Wild Card Round Fantasy Football Matchups: C.J. Stroud, Travis Etienne, Christian Watson and More

The NFL regular season is over and playoff games are right around the corner. For those of you playing postseason fantasy football or DFS lineups, here are the matchups for the Wild Card Round.

We will break things down by position - quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends.

Fantasy football defensive rankings can be found all season on FantasySP.

Quarterbacks

There's not many good fantasy matchups ahead for quarterbacks.

The best one on paper doesn't happen until Monday. Pittsburgh is the sixth-best fantasy matchup, allowing 19 fantasy points per game. So things are set up well for Houston's C.J. Stroud.

The Bears are the 10th-best matchup, allowing 18 fantasy points per contest. That gives Green Bay's Jordan Love a good outlook - he will be playing for the first time in a few weeks after suffering a concussion, then being rested.

The Niners are the only other above-average matchup, ranking 13th and allowing 17 fantasy points per game. Philadelphia's Jalen Hurts will face them, but isn't a huge fantasy asset as a passer - San Fran has been great at slowing running quarterbacks.

Jacksonville is the next-best matchup, allowing 16 points per game. The Los Angeles Rams are next, allowing 15 points per game. Buffalo's Josh Allen will face the Jaguars, while Carolina's Bryce Young faces the Rams.

The Patriots, Packers and Eagles also allow 15 fantasy points per game, but rank 21st, 22nd and 23rd among NFL teams this season. Los Angeles Chargers' Justin Herbert faces New England, while Chicago's Caleb Williams gets Green Bay again and San Francisco's Brock Purdy takes on Philly.

The Panthers are the sixth-toughest fantasy test for a quarterback, allowing 14 fantasy points a game. That means LA Rams' Matthew Stafford has a tougher test ahead.

The Bills are the fourth-toughest test, with the Texans being the third-toughest and the LA Chargers being the second-toughest tests. Buffalo and Houston allow 13 fantasy points per game, while LA gives up just 12.

Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence has the Bills, so we'll see if he can keep his late-season surge rolling. Pittsburgh's Aaron Rodgers gets the Texans, while New England's Drake Maye gets the Chargers.

Running Backs

There are three top-10 fantasy matchups for running backs in the Wild Card Round.

Carolina is ranked eighth, while Buffalo is ninth - each team allows 24 fantasy points per game to running backs. San Francisco is the 10th-best matchup, allowing 23 fantasy points per game.

So things look pretty promising for LA Rams' Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. Jacksonville's Travis Etienne is also set up for some success, as is Philadelphia's Saquon Barkley.

The Eagles are the only other above-average matchup, also allowing 23 fantasy points per game. That gives San Francisco's Christian McCaffrey a chance to deliver big.

The Packers and Bears each allow 21 fantasy points per game. So Green Bay's Josh Jacobs and Chicago's D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai are just below-average options.

The Rams and Texans each give up 20 fantasy points per contest.

Carolina's Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard aren't the best options against LA in a split backfield. You could say the same about Pittsburgh's Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell against Houston.

The Steelers, Patriots and Chargers only allow 19 fantasy points per game to running backs, with the Jaguars only giving up 18 per game. Those are all bottom-six matchups overall.

Houston's Woody Marks (against Houston), LA Chargers' Omarion Hampton and Kimani Vidal (against New England), New England's TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson (against the LA Chargers) and Buffalo's James Cook (against Jacksonville) are among the backs with the toughest tests as a result.

Wide Receivers

There's some decent fantasy matchups ahead for wide receivers this coming week.

The Bears and Steelers are both bottom-10 defenses at slowing fantasy wideouts, allowing 35 fantasy points per contest. That gives the Packers' wideouts (Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed and more) and Texans' wide receivers (Nico Collins, Jayden Higgins, Xavier Hutchinson and more) chances to deliver some fantasy points.

