Playoff best ball contests on Underdog are officially here, marking the second-biggest draft period of the year (trailing only preseason drafting). While we've been covering playoff fantasy football formats in traditional redraft and Guillotine Leagues™ (Guilloteenies) settings, playoff best ball requires a bit of a different strategy.

Let's dive into my strategy pillars for 2026 playoff best ball contests on Underdog.

RELATED: Playoff Fantasy Football Rankings

Playoff Best Ball Strategy for Underdog

Know The Format

In most of the contests, only one out of every six teams advances from Round 1. It will be difficult to load up on the bye week teams (Denver and Seattle) in those formats. In some of the lower-dollar contests, two out of every six teams advance. It's more viable to attack bye week teams in those formats.

My rule of thumb is max three bye week teams in 1/6 advance and max four in 2/6.

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Your Lineup Should Tell A Story

The main goal is to be able field a full Super Bowl lineup (1QB, 1RB, 2WR, 1 FLEX) and work backwards from there. Being familiar with the playoff bracket is not only helpful but necessary.

We basically never want to draft two players on opposite teams in the same game because that ensures we will be losing a player for the next round. Continuing that thought, we also would ideally avoid players playing against each other in the Divisional Round.

For instance, on teams where you draft Bills, I would avoid Broncos. Unless the Chargers upset the Patriots (possible! More on that in a sec), that would mean the Bills head to Denver in Round 2. 

You can extend this thought process for the entire bracket. Don't pair Niners with Seahawks if you can avoid it, etc. 

Balance Is Key

Similar to traditional best ball, where you are balancing trying to advance from the regular season and also building a strong team from the playoffs, we need to do the same thing here. You need enough firepower to advance out of the Wild Card Round while simultaneously needing to field a full starting lineup in the Super Bowl.

This creates a tricky dynamic because we want to be concentrating our bets on just a few teams that we think will progress far in the playoffs, but if you overload on a team, it's likely you won't have enough ammo in the early rounds. The Bills are a great example of this. Even if you are fortunate to land both Josh Allen and James Cook (tough, but not impossible), the rest of their skill position players are extremely weak. If they make the Super Bowl, however, you are going to likely want more than just two Bills. In this scenario, I want to offset weaker selections like Dalton Kincaid and Khalil Shakir with some strong Wild Card selections like DK Metcalf and Tetairoa McMillan. Even if they get bounced in Round 1, they can put up a good score and help carry your Bills pieces.

Don't Be Afraid To Play Upsets

The field naturally gravitates to playing the favorites strongly. That makes sense in the case of a team like the Rams, who are 10.5-point favorites, but it's a shakier proposition when over-indexing on the Patriots (-3.5) and the Texans (-3). Both the Chargers and Steelers pieces are completely free in these drafts, while New England and Houston pieces come at a premium. I've built plenty of both, but my final 40-50 drafts were heavily focused on building around Chargers and Steelers "upsets".

My Favorite Builds for 2026 Playoff Best Ball

My preferred way to build is a team onslaught through the first four to five rounds, then stack up a few teams in the opposite conference.

Expensive examples (need to start right away):

• Eagles: 4-5 of Barkley, AJB, Hurts, DeVonta, Goedert
• Niners: 4-5 of CMC, Kittle, Purdy, Jauan, Pearsall
• Patriots: 4-5 of Maye, Henderson, Diggs, Rhamondre, Henry, Boutte
• Rams: 4-5 of Puka, Stafford, Adams, Kyren, Corum, Higbee

Cheap examples (can start in mid-rounds):

• Jags: 4-5 of Etienne, Meyers, Lawrence, Parker Washington, Strange
• Packers: 4-5 of Jacobs, Watson, Love, Reed, Doubs
• Bears: 4-5 of Swift, Burden, Caleb, Rome, Loveland
• Texans: 3-4 of Nico, Marks, Stroud, Schultz, Higgins
• Chargers: 3-4 of Hampton, Ladd, Herbert, QJ, Keenan

The Advance Rate Pieces

To flesh this out further, here are my go-tos at the end of drafts to help my teams advance if I don't think there is enough firepower. Check our playoff fantasy football projections if you need inspiration on who is cheap and projects well in Round 1.

• Steelers: Metcalf, Warren, Gainwell
• Panthers: Tet, Rico Dowdle

If You Are Attacking The Bye Week Teams ...

As I mentioned, I'm max-three on the Seahawks or Broncos in most formats because it will be really hard to advance a team with four or more zeros in Round 1.

• My preferred Seattle build: JSN (mandatory), one of Kenneth Walker or Zach Charbonnet (Charbs is cheaper), and then Darnold.
• My preferred Broncos build: RJ Harvey (near mandatory w/ J.K. Dobbins unlikely until the AFC Championship game), Bo Nix, one of Sutton or Franklin. Sutton is fine, but it's hard to spend fourth- and fifth-round picks on both Harvey and Sutton when you need that firepower from a live player and when the other WRs can challenge Sutton in 1-2 game samples.

My Favorite IKBs (I Know Better)

ADP is fairly sticky at this point, but there are some stands I like taking based on recent trends and matchups—especially if one of the options is always getting drafted and the other isn't ...

• Tyler Higbee > Colby Parkinson. Higbee looked great in his return and was a big part of the Rams playoff game last year.
• Parker Washington > Jakobi Meyers. Check the UR data from the past four weeks. Washington has been the alpha in this offense. I love the 20+ pick discount on him relative to Meyers.
• Dalton Schultz > Jayden Higgins. Per our DvP tool, the Steelers are one of the worst teams against TEs. If I'm trying to advance a team out of Round 1, I prefer the target floor and matchup boost from Schultz over the boom/bust rookie WR.
• Colston Loveland > DJ Moore. It's impossible to ignore the tear that the rookie TE is on right now. With Rome Odunze back to muddy the WR waters in Chicago, I think Loveland is the clear second option on the Bears after Burden.
• Pat Bryant > Troy Franklin. The rookie was about to flip Franklin before the injury and should be full go for next weekend.
• Galaxy Brain Bonus - Kimani Vidal > Omarion Hampton. Keep an eye on the practice reports this week. Hampton didn't practice on Wednesday. If Vidal somehow gets the start, he's an incredibly strong play in Chargers stacks.

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