Fantasy Football Wild Card Round Projections: Top Players at Every Position
Looking at the fantasy football players with the top fantasy football projections for the Wild Card Round.
The NFL Wild Card Round opens in just a couple days. For those playing in postseason fantasy football leagues or wanting to compete in DFS contests, here are the top-projected players at each position.
Also be sure to check out the fantasy football matchups for the Wild Card Round. Check back later in the week for start/sit content and rankings!
Check out fantasy football projections on FantasySP all season.
Quarterbacks
Buffalo's Josh Allen is the top-projected fantasy quarterback for the first round of the playoffs. He's set for 25 points against the Jaguars.
San Francisco's Brock Purdy is projected for 24 points against the Eagles. Purdy ended the year on a hot streak, so that definitely played into his weekly projection this week.
Philadelphia dual-threat QB Jalen Hurts is projected for 23 fantasy points against the Niners in the opening round. San Fran is tough on running quarterbacks, so we'll see if Hurts can do enough as a passer, or steal a rushing score or two.
Chicago's Caleb Williams, New England's Drake Maye and Los Angeles Rams' Matthew Stafford are all projected for 21 fantasy points this week. Williams goes up against the Packers for a third time, while Maye takes on the Chargers and Stafford faces the Panthers.
Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence is set for 20 points in a tough test against the Bills. He too ended the year on a hot streak.
Los Angeles Chargers' Justin Herbert is projected for 19 fantasy points, while Green Bay's Jordan Love is set for 18 points.
Houston's C.J. Stroud has the best matchup of the week, but is only projected for 15 fantasy points against the Steelers. His counterpart, Pittsburgh's Aaron Rodgers, is set for 14 points in a tougher test.
Carolina's Bryce Young is projected for 14 points in his battle against the Rams.
Running Backs
At running back, San Francisco's Christian McCaffrey is in a tier of his own, being projected for 26 PPR points against the Eagles in the Wild Card Round.
The only other back set for at least 20 points is Buffalo's James Cook, and he has a very tough matchup against the Jaguars.
Jacksonville's Travis Etienne is set for 18 PPR points on the other side of the field in that contest.
Chicago's D'Andre Swift and Los Angeles Rams' Kyren Williams are each projected for 16 PPR points this week. Green Bay's Josh Jacobs is set for 15 points despite a slow finish to the season.
Philadelphia's Saquon Barkley, Carolina's Rico Dowdle and Pittsburgh's Kenneth Gainwell and Jaylen Warren are all projected for 14 PPR points this coming week.
LA Chargers' Omarion Hampton and New England's Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson are all projected for 13 PPR points this week. All those backs have tougher matchups.
Chicago's Kyle Monangai is set for 10 PPR points against the Packers.
LA Chargers' Kimani Vidal, Houston's Woody Marks and Carolina's Chuba Hubbard are all projected for nine PPR points this week.
LA Rams' Blake Corum is also worth mentioning. He's set for seven PPR points.
Wide Receivers
At the top of the wide receiver projections is LA Rams' Puka Nacua. He's easily my favorite fantasy wideout who plays this week, with Seattle's Jaxon Smith-Njigba off until the second round.
Houston's Nico Collins is projected for 16 PPR points in a good matchup against the Steelers.
Green Bay's Christian Watson and Philadelphia's A.J. Brown are set for 15 points each. Brown is a high-end fantasy wideout, but it's a bit surprising to see Watson so high, even in a good fantasy matchup against the Bears.
LA Rams' Davante Adams and LA Chargers' Quentin Johnston are both set for 14 PPR points this week. Adams is expected back after missing the past few weeks with an injury.
New England's Stefon Diggs, Carolina's Tetairoa McMillan and Philadelphia's DeVonta Smith are all projected for 13 fantasy points.
Jacksonville's Parker Washington and Chicago's Rome Odunze and D.J. Moore are all set for 12 PPR points. Odunze and Moore are both on the injury report, so their playing statuses will need to be monitored.
San Francisco's Jauan Jennings, Jacksonville's Jakobi Meyers, Pittsburgh's DK Metcalf, LA Chargers' Ladd McConkey and Buffalo's Khalil Shakir are all sitting at 11 projected points this week. Metcalf stands out in that bunch after missing the past two games because of a suspension. He returns to a very tough fantasy test.
Jacksonville's Brian Thomas, LA Chargers' Keenan Allen, Green Bay's Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed and New England's Kayshon Boutte are all set for 10 PPR points in the Wild Card Round.
Chicago's Luther Burden and Houston's Jayden Higgins each check in at eight projected points. Carolina's Jalen Coker sits at seven, while San Francisco's Ricky Pearsall, Carolina's Xavier Legette and Houston's Christian Kirk all projected for six each.
Tight Ends
The top-projected tight end in the Wild Card Round is San Francisco's George Kittle. Despite a tough matchup against the Eagles, he's set for 14 PPR points.
Philly's Dallas Goedert is projected for 12 points on the other end of the field. Buffalo's Dalton Kincaid is set for 11 points against the Jaguars.
Houston's Dalton Schultz has the best matchup of any tight end, and he's projected for 10 points against the Steelers. New England's Hunter Henry is also set for 10 points, but in a tough test against the Chargers.
Chicago's Colston Loveland is projected for nine fantasy points after a late-season surge. Jacksonville's Brenton Strange is also set for nine points despite a tougher matchup against the Bills. LA Rams' Colby Parkinson is projected for nine points as well, but has plenty of competition at tight end on his own team.
LA Chargers' Oronde Gadsden is set for eight points against the Patriots this week.
Pittsburgh's Jonnu Smith is projected for five points against the Texans.
Kickers
The top-projected kicker this week is Houston's Ka'imi Fairbairn, who is set for 11 points.
LA Chargers' Cameron Dicker and San Francisco's Eddy Pineiro are each projected for 10 fantasy points.
Chicago's Cairo Santos and Jacksonville's Cam Little are each set for nine fantasy points.
LA Rams' Harrison Mevis, Green Bay's Brandon McManus and New England's Andy Borregales are all projected for eight fantasy points.
Pittsburgh's Chris Boswell, Philadelphia's Jake Elliott and Buffalo's Matt Prater are set for seven fantasy points each. Prater is injured, and could be replaced by Matthew Wright if he's not active.
Carolina's Ryan Fitzgerald is only projected for six fantasy points in the Wild Card Round.
Defense/Special Teams
Most of the DSTs are pretty bunched up this week, with only three units not being projected for seven or six fantasy points.
The Steelers DST is atop the projection page going into their test against the Texans.
The Bills DST is second on the list going into a challenge against the Jaguars, whose offense was red-hot at the end of the season.
The Rams DST is third in the projections going into their test against the Panthers. That's probably the DST I like the most because of the matchup.
The Packers DST sits fourth, while the Texans DST is fifth (and the last at seven fantasy points). Green Bay faces Chicago for a third time since week 14, while Houston battles Pittsburgh.
Next on the projection page is the Chargers DST, which faces the Patriots. The 49ers DST is next on the list going into their clash with the Eagles.
The Eagles DST sits eighth, while the Patriots DST is in ninth (and the last team sitting at six projected points).
The Jaguars DST and Panthers DST are each set for just five fantasy points, while the Bears DST is only projected for four fantasy points.
