Gearing Up for the Fantasy Playoffs: Week 14

Dec 02, 2025

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

This is the final week before the fantasy postseason in most leagues, so it's time to solidify those rosters and make some room on your shelf for that sweet trophy.

Below you’ll find a few suggestions that could help in your quest for a championship this season, because that’s what this is all about, right? We also can’t forget the money, prizes, and bragging rights that come along with that title.

Final Push to Trade for Talent (if in a league with no deadline)

Depth has been essential in getting your team through the bye-week gauntlet, along with the insane amount of injuries this season. We still have four teams sitting out and resting this week, and after that, it’s all hands on deck for the fantasy playoffs.

Our focus should be on procuring the strongest roster possible from here on out. Target the teams in the lower third of your league, as they may be frustrated with their squad's performance but could think they are just a piece or two away from contending. These teams may have a star or two who could benefit you, but not necessarily have the depth of your roster. So a deal where they get two or three starters, and you upgrade your starting lineup makes sense for both parties.

Managers sitting at the top of the leaderboard are obviously less likely to part with an elite player this time of year, so dealing with a team on the fringe of success may seem counterintuitive, but you want the best roster moving forward, without worrying about bettering any other squads.

4for4’s rest-of-season rankings and trade evaluator tool are solid resources to utilize when consolidating depth. Your league mates may be holding on to name value or relying on recency bias when they evaluate players, so consulting these tools allows you to see trades in a more educated, unbiased way as you prepare for the fantasy playoffs.

Look at Playoff Matchups

Glancing ahead to a player’s matchups during Weeks 15, 16, and 17 is another way to gain an edge over your potential opponents. Our Hot Spot tool lays it out in a color-coded, easy-to-read format, and you can filter it by specific players or the teams as a whole.

While someone like Sam Darnold has been a decent quarterback for fantasy purposes and he’s gotten you this far as the overall QB13, we see in Weeks 15, 16, and 17, he faces the Colts, Rams and Panthers, who rank 21st, 10th and sixth, respectively, in QB aFPA—schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed to the quarterback position—in 2025.

In a single-elimination playoff format, playing the matchups can be a difference-maker in whether you move on, win it all, or go home empty-handed and are forced to stew for another offseason on how close you were to ultimate victory.