Yahoo DFS Football: Divisional Sunday Picks

Yahoo DFS Football: Divisional Sunday Picks

This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Football series.

The divisional round of the NFL playoffs continues Sunday with the Buccaneers hosting the Rams at 3:00 p.m. EST followed by Bills-Kansas City at 6:30 p.m. Both road teams beat the hosts in the regular season, though the Rams' win was in Los Angeles while the Bills' victory came in Arrowhead Stadium. The home teams are modest favorites in both games, with the clash between Buffalo and Kansas City expected to feature more offense. Among Sunday's recommended options are a couple of running backs who are peaking at the right time, a star tight end and an affordable wide receiver who's poised to outperform his modest valuation.

QUARTERBACK

Matthew Stafford, LAR at TB ($29): The Bills (12) and Rams (16) allowed the fewest and second-fewest passing touchdowns in the regular season, while Kansas City and the Buccaneers both ranked near the middle of the pack with 26, though Kansas City's second half of the season was much stronger in all defensive aspects after a slow start. Thus, Stafford has the most favorable matchup here. He's also the least expensive starting quarterback in action Sunday, being quite the bargain when you consider that Stafford's three-touchdown performance in the wild-card round win over Arizona was his 10th such effort of the season, though it was the first that included a rushing score.

RUNNING BACK

Jerick McKinnon, KC vs. BUF ($17): Fresh running backs running circles around tired defenses in the playoffs has been a common theme over the years, and McKinnon provided an example of the phenomenon in the wild-card round win over Pittsburgh. With Clyde Edwards-Helaire having missed the last three games due to a shoulder injury -- though he'll be back Sunday -- and Damien Williams' toe injury being more significant than originally let on, McKinnon is primed to maintain a prominent role in Kansas City's battered backfield against Buffalo. His pass-catching prowess makes McKinnon an excellent fit for an offense that loves throwing screens to running backs, and he was extremely effective as both a rusher and receiver last week, mustering 61 yards on 12 carries while catching all six of his targets for an additional 81 yards and a touchdown.

Devin Singletary, BUF at KC ($24): Singletary's late-season surge has been too impressive to ignore. He's the clear top dog in Buffalo's backfield now and has scored at least 22.9 fantasy points in each of his last three games. Going back a bit further, Singletary has a five-game rushing touchdown streak going and has rushed for more than 80 yards in four of those games while scoring multiple scrimmage touchdowns in each of the past three. Sunday's options at running back are significantly less impressive than what was available Saturday, especially if Leonard Fournette (hamstring) remains sidelined for Tampa Bay, and Singletary has earned his place as Sunday's priciest running back.

WIDE RECEIVER

Tyreek Hill, KC vs. BUF ($23): Hill's a nice value at a season-low valuation, especially since he showed that he's recovered from his heel injury by posting 57 yards and a touchdown in last week's 42-21 win over the Steelers. Despite fading down the stretch, Hill finished the regular season with 111 catches for 1,239 yards and nine touchdowns, as he's still one of the elite wide receivers in the league. Buffalo's defense has fared well despite losing star cornerback Tre'Davious White to a season-ending knee injury, but White's absence could loom large here as the Bills could struggle to find an answer for Hill's big-play ability.

Cooper Kupp, LAR at TB ($40): If you're going with Stafford under center, you may as well use the savings from that decision to pay up for Kupp at wide receiver. Sure, he "only" had 61 yards and a touchdown last week, but the Rams dominated with a run-heavy formula that's unlikely to be repeated against the elite Tampa Bay front. The league's leader in catches (145), receiving yards (1,947) and receiving touchdowns (16) in the regular season had only one other game with fewer than 90 yards in the entire campaign. Kupp's unlikely to fall short of that mark twice in a row in the playoffs.

Isaiah McKenzie, BUF at KC ($12): With plenty of pricey talents on offer Sunday, you'll need to save money somewhere, and locking in McKenzie can help you do just that. He is Buffalo's go-to gadget guy, and a divisional-round matchup with the team that sent you home in the AFC Championship last year is the time to dig deep into the playbook for the type of plays McKenzie excels at. He turned three carries and three catches into 74 scrimmage yards last week, and he proved he's capable of thriving with a larger workload when given the opportunity, as he mustered 11 catches for 125 yards and a touchdown back in Week 16 when the Bills' receiving corps was beat up.

TIGHT END

Rob Gronkowski, TB vs. LAR ($25): Gronk was rather quiet in the wild-card round as Mike Evans lit up the Eagles, but star cornerback Jalen Ramsey will likely make life a bit harder for Evans here, so Tom Brady should shift his sights to targeting Gronkowski. The veteran tight end found the end zone in the win over Philadelphia and closed out the regular season with consecutive 100-yard receiving efforts, so Gronkowski's a factor in the red zone like a lot of tight ends but also a major weapon between the 20s.

DEFENSE

Los Angeles Rams, LAR at TB ($13): Sunday's least expensive defense could well end up being its best, as the Rams have been on a roll for a while now on that side of the ball. This unit scored 16.0 fantasy points in the wild-card round rout of the Cardinals, and Los Angeles has averaged 10.6 fantasy points over the last seven games while scoring at least 7.0 in every game over that stretch. Interior pressure has been key to slowing down Brady throughout his career, and nobody's better at generating interior pressure than Aaron Donald. Plus, Brady won't have his full assortment of weapons available, as Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown and possibly Leonard Fournette could all be absent.

Honorable Mentions

QB: Patrick Mahomes (KC, $34), Josh Allen (BUF, $43)

RB: Cam Akers (LAR, $19), Ke'Shawn Vaughn (TB, $16), Giovani Bernard (TB, $17)

WR: Odell Beckham (LAR, $22), Mike Evans (TB, $30), Gabriel Davis (BUF, $16)

TE: Travis Kelce (KC, $30), Dawson Knox (BUF, $20)

DST: Kansas City Chiefs (vs. BUF, $16), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (vs. LAR, $18)

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Sasha Yodashkin plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: Youngsash, DraftKings: Yashdogg,Yahoo: Sasha, Fanball: Yashdogg.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sasha Yodashkin
Sasha has been contributing NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and Tennis content to RotoWire since 2015, with an emphasis on DFS. He is a huge New York sports fan who has been playing fantasy sports since middle school.
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