They weren’t all nail biters, though. Seattle defeated San Francisco by 35 points, mostly from the opening kickoff when Rashid Shaheed took the ball home. And New England terrorized CJ Stroud (more on him below), eliminating Houston and advancing to the next round.
In a wild turn of events, almost immediately after their win, Broncos HC Sean Payton announced that Bo Nix broke a bone in his ankle late in the game and will miss the remainder of the playoffs. What a brutal blow after a great moment.
There are only three games left in the season, and we’re dangerously close to a Jarrett Stidham vs. Sam Darnold (or worse, Drew Lock) Super Bowl. Help us, Matthew Stafford and Drake Maye; you are our only hope.
Gotta love the playoffs!
And through it all, I looked through a dynasty fantasy football lens to bring you up to date on the impact these games have. This series will continue through the Super Bowl, so stay tuned for dynasty coverage each week.
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Dynasty Fantasy Football Risers
RB Kenneth Walker, Seahawks
So…this is what Kenneth Walker looks like without Zach Charbonnet stealing the goal line carries. He took over the workload after Charbonnet went down early against San Francisco and looked like the stallion we were promised all along. For Walker managers, it was wonderful to see.
Just two weeks after averaging 6.1 yards per carry against the 49ers in the regular-season finale, Walker reached that exact goal again Saturday night. This time he paced the 49ers for 116 yards on 19 carries and finished with a hat trick of touchdowns. He also racked up 29 receiving yards on three catches. No TD vultures, just pure Walker domination.
Kenneth Walker performance vs. 49ers
Reports on Monday announced that Charbonnet had a torn ACL and will require surgery. That now puts his entire 2026 campaign in doubt. More importantly, Walker now has a chance to carry the load again in the NFC Championship, and possibly the Super Bowl, if the Seahawks advance.
It will be an interesting offseason for Walker. He will become an unrestricted free agent and will be one of the top options available for teams looking to upgrade their RB rooms. He has a chance to make a lot of money in the coming months if he continues to produce like he has over the last four games.
But from a fantasy perspective, it’s been a frustrating 2025 for Walker. Seattle’s emphasis on distributing the workload led to inconsistency and weekly headaches for fantasy managers. Both backs averaged 11.3 PPR points per game and finished barely within RB2 territory in terms of total points – Walker was RB22, Charbonnet RB24. However, the efficiency stats for Walker point to an elite playmaker:
Kenneth Walker’s 2025 efficiency statistics
However, smart dynasty fantasy football managers took advantage of this frustrating split to acquire both players at a discount. Charbonnet’s managers have clearly been hit by the injury news, but Walker’s prospects are very bright at the moment. Even after Saturday night’s explosion, I would still buy Walker if the price is right. I’d be comfortable sending a first-rounder in mid-2026 in hopes he ends up with a team willing to give him the bulk of the backfield work. After all, he won’t turn 26 until October and is entering his second season in the 1,000 meters.
There is still a buying window, but it will tighten when it comes out again this week, so act quickly.
TE Dalton Kincaid, Bills
It was a frustrating end to the season for Buffalo, but there is at least one bright spot for 2026: Dalton Kincaid finally looks like the first-round talent they drafted three years ago. Against Denver’s tough defense, Kincaid was a key bright spot and reliable chain mover for QB Josh Allen. He finished as Buffalo’s leading receiver, catching all six targets for 83 yards and a score.
That performance came just a week after Kincaid caught three passes for 28 yards and found the end zone in the Wild Card round. Back-to-back games with a TD and double-digit fantasy points – not a bad way to enter the offseason.
Advanced analytics from Dalton Kincaid
Can we get this guy any more targets? Hamstring, knee and oblique injuries limited him to just twelve games in the regular season, but even when healthy, Kincaid’s usage was light. He averaged just 4.1 goals per game (TE30). Despite the limited options, he made them count. Kincaid led all TEs in the following efficiency and production metrics:
- Yards per route (3.02)
- First downs per route (0.143)
- Fantasy points per route traveled (0.67)
- Yards per target (11.7)
- QB Rating Per Target (149.2)
- Target percentage (25.9%)
- Deep target share (16.9%)
- Explosive plays (13)
Seems pretty good to me. Being the TE1 in eight categories is no coincidence. Kincaid has real talent; he’s just being held back by injuries and low volume. Throwing him the ball seven to eight times a game could only help Buffalo’s offense, it seems. Hopefully the bills make a concerted effort to do that.
