DraftKings

Below you will find my position-by-position projections. Please note I have included DraftKings' dollar value for each player, followed by his projected point total. I will not spend a great deal of time explaining each projection here - only some of the more notable ones. Each position is sorted by my DraftKings' projected point total.

Key for quarterbacks, running backs, receivers and tight ends:
P Yds - Passing Yards
P TD - Passing Touchdowns
INT - Interceptions
Ru Yds - Rushing Yards
Ru TD - Rushing Touchdowns
Rec Yds - Receiving Yards
Rec TD - Receiving Touchdowns
Rec - Receptions

Drake Maye and Josh Allen are in a similar boat this week. Each is facing a top-five defense, although Maye has the benefit of playing his game at home. Neither quarterback has a superstar receiver to throw to, although cases can be made that Khalil Shakir and Stefon Diggs tend to get open on gotta-have-it downs. The problem for both quarterbacks is that I think their upside is probably two total touchdowns. At least Denver has shown some vulnerability to mobile quarterbacks this season (Jaxson Dart, Marcus Mariota and Trevor Lawrence). For the most part, Houston has not. I will likely have more exposure to Allen than Maye this week, but I will not go overboard with either one.

The true wild card for me this week will be Caleb Williams. Once again, while I tend to not care much about cold weather, it would be a mistake for people to completely discount what low temperatures can do to receivers' willingness to take a hit or their reliability on throws that may be just a bit out of their normal catch radius. With that said, I would be stunned if Bears-Rams was not the highest scoring game of the weekend, which means we want to load up on as many of the players attached to it as possible. If recent history tells us anything, Williams can do almost a full game's worth of work for his fantasy managers in the fourth quarter alone. It would not surprise me at all if the Bears were chasing the Rams for most of the game, which makes it very likely he will attempt more than the 35 passes I have him projected for. Considering how poorly the Rams have played on defense lately, there is a good chance that Williams will be more effective early in this game than he has been in recent weeks.

I do not expect to have much - if any - exposure to Brock Purdy or Sam Darnold this weekend, and I think I might feel the same way about C.J. Stroud if Nico Collins is unable to clear concussion protocol in time. That leaves Bo Nix as the only other quarterback I will consider. Nix is unpredictable enough that it would be on brand for him to blow up against a defense that gave up a league-low 2,668 yards passing during the regular season. For those who believe in a player being "due," Nix is probably that as well. Since ringing up the Packers for 302 yards and four touchdowns through the air in Week 15, last year's No. 12 overall pick has posted lines of 352-1-1, 182-1-1 and 141-0-0. He supplemented the last two games with 40-plus yards on the ground, but the dual-threat ability he showed so often as a rookie has been quite rare in 2025. In theory, Buffalo is probably one of the few teams in the league capable of taxing the Broncos' defense, so Nix could need to keep pace with Allen.

Last week, four running backs managed at least 19.9 fantasy points on DraftKings. Two of them were completely unexpected, as Chuba Hubbard seemed to move in front of Rico Dowdle on the depth chart and scored twice. Meanwhile, Woody Marks bested his previous career high in rushing yards by 38 en route to 112. Still, I am not willing to go very heavy on high-end running backs this week. Part of the reason is that four of the eight stingiest defenses against running backs (Texans, Patriots, Seahawks and Broncos) are playing this weekend and two of them will be trying to stop the two highest-priced backs on the board (Christian McCaffrey and James Cook).

Seattle has done yeoman's work in limiting McCaffrey's production in two years under HC Mike Macdonald, keeping CMC out of the end zone in all three meetings. McCaffrey has done his usual PPR cheat code thing in both meetings this season, but I would bet against the Seahawks casually allowing CMC to push for 10-plus catches when it is abundantly clear he is the one piece of the offense that Seattle knows it has to stop now with George Kittle (Achilles) done for the year. Some may remember what Cook did to the Broncos in the playoffs last year (23-120-1 as a rusher), but Jonathan Taylor is the only running back to run for more than 73 yards against Denver this season. It would be one thing if the Bills had some semblance of perimeter weapons to scare the Broncos, but they don't. Maybe this is the week Buffalo really leans into Cook's ability as a receiver, but that hasn't happened much under current OC Joe Brady. I will have some exposure to both backs because it is impossible to ignore their talent and upside, but I will be leaning on value plays at running back this week and spending much more heavily at receiver.

It makes sense that if I believe Rams-Bears will be the highest scoring game of the Divisional Round, then I would want the primary running backs of each team as well. While it would be a stretch to say that D'Andre Swift has taken over the backfield in Chicago, the truth is that Kyle Monangai has not provided much to the offense in five of the last six games. Meanwhile, Swift is routinely pushing for 15 touches, getting a fair amount of work in the passing game and finding the end zone with some degree of regularity. His $6,000 price tag is a bit on the high side, but a matchup against a Rams run defense that has greatly regressed as the season has worn on is probably the push I need to put him in at least 20-25 percent of my lineups. I will not spend much time on Kyren Williams. The cold weather could force HC Sean McVay into a more run-heavy game plan. Williams has already been consistently good in fantasy despite his limited work for several months, and the matchup against the Bears is not exactly a daunting one - especially in the likely event LG Kevin Dotson returns to action.

The majority of my lineups will feature at least one Seattle running back, most likely Zach Charbonnet. Not only did the Seahawks run the ball more effectively as the regular season ended, but they ran the ball as much as any team down the stretch as well. In two games they needed to win to lock up the No. 1 seed at the end of the season, Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker combined for 33 carries each time. What's more is their targets spiked as well, giving the duo nearly 40 opportunities per game. There is little reason for Seattle to change its approach this week, as the 49ers continue to field one of the most injury-ravaged defenses in the league. Charbonnet appears to be the clear favorite for goal-line work. At $5,300, he might just be cheap enough to fit another stud receiver underneath the $50,000 cap.

