Administrator’s Note: From time to time, we recieve posts from people who would like to be quest bloggers on FantasyFootballBlog.net.  If the guest post is up to our editorial standards, we’ll post it.  So, here is our first guest blogger Kevin English.

Every NFL fan knows how hyper-popular fantasy football is during the regular season.  But in recent years, postseason fantasy contests have boomed. 

Some of these leagues require you to submit lineups each week leading up to the Super Bowl.  Others test how well you can project games, allowing you to pick players prior to Wild Card weekend, and roll with them throughout the postseason.  For example, if you pick Houston’s Arian Foster and he loses Saturday against Cincinnati, tough luck. You’ll only get one week’s worth of numbers out of him.

While a monster day from Foster certainly wouldn’t be a shock – he finished 2011 5^th in rushing – the safe way to approach this format is to pick players who you believe will make the deepest postseason run. 

Sounds simple enough, right?

Well, you’ll have to make decisions like this: Should I fall for Foster’s sky-high upside, and risk a one-and-done showing?  Or should I pick up a safer play in, say, Pittsburgh’s Isaac Redman, a guy likely to see 15-20 touches with Rashard Mendenhall out.  Oh, and he’s facing a slumping Broncos team that the Steelers should easily handle, thereby giving him a potential one game edge over Foster. 

Not so simple after all. 

As with any fantasy league, be sure to double and triple check scoring rules and starting requirements. 

With that said, I’ll go through my top plays at each position (QB, RB, WR, TE) for leagues that require you to set a one-time lineup.

Quarterbacks

1. Drew Brees

2. Aaron Rodgers

3. Tom Brady

Nothing fancy here.  Brees playing in the Wild Card round against a terrible Lions secondary secures his position at #1…Rodgers and Brady – both on byes – aren’t far behind. 

Running Backs

1. Ray Rice

2. Arian Foster

3. Isaac Redman

4. Darren Sproles

5. Frank Gore

With back to back 25+ touch outings to end the season, Rice will have plenty of opportunities to produce.  Baltimore is primed for a Super Bowl run, too…Back to the Foster-Redman dilemma.  This one is pretty much a toss up to me, but I’m leaning towards Foster’s big-play ability.  He’ll be busy against the Bengals, and Andre Johnson’s presence will allow for more running room.  Redman has plenty of power, but offers little playmaking talent, and will rely on a red zone TD for fantasy production.  Pittsburgh’s lack of momentum and banged up roster are worrisome.

Wide Recievers

1. Marques Colston

2. Jordy Nelson

3. Victor Cruz

4. Wes Welker

5. Mike Wallace

You could make the case for Nelson at #1, despite the expected return of Greg Jennings (knee).   To me, Jennings will be tough to trust after being out for about a month…I like the Giants at home over Atlanta, which explains why you won’t find Roddy White or Julio Jones cracking the top-5…Cruz is arguably the hottest WR league-wide.

Tight Ends

1. Jimmy Graham

2. Rob Gronkowski

3. Jermichael Finley

Graham is a no-brainer atop the TE ranks…Finley comes into the playoffs cold, but I think he catches fire over the next month as Green Bay makes a Super Bowl push…Hernandez is a tempting option too with 120+ yards in 2 of his last 3 games.

That’s all folks. Good luck in the postseason!

Kevin English is a blog contributor for Gold Star Games, a one-stop-shop for NFL tailgate gear and more.