Drew Brees is taking the Saints to San Francisco and he's looking to score.

Round two of the playoffs approaches. With all the interest in playoff fantasy football games, we answered a few questions that will help you with week by week, or salary cap fantasy football contests during the wildcard round. If you are trying tyour hand at the playoff fantasy football challenge, we have a strategy for that as well. But for these answers, we don’t care if players are moving on. We just want production for this week.

Who is the player that you must have on your playoff challenge team?

Dave Lawson (@FantasyDave77): Drew Brees. This guy is always number one at the top quarterback performances for the week after every game. If you’re playing in a weekly fantasy football salary cap game, go ahead and pay the hefty price tag, once again, it should be worth it. San Francisco has had a stingy run defense all year long but has given up numbers in the pass game. What does that mean? It means that Drew Brees is about to take to the air again and pop off for big numbers!

Tim Forcella (@solomonslines): The one player I have to start this week is Tom Brady. There are quite a few good quarterbacks in play this week, but Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees are going up against considerably tougher defenses than the one Brady will face on Sunday. Denver’s defense had a run where it looked great, but it was against subpar offenses and after the last few games, it is no longer a matchup to be feared. I shouldn’t have to make too much of a case for Brady. When looking at the teams and players available, there are receivers and tight ends aplenty. But Tom Brady is the only one of the elite qbs with a favorable matchup.

Justin Burniske: (@jburniske) When a team has a top run offense and is being forced into using a rookie at QB, expect the offense to give a large majority of the work to their top RB, Arian Foster. Coming off a spectacular game against the Bengals where he scored 2 TDs and ran for 153 yards, look for Foster to again be heavily involved this week. While he does face a tough Baltimore run defense, Foster has proven that he is match-up proof. Additionally, his abilities as a pass catcher out of the backfield guarantee that he’ll easily surpass 100 total yards and at least 1 TD.

Kyle Soppe (@unSOPable23): I’m rolling with the smokin’ hot Eli Manning. He’s been shredding defenses and I am encouraged about the huge wild card success of Hakeem Nicks. Victor Cruz is a reliable target and the Packers aren’t exactly a stout defense. The Packers will chuck the ball all over Lambeau Field, and if the G-men fall behind early, expect Manning to follow suit. Maybe not video game numbers, but his 300+ and 3 TD’s is more than enough to satisfy fantasy owners.

Michael Crabtree could capitalize on a great matchup in round two.

Which low-priced player intrigues you the most in salary cap style challenges?

Tim Forcella: There are plenty of defenses playing this weekend that I would love to send a receiver against: New England, Green Bay, New Orleans. But the receivers and tight ends going up against the Pats and Packers are anything but low priced. So if I’m looking for a bargain, the first place I will look is among the San Francisco. Michael Crabtree has not yet reached the potential that many saw in him before he was drafted, but he is easily the most capable of the options for the Niners. The Saints defense has been picked apart easily by many teams this year. I would not be surprised if Alex Smith joins that club.

Kyle Soppe: Ryan Grant from Green Bay started the season as overrated, but I believe he is an undervalued option heading into Sunday’s showdown with the Giants. New York ranked in the bottom half of the league in stopping the run, so there is potential there. But I am banking more on the element of surprise to inspire a big day from Grant. Tebow was able to pass on the Steelers, because Pittsburgh assumed they’d run it every time. That drives my logic for Grant, where the Giants figure to use a aggressive rush to speed up Rodgers. I’m not forecasting a 25 carry day, but I believe Grant could total 85 yards, which will be good production for his price tag.

Justin Burniske: If you’re looking for value at RB, look no further than the NY Giant bowling ball Brandon Jacobs. Someone reminded Jacobs last week that he’s a behemoth of a man, and he started running over people like it was 2007. The Giants will likely try to shorten the game to limit the number of times that Rodgers gets the ball, and the best way to do that is a heavy dose of the run game. While Jacobs will lose some touches to the equally feisty Bradshaw, Jacobs looks like the more effective runner, and the one I’d want this week.

Dave Lawson: Eli Manning won’t be the lowest priced option in weekly salary cap fantasy football formats, but he’ll sure be cheaper than the likes of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees in the divisional round of playoffs. Eli Manning will be facing off against a weak Packer secondary that’s been giving up a ton of fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks and receivers. Green Bay is good at causing turnovers, picking off quarterbacks and taking it to the house, so Eli might have his hiccups along the way, but in the grand scheme of things, he should put up pretty good numbers in a game that should be a shootout.

Against this Niner defense, even Darren Sproles is a risky start.

Is there a player you would not consider starting, even if he came at a good price?

Kyle Soppe: Ben Tate is a talented back, and in general, I like the role he has. But the Ravens are near impossible to have constant success on the ground against, and as a second option behind Foster, Tate won’t be worth earning this weekend. Foster is running well, and I expect him to see three times more touches than Tate. While the Texan RB will be cheaply priced, don’t waste your money on him.

Dave Lawson: I’m not going to be starting any of the New Orleans Saints running backs this week. No matter their price, it won’t be a good bargain. Like I said earlier, San Francisco has been shutting down the run all year and they’re not about to let up now in the playoffs. I think Drew Brees will take to the air with great regularity in this game rendering the running backs pretty much useless. Darren Sproles, however, might be the only attractive piece there considering he is involved in the passing game, but even so, make sure the price is right for him.

Justin Burniske: I have no interest in Frank Gore this week. As a top tier RB he’s been far too inconsistent this year. Plus, with New Orleans coming to town, this game will likely become a shootout, leaving Gore with more opportunities to pass protect than to run the ball. While in theory San Fran probably wants to establish a run game here, I don’t see it happening, so I’m staying away from Gore this week, particularly since you’ll likely have to spend top dollar to get him in any salary cap leagues.

 Tim Forcella: I’m going to cheat a bit and say both Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith. The Texan secondary is too good to consider starting one of these guys in a playoff fantasy football competition, especially when the options at wide receiver are so deep. At any point, one or both of them have put virtual zeroes over the course of the season. While it is possible that one of them has a nice day, it’s not a gamble I’m willing to take.

You May Also Be Interested In:

Tags: free fantasy playoff contest, free salary cap fantasy football, playoff fantasy football challenge, playoff fantasy football competitions, playoff fantasy football games

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 at 4:25 pm and is filed under Fantasy Football, Fantasy Football Preview, Free Fantasy Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.