The Rams, 49ers and Packers are all above-average matchups, allowing 33, 32 and 31 fantasy points per game, respectively. The Jaguars are ranked 16th, also allowing 31 fantasy points per contest.

Carolina has Tetairoa McMillan leading the wideouts, with help from Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker - they face the Rams. The Eagles have A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith leading the charge going up against the Niners. 

The Bears have Rome Odunze, D.J. Moore, Luther Burden and more for the clash against the Packers. The Bills will turn to Khalil Shakir and need others to step up against the Jaguars.

The Patriots sit 20th on the defensive ranking list, allowing 29 points per game to fantasy wideouts. The Chargers could turn to Ladd McConkey, Quentin Johnston, Keenan Allen or Tre' Harris.

The Panthers and Chargers each allow fantasy wideouts to score 27 points per game. Puka Nacua and Davante Adams will power the Rams against the Panthers, while the Patriots will have Stefon Diggs, Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas and others against the Chargers.

The Eagles, Bills and Texans all allow 26 fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers. Philly ranks 26th, with Buffalo in 27th and Houston at No. 31.

San Fran has been led by Jauan Jennings this season, with help from Ricky Pearsall, Kendrick Bourne and others - they get the Eagles this week.

Jacksonville has Brian Thomas, Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington that it could turn to against the Bills, so that will be a fun matchup to watch after a late-season surge from the Jaguars' passing game.

Pittsburgh will get DK Metcalf back for the playoff test against the Texans. Calvin Austin, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Adam Thielen picked up the slack with Metcalf suspended the last two games of the regular season.

Tight Ends

There's three top-10 matchups for tight ends coming in the Wild Card Round.

The Steelers are the third-best matchup overall, allowing fantasy tight ends to score 17 points per game. Dalton Schultz is the top tight end for Houston, so he's set up well against Pittsburgh, especially with not many proven wideouts outside Collins.

The Niners and Jaguars each give up 15 fantasy points per game - they are the eighth- and ninth-best matchups.

Dallas Goedert is the top tight end for Philly, and with Brown and Smith as the lone proven wideouts, Goedert could shine against the Niners. Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox are each options for Buffalo, and Jackson Hawes could steal some production - that diminishes the good matchup the Bills' tight ends have against the Jaguars.

The Panthers are just above average, allowing 14 points per game to tight ends. Colby Parkinson, Tyler Higbee, Davis Allen and Terrance Ferguson are all TE options for the Rams, so none are stellar options against the Panthers.

The Patriots rank 16th and allow 13 fantasy points per game. The Rams and Bears also allow 13 fantasy points per contest.

Oronde Gadsden is the top tight end for LA going into the game against the Patriots. With all the other wideouts on the team, Gadsden's outlook isn't quite as bright. 

Tommy Tremble and Mitchell Evans are among the Carolina tight ends who could deliver against the Rams, but neither of them are very good fantasy assets.

Luke Musgrave is the top Green Bay tight end, with Josh Whyle helping out too. Neither are very good fantasy options for the test against the Bears.

The Texans are 22nd, while the Packers are 23rd, each allowing 12 fantasy points per contest.

Pittsburgh has Pat Freiermuth or Jonnu Smith it could turn to against the Texans, but neither are good options either. Chicago's Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet will help out against the Packers, with Loveland being a very good option after a strong finish to the season.

The Chargers are the fifth-toughest matchup, allowing just 10 fantasy points per game. The Eagles and Bills are the two-toughest fantasy matchups for tight ends. Each defense allows just eight fantasy points per contest.

Hunter Henry should help the Patriots against the Chargers, but the matchup limits his fantasy outlook a good amount.

San Francisco's George Kittle has a tough test against the Eagles, but he's still one of the top fantasy tight ends (and pass catchers overall).

Brenton Strange is the top tight end for Jacksonville, but he too could be limited in the brutal matchup against Buffalo.

Check back later in the week for start/sit content and position rankings!