SI.com - Fantasy - Harris: Jumping into the postseason fantasy fray

BOB HARRIS
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Even without Terrell Owens, Donovan McNabb will still find ways to pile up big stats.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The regular season is over. Traditional fantasy leagues have folded up their tents until fall. What's an owner to do? I have two words for you: Playoff tournament.

That's right. As a growing number of fanatics already know, those who still feel the need to scratch that itch can certainly do so. In most instances, it's a simple matter of adapting your current league's existing lineup requirements and scoring system to meet postseason needs.

A good starting point is stating the objective: Owners will select a single starting lineup prior to Wild Card Weekend. That lineup will carry through the playoffs. The team with the most cumulative points at the end of the Super Bowl wins.

It's pretty straightforward.

Just like regular-season play, you will receive points for the players you've selected each week they play. Unlike the regular season, all players are available to all teams. In other words, if every owner in your league selects the same quarterback -- Peyton Manning, for example -- that's fine.

When an NFL team is eliminated, so are its players.

Based on that objective, the obvious goal is to balance the single-game potential of given player against how deep into the playoffs you believe his respective NFL team might go. Meaning, players on Super Bowl teams -- who will have played a minimum of three (and possibly four) games when all is said and done -- will be more attractive (although not necessarily more productive) in this format.

So, when forecasting individual player production, you can't just take into account individual potential. You have to factor in his team's chances for postseason success. That opponents aren't certain until each round of the playoffs are complete adds to the intrigue.

Are you starting to get a feel for the possibilities?

For example, I personally believe that Pittsburgh will face Philadelphia in the Super Bowl. Because of that belief, my projections naturally skew heavily towards Steelers and Eagles.

But of course, it's not that cut-and-dried.

While I believe Pittsburgh and Philadelphia will reach the Super Bowl, that doesn't automatically make Ben Roethlisberger and Donovan McNabb my top quarterbacks. I need to account for the possibility/likelihood that Manning or some other quarterback on a team I expect to play fewer games is still be capable of outproducing either of my Super Bowl QBs.

In order to rank players, I start by making playoff predictions:

AFC

Super Bowl Rep: Pittsburgh Steelers
Conference Title Loser: Indianapolis Colts
Divisional Playoff Losers: San Diego Chargers, New England Patriots
Wild-card Losers: New York Jets, Denver Broncos

NFC

Super Bowl Rep: Philadelphia Eagles
Conference Title Loser: Green Bay Packers
Divisional Playoff Losers: St. Louis Rams, Atlanta Falcons
Wild-card Losers: Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings

Then I factor in my scoring system:

Skill Players

Four (4) points for all passing TDs.
Six (6) points for all rushing TDs.
Six (6) points for all receiving TDs.
One (1) point for every 20 yards passing.
One (1) point for every 10 yards rushing
One (1) point for every 10 yards received.

Kickers

Three (3) points for all field goals made.
One (1) point for all extra points made.

Team Defenses

Two (2) points for safeties and quarterback sacks.
Four (4) points for fumble recoveries and interceptions.
Six (6) points for defensive touchdowns.

Based on those parameters, I come up with my position-by-position favorites:


Quarterbacks	Tight End
1. Peyton Manning (3 games)	1. Antonio Gates (2 games)
2. Donovan McNabb (3 games)	2. L.J. Smith (3 games)
3. Brett Favre (3 games)	3. Dallas Clark (3 games)
4. Ben Roethlisberger (3 games)	4. Bubba Franks (3 games)
5. Marc Bulger (2 games)	5. Alge Crumpler (1 game)


Running Backs	Wide Receivers
1. Brian Westbrook (3 games)	1. Plaxico Burress (3 games)
2. Ahman Green (3 games)	2. Javon Walker (3 games)
3. Edgerrin James (3 games)	3. Marvin Harrison (3 games)
4. Jerome Bettis (3 games)	4. Torry Holt (2 games)
5. Corey Dillon (2 games)	5. Brandon Stokley (3 games)
6. LaDainian Tomlinson (2 games)	6. Reggie Wayne (3 games)
7. Steven Jackson (2 games)	7. Donald Driver (3 games)
8. Shaun Alexander (1 game)	8. Hines Ward (3 games)
9. Warrick Dunn (1 game)	9. Freddie Mitchell (3 games)
10. Duce Staley (3 games)	10. Todd Pinkston (3 games)


Kickers	Defenses
1. David Akers (3 games)	1. Pittsburgh Steelers (3 games)
2. Mike Vanderjagt (3 games)	2. New England Patriots (2 games)
3. Jeff Reed (3 games)	3. Indianapolis Colts (3 games)
4. Jeff Wilkins (2 games)	4. Philadelphia Eagles (3 games)
5. Ryan Longwell (3 games)	5. San Diego Chargers (2 games)

Remember: Those picks reflect my opinion; yours are will differ. The key, however, is to work your way through the NFL Playoff bracket, weighing potential matchups and creating your projections based on those progressions.

One last -- but still very important -- note: Because the format described above means any number of teams can wind up with the same lineup, tiebreakers are necessary. Some suggestions:

First Tiebreaker: Super Bowl Winner
Second Tiebreaker: Super Bowl Loser
Third Tiebreaker: Total Points in Super Bowl (both teams)
(Tiebreaker picks submitted by each owner prior to Wild Card Weekend).

There you have it, kids. I hope this primer is sufficient to push those of you standing around the edges into the postseason pool and further stoke the fires of those who have already made the move into fantasy playoff fun.

Bob Harris is Editor and Webmaster of the TFL Report and Senior Editor for Fantasy Sports Publications.


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