From a dynasty fantasy football lens, I would obviously want to buy based on those underlying metrics. If you can pick it in the 1.10-2.02 range, I think that’s a win. Or maybe a few expected mid-to-late seconders can get the job done.
It’s never a bad idea to bet on talent and elite efficiency. Kincaid had both this season and ended on a high note on Saturday.
Dynasty Fantasy Football Fallers
QB CJ Stroud, Texans
It would be hard to find a worse two-game stretch in the playoffs from a quarterback. In the Wild Card against Pittsburgh, it almost didn’t matter that CJ Stroud hardly looked like anyone who had ever played with a football before. Houston’s defense completely suffocated the Steelers, holding them to six points while scoring twice off turnovers. They won despite Stroud, who fumbled the ball five times (losing two) and threw an interception.
Fast forward to last Sunday against New England, and Stroud somehow looked worse. He kept the ball this time, but threw four interceptions in the first half that the Texans simply couldn’t recover from. I understand the snow and cold were factors, but there’s no sugar-coating it: Stroud was brutal. He finished 20 of 47 for 212 yards with one touchdown and the aforementioned four picks.
CJ Stroud’s performance vs. the Patriots
How bad was it? Stroud is the first player in NFL history with more than five interceptions and more than five fumbles in a single postseason. That he managed to do this in just two games is astonishing. Really, it was in six quarters, because he somehow didn’t turn the ball over in the second half during the loss to the Patriots.
This isn’t a record that any player wants to have their name associated with, and it honestly casts some doubt on Stroud’s future in Houston. He is far from the same guy who won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023. Dating back to the start of the 2024 season, if you include his four playoff games, Stroud has just 42 TD passes against 26 interceptions. That won’t be enough, especially when Houston rolls out a championship-caliber defense.
I’ve been preaching about continuing with Stroud in the dynasty for a while now. The problem now is timing. It will be difficult to gain market value after this recent disaster class. Maybe let things simmer and investigate him later in the offseason.
Even assuming he retains a starting job in the future, Stroud simply isn’t a difference-maker in fantasy. He finished 2024 as the QB28, averaged 13.7 fantasy points per game; he improved only marginally in 2025 to 15.5 PPG, good for QB20. That is replacement level production, even in Superflex.
Get away while you can. Stroud won’t be around much longer in 2026 if this level of play continues, and sooner or later his value will plummet.
RB Woody Marks, Texans
I’m staying here with the Texans – what a difference a week makes. Against the Steelers, rookie Woody Marks had 19 carries and surpassed the century mark for the first time as a pro, finishing with 112 rushing yards and a TD.
Unfortunately, the production didn’t stick and Marks appeared in the Divisional Round against the Patriots. Just six days after averaging 5.9 yards per carry, he averaged a paltry 1.2 YPC on Sunday. He finished the day with just 17 yards on 14 carries, with a fumble to boot. Yes.
That putrid performance caps off an interesting, if inefficient, first year for Marks. With Joe Mixon nowhere to be found due to a foot injury and Nick Chubb clearly no longer able to carry the load, Marks was cast in a starring role sooner than many expected. He recorded 220 touches in the regular season and finished with 911 yards and five touchdowns.
But Marks isn’t really built to be an early down back, and it showed. He spent quite a bit of time in the blue medical tent during several matches and often looked like a player masquerading as a lead back when he was better suited as a change-of-pace option.
Woody Marks’ EPX rating
Look at his college profile and you’ll see why that makes sense. Marks was a productive pass-catcher out of the backfield, hauling in 261 passes over five seasons at Mississippi St and USC. It would be wise for the Texans to lean on those skills, especially after Marks averaged just 3.6 YPC in 2025. With six picks in the first four rounds of the upcoming NFL Draft, I expect Houston to address the RB position and expand their room.
Therefore, if you have someone close to you who is excited about Marks’ future and willing to pay a decent price, it may be time to cut ties. Marks is already 25 years old and could be a viable RB2 or flex option next year, but the ceiling here is much lower than it first appears.
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Wolf Trelles-Heard is a fantasy football contributor for PlayerProfiler. Find him at X on @DynastyFFWolf.
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