expect.

Wide receivers

1. Davante Adams
2. Cooper Kupp
3. Tyreek Hill
4. Mike Evans
5. Stefon Diggs
6. Ja'Marr Chase
7. A.J. Brown
8. Tee Higgins
9. Deebo Samuel
10. Amari Cooper
11. CeeDee Lamb
12. Diontae Johnson
13. Christian Kirk
14. Hunter Renfrow
15. Allen Lazard
16. Odell Beckham
17. Gabriel Davis
18. Ced Wilson
19. Cole Beasley
20. Tyler Boyd
21. Julio Jones
22. Jakobi Meyers
23. DeVonta Smith
24. Brandon Aiyuk
25. Marquez Valdes-Scantling
26. Zay Jones
27. Van Jefferson
28. A.J. Green
29. Tyler Johnson
30. Breshad Perriman
31. Cyril Grayson
32. Chase Claypool
33. Nick Westbrook
34. Byron Pringle
35. Mecole Hardman
36. Jauan Jennings
37. Kendrick Bourne
38. Antoine Wesley
39. Emmanuel Sanders
40. Jalen Reagor

Adams might be the easiest player to rank based on the Packers potential to reach the Super Bowl, but Hill could play four games, so keep that in mind when deciding on the No. 1 receiver. Kupp in potentially two games or Evans in potentially three games was another tough call.

There's a lot to like about all of the receivers in the top 20, and Samuel could be the biggest steal if the 49ers upset the Cowboys. The group of Lazard, Beckham, Davis and Wilson is among my favorite players in any playoff challenge because of their potential to produce big stats in multiple games.

There are some questions at receiver that you still need to monitor, including Tampa Bay with Grayson battling a hamstring injury, which could be good for someone like Tyler Johnson or Perriman. And you want to make sure that Hill is OK with his heel injury, but any absence would be great for Hardman and Pringle.

Tight ends

1. Travis Kelce
2. Rob Gronkowski
3. Dalton Schultz
4. Dawson Knox
5. Tyler Higbee
6. George Kittle
7. Zach Ertz
8. Dallas Goedert
9. Darren Waller
10. Antony Firkser
11. Josiah Deguara
12. C.J. Uzomah
13. Hunter Henry
14. Pat Freiermuth

Kelce is reportedly fine after hurting his hip in Week 18, and I would consider drafting him or Gronkowski early given their expected production and potential for a long playoff run. Gronkowski is in a great spot with Tampa Bay down Chris Godwin (ACL) and Antonio Brown no longer with the Buccaneers.

Kittle could end up a steal like most of the 49ers if they play two games. But I have Schultz ranked ahead of him with my expectation of Dallas beating San Francisco in the wild-card round.

Ertz, Goedert and Waller could be solid in one-game scenarios, but they won't be helpful if they don't advance past the wild-card round.

D/STs

1. Packers
2. Buccaneers
3. Chiefs
4. Bills
5. Titans
6. Rams
7. Cowboys
8. 49ers
9. Bengals
10. Cardinals
11. Patriots
12. Eagles
13. Raiders
14. Steelers