This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Football series.
The divisional round of the NFL playoffs kicks off Saturday with two games. The Jaguars visit Kansas City at 4:30 p.m. EST, followed by Giants-Eagles at 8:15. Yahoo will be running DFS contests every day that playoff football is on, with two-game main slates on both Saturday and Sunday for the divisional round.
Saturday's biggest NFL DFS contest on Yahoo is the NFL $75K Divisional Round Baller. This contest pays out a guaranteed prize pool of $75,000 to the top 1,175 entries, including a grand prize of $15,000 to first place. Each entry is $15, with a maximum of 5,875 total entries and 150 per participant. The Saturday Baller will still run if it doesn't fill, potentially providing you with enhanced odds of winning, also known as overlay.
Playing in guaranteed prize pool (GPP) contests is about chasing upside, while lineups geared towards head-to-head, 50/50 or double-up formats should prioritize high floors. The players you want to target for these different contest types aren't mutually exclusive, but winning a GPP tournament usually requires finding a hidden gem or going against the grain in a spot or two, while building a solid base of the same chalk plays you would use anywhere. Against-the-grain plays typically consist of big-name players in tough matchups or boom-or-bust types with uncertain roles.
Keep in mind that Yahoo DFS contests use 0.5 PPR scoring rather than full PPR, which lowers the comparative value of wide receivers and running backs (in that order) while especially affecting high-volume pass-catchers. Your NFL $75K Divisional Round Baller Saturday lineup will consist of one QB, two RBs, three WRs, one TE, one FLEX (RB/WR/TE) and one D/ST unit. Among the recommended options are a quarterback-receiver stack from a team that will likely need to pass to catch up, a running back who has been a lock to find the end zone recently, and a receiver that's gone from a virtual unknown to a key contributor on one of the eight remaining Super Bowl hopefuls.
QUARTERBACK
Trevor Lawrence, JAX at KC ($29): Lawrence offers nice value as this slate's most affordable quarterback, as Kansas City has the most generous secondary among teams in action Saturday. Sure, Jacksonville allowed a few more passing yards in the regular season, but Kansas City gave up a league-high 33 passing touchdowns. With the underdog Jaguars likely to be playing catch-up, Lawrence should have plenty of opportunities to throw after tossing four touchdowns, albeit with four interceptions, in his playoff debut last week.
Honorable Mentions
Jalen Hurts, PHI vs. NYG ($40); Patrick Mahomes, KC vs. JAX ($39)
RUNNING BACK
Saquon Barkley, NYG at PHI ($33): Barkley should be worth paying up for, and finding the cap space for him shouldn't be too difficult, especially if you go with the affordable Lawrence under center. The Giants gave Barkley only 14 touches in the wild-card round, yet he still racked up over 100 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns in the 31-24 win over Minnesota. Barkley contributes as both a runner and a pass catcher, so the most talented running back in action Saturday will get his looks regardless of game script against the Eagles.
Jerick McKinnon, KC vs. JAX ($20): In case you forgot with Kansas City off last week, McKinnon finished the regular season on a six-game touchdown streak, catching eight touchdowns over that span while running in another. Nobody has figured out how to stop McKinnon when he flares out of the backfield by the goal line, and if he's open, Patrick Mahomes will find him.
Honorable Mentions
Miles Sanders, PHI vs. NYG ($24); Travis Etienne, JAX at KC ($23)
WIDE RECEIVER
Christian Kirk, JAX at KC ($24): Kirk scored both of Jacksonville's touchdowns in the 27-17 loss to Kansas City in Week 10, finishing that game with nine catches for 105 yards on 12 targets. That game marked his season high in targets until the wild-card round, when Kirk was thrown to a team-leading 14 times. Jacksonville's No. 1 wide receiver is locked into a busy role, and regardless of whether or not you opt to stack him with Lawrence, Kirk's a strong play against a Kansas City defense that allowed 20 touchdowns to wideouts this season.
DeVonta Smith, PHI vs. NYG ($24): The Giants did a good job of limiting Justin Jefferson last week, and Wink Martindale's defense will likely do all it can to ensure A.J. Brown doesn't beat them here. Such an approach would create more opportunities for Smith, who topped 100 receiving yards in four of his last six games while scoring four touchdowns over that span. The 10th overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft is turning into a star at his position, and Smith has been getting open all season, as evidenced by his current nine-game streak of drawing at least eight targets.
Isaiah Hodgins, NYG at PHI ($17): The rest of the NFL's contenders are breathing a collective sigh of relief that Buffalo let this hidden gem go, as the Bills' Josh Allen-led passing attack is hard enough to contain as it is. The move downstate after being plucked off the Bills' practice squad has allowed Hodgins to open some eyes in a more prominent role. He didn't join the Giants until Week 10, but the 24-year-old receiver still finished in a tie for the team lead with four receiving touchdowns before adding another one in the wild-card round. Hodgins has now found the end zone in five of his last six games, and in the last three, he's compiled 20 catches for 236 yards and three touchdowns on 26 targets as the favorite target for Daniel Jones.
Honorable Mentions
JuJu Smith-Schuster, KC vs. JAX ($20); Zay Jones, JAX at KC ($17)
TIGHT END
Dallas Goedert, PHI vs. NYG ($17): Goedert's a nice value at half of Travis Kelce's salary if you can't find the funds to fit the elite Kansas City tight end into your lineup. The Giants have struggled to defend tight ends all season. After allowing the 10th-most yards to the position in the regular season (922), New York gave up a game-high 129 yards to Minnesota's T.J. Hockenson in last week's playoff win. Goedert has been a high-floor option for the Eagles all season, racking up at least three catches in all but one of his 12 appearances while reaching 45 yards nine times.
Honorable Mentions
Travis Kelce, KC vs. JAX ($34); Evan Engram, JAX at KC ($20)
DEFENSE
Kansas City vs. JAX ($10): When you have Mahomes leading your offense, you can afford to take some chances on defense. Such an approach has resulted in plenty of big plays for this unit recently, as the K.C. defense closed the season with 30.0 fantasy points over the final three weeks thanks to 12 sacks and five forced turnovers. Contrast that approach with the Giants, who can't afford many mistakes and didn't record a sack or turnover in their 31-24 win over the Vikings. At the minimum salary, this unit's a low-risk, high-reward play against a Jacksonville team that turned the ball over five times last week.
Honorable Mentions:
Philadelphia Eagles vs. NYG ($15); New York Giants at PHI ($10)
