Everyone Is Getting Chopped ... Not Just Head Coaches
In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Xfinity ...
Jonathan Gannon, Pete Carroll, Kevin Stefanski and Raheem Morris all got the blade in the past 36 hours, but NFL coaches aren’t the only ones on the chopping block right now …
That’s right, Guillotine Leagues™ playoff drafts are back and ready to ruthlessly chop one opponent each week until a victor is crowned in the Super Bowl.
Here’s everything you need to know about our “Guilloteenie” leagues …
🤏 Is it really called “Guilloteenie”? Yes, just embrace it. It was an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, Guilloteenie that she played for the first time today …
✍️ How does it work? I’ll first refer you to Jake’s full strategy guide (see below), but the TLDR is that you do a draft with four other opponents where you select players on playoff teams and the lowest-scoring team is chopped each week until one remains. Similar to our season-long version, the roster of a chopped team is placed on the waiver wire for the remaining managers to vulture.
🔮 What is the optimal strategy? Survive and advance, baby. There is no difference between finishing first or second-to-last each week; just don’t be last. You’ll have to draft a lineup (1QB, 2RB, 2 WR, 1 TE and 2 FLEX) that projects strongly each and every week.
IMPORTANT NOTE: There is no bench in Guilloteenies—everyone starts. So being clever and drafting JSN this week means you get a 0 in one of your precious spots (but also means you don’t need to spend FAAB on him next week … if you survive!)
🤯 Pete, you are a brilliant fantasy mind, do you have any tips for me? Well, since you flattered me …
Don’t worry too much about the playoff bracket or which team is going far. You can always add players on the wire. Instead, think about this contest like a string of individual DFS contests where the goal is simply to score the most points on a given week. I’ll be referencing our projections to see who is likely to score the most points in the Wildcard round.
George Kittleor bust. This is an extremely gross postseason for TEs, but everyone will need to start one each week. Kittle will project the best of all the TEs any week he’s playing. If you get boxed out, Dalton Schultz and Colston Loveland would be my next two favorites.
Avoid stacking. Contrary to other playoff best ball formats, you don’t want to overload on a single team. You are opening yourself up to too much downside risk if the entire squad flops. Instead, mix and match from various teams/games, so you are resilient.
🤑 How much can I win? There are contests at various price points (free, $10, $30, $50), with first place in a $50 double chop getting $300. We pay out 100% of entry fees, which means we host the contest for free.
🤝 I’m feeling overwhelmed, please hold my hand. Sure, here are some handcrafted rankings you can use to draft in these contests. In addition, be sure to stay tuned to our YouTube channel, where we’ll be streaming drafts all week. And the CHOP podcast will have more Guilloteenie strategy talk.
Ready to keep playing fantasy throughout the playoffs? Then you’ll need the Xfinity Best Projections to see how many fantasy points your players will produce in the most important games. Drake Maye has a high ceiling against the Chargers this week, but don’t stop at that. You can enjoy our excellent content AND the projections tool all at the low price of $0.00, thank you to Xfinity. Go now! Run some players through! Enjoy the tool! And get that win!!
Imagine all your football, all in one place. Easy. Xfinity. Imagine That.
Happy Postseason, Guillotine Leaguers! We’ve all had a full week to relish in our regular season Guillotine Leagues™ championships, collecting first-place payouts and trash-talking your leaguemates. Now, we look ahead to postseason Guillotine League action and further domination over our friends, family members, coworkers and colleagues.
In this column, I, Jake Nagy, will be providing general strategy as we prepare for our Playoff Guilloteenie drafts. I’ll also provide an example draft based on my own Playoff Guilloteenie rankings, which can give you an idea of different team-building outcomes. Also, be sure to check out the latest Chop Podcast, during which Brian Johnson & Matthew Freedman provide an excellent breakdown of the format & its strategies.
2026 Guilloteenie Strategy Nuggets
The first key thing to note about the Playoff Guilloteenie format is that there are no reserves. You’ll only draft a starting lineup of eight players as outlined above. For our regular-season winners, it’s possible that you won by hoarding all of the best players, even if that meant leaving them on your bench. That strategy won’t fly here, so don’t try any Bully Tight End or other similar strategies.
As such, only 40 players will be drafted in a standard five-team league. Unlike a standard regular-season Guillotine League, you won’t need to start Elic Ayomanor for the first six weeks of the season. You’re going to have good players on good teams throughout your roster.
Some readers may be familiar with other playoff fantasy formats, such as playoff best ball. The Playoff Guilloteenie requires the exact opposite mindset. For starters, you don’t need to worry about optimizing your roster with players that have the best chance to make the Super Bowl. Each week you survive, you will have an opportunity to improve your roster, scooping up the best players from the roster that just got cut and that will be playing the following week. However, this doesn’t mean you can turn two blind eyes to future matchups and the potential for players to advance; just one. I wouldn’t recommend filling your roster with a bunch of Panthers players. If you were planning on doing this, I think we’d better find you a new hobby.
If you read any of our in-season strategy columns or listened to the CHOP Podcast, you know that we at Fantasy Life are allergic to bye weeks. Taking an automatic zero in your lineup is as surefire a way to get chopped as any. Of course, in the playoffs, two teams will be on bye during Wild Card weekend: the Seahawks and Broncos. The primary advantage to drafting these players is that you won’t need to spend FAAB to acquire them for the Divisional Round and onward. However, I don’t believe that advantage is worth the guaranteed zero for any fantasy-relevant players on any of those two teams, save for one exception: Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
For position-specific advice, the only positional advantages to be found are at the quarterback and tight end positions. Remember, there are only five teams in a standard Playoff Guilloteenie, so only five quarterbacks and five tight ends need to be drafted. Over the 2026 season, Josh Allen scored over 40 more points than the next Playoff Guilloteenie quarterback, Drake Maye. Allen is the only quarterback who offers both the passing and rushing upside that makes him worth a high pick. If you don’t draft Allen, I’d recommend punting the position to the later rounds. This same mindset applies to George Kittle and the rest of the tight end position. Either spend that high pick on Kittle, or punt to the late rounds. If you’re playing in a Double Chop league, you can draft the next tier of quarterbacks and tight ends a little earlier.
