This season has felt like the longest season ever,^[1]Perhaps because it has been. but the playoffs have finally arrived! These slates are my favorite slates of the year. The best part about the playoff slates is they are all island games. We get time after each game to assess what we got right and what we got wrong. The biggest edge on these slates is late swap. If you played an RB that was 60% owned and they busted in the early game, it’s time to leave salary on the table and swap out that chalk WR you have going in the late game to try to pass the teams in front of you.

I am usually a small-field player, but on these slates where the ownership is so condensed, I really like playing in larger field contests because the leverage points are much easier to identify. Your lineups need to tell a story regarding how you think the game plays out. If you think a team is set to blow out their opponent, think about pairing the running back and the defense together. On these slates, you probably need to double-stack your quarterback. You really need to be cognizant of the story you are telling yourself and if the players you have in your lineup make sense for that game script.