RJ Harvey might have the best matchup of the weekend, but his rushing efficiency has been horrible for most of his time as the lead back since J.K. Dobbins went down in Week 10. Much like everything else in Denver's offense this season, inconsistency has ruled the day. Harvey usually does enough in the passing game to make him viable, which is why I will have a fair amount of exposure to him. With that said, I do not expect him to live up to his $6,200 price tag. Rhamondre Stevenson seems like a more expensive version of Charbonnet with a tougher matchup at this point. I will have some exposure to him just to spread my risk around, but I cannot imagine using him in more than 10 percent of my lineups.

Amon-Ra St. Brown may be the closest thing that Chicago has seen (in terms of usage and play style) to Puka Nacua this season. In two losses to Detroit, the Bears gave up 9-115-3 and 11-139-0 lines to St. Brown. Barring the low temperature in Chicago having a dramatic effect on Nacua's ability to catch the ball, it is hard to imagine a scenario in which he doesn't run the Bears ragged. It is one thing that Nacua is on a four-game scoring streak. It is a whole other matter that he has at least 10 targets in six straight and at least 13 opportunities (targets plus carries) in four of those outings. His 111 receiving yards versus the Panthers last week rank as only his fourth-best total over that stretch. While Nacua only spends about a third of his time lined up inside, the Bears were one of the worst at defending the slot. It would be stunning if Nacua wasn't worth his hefty $9,000 price tag. The challenge for him will be to return the value we need at that cost (the 38.9 fantasy points I have him projected for would be enough).

The beauty of the Rams' centralized passing game is that a second receiver can be ignored for the better part of a half of football and somehow still end up with 13 targets. As is typically the case, Davante Adams figures to draw the opponent's toughest perimeter corner (Jaylon Johnson) most of the day since he only lines up inside about 15 percent of the time. If he isn't facing Johnson on the right side of the offensive formation, he will probably see Nahshon Wright on the left side. Wright (who finished in a tie for second in the league with five interceptions) presents a unique matchup for Adams, but let the record also show that the 6-4 cornerback also finished in a tie for second in touchdowns allowed (eight). Regardless if Wright sees Nacua's physicality or Adams' footwork more often, it is a bad matchup for him. I would not bet a lot of money on the Los Angeles wideouts finishing 1-2 at the position in fantasy points this week, but it would also not surprise me if it played out that way either. Either player could score three touchdowns.

The Seahawks' recent devotion to the running game has slightly capped Jaxon Smith-Njigba's upside. As I alluded to earlier, Seattle probably will not need (or want) to throw more often than it has to, if only to ensure Sam Darnold doesn't make his oblique injury worse and enters the NFC Championship with as much confidence as possible. JSN deserves some DFS love this week in part because he is $500 cheaper than Nacua, but he lacks the upside in a game Seattle should control.

After those first three receivers, I think a case can be made for any of the next 10 wideouts as your WR3 and flex. Since I expect Nico Collins (concussion) to be ruled out soon, Xavier Hutchinson is very much in play as an option who took advantage of Collins' Week 8 absence to lead all Texans with five catches for 69 yards and a touchdown. Christian Kirk came out of witness protection last week and rang up the Steelers for eight catches, 144 yards and a score. Last but not least, Jayden Higgins has drawn plenty of comps to Collins and was a viable low-end starter for most of the second half of the season. I think it is entirely reasonable to have at least one Houston wideout in every lineup this weekend, although I will probably lean more toward Hutchinson ($3,400) and Kirk ($4,100) since they are significantly cheaper than Higgins. There is also a decent chance that Christian Gonzalez (concussion) spends most of his day lined up across from Higgins if he can clear concussion protocol in time and Collins can't.

My favorite WR3 plays will likely be Rome Odunze (ceiling) and Khalil Shakir (floor) this week. Odunze may be a bit too expensive ($5,300) to fall into the WR3 range in most lineups, but the Rams have not defended receivers - particularly bigger ones - well for a couple of months. Shakir is Buffalo's only dependable (and obvious) chess piece in the passing game. Especially against a blitz-heavy Denver defense, he could be a frequent target for Josh Allen on tunnel and bubble screens. I would love nothing more than to go heavy on Courtland Sutton ($5,900) this weekend, but I do not like the idea of trusting Bo Nix against a defense that sells out to limit passing production or relying on a player who seems like an obvious candidate to draw a shadow from Christian Benford. I think it is much more likely Pat Bryant and/or Troy Franklin pace the Denver wideouts in most statistical categories versus the Bills. While Luther Burden lines up in the slot almost half of the time, I want some exposure to him as well.

Any of the next four tight ends above can make a case to be used in DFS lineups. The Broncos have had their issues defending the tight end at times this season and Dalton Kincaid has not logged more than 30 snaps in a game since Week 5. With very little to work with at receiver, Josh Allen could rely heavily on Dawson Knox. San Francisco's injuries at linebacker could give AJ Barner a decent chance to find the end zone. Colby Parkinson has emerged as a favorite red zone target for Matthew Stafford, which means a lot in a game that should shoot out. Dalton Schultz is also worthy of mention despite a dud last week, if only because he is C.J. Stroud's most obvious target if Nico Collins cannot play. I am not sure there is an obvious touchdown scorer for New England this weekend, but Hunter Henry is probably the most likely to do so (even if I projected it to go to Austin Hooper).

Key for defense/special teams units:
Bonus - Points allowed bonus for DraftKings
TO - Total turnovers forced
TD - Defensive/return touchdowns