Welcome to the Best Week 18 DFS Fantasy Football Lineup with These NFL All-Star Players!
Ah, Week 18—the one week of the NFL season that’s simultaneously most like a playoff week and a preseason week. Parity reigns in the NFL this year, so there’s only one game with playoff stakes for both teams. Of course, that game (Minnesota at Detroit) got flexed to Sunday night, so it only counts on one site. But there’s still going to be DFS and there’s still going to be edges to exploit, so let’s dig in and find the best Week 18 plays!
Before we get into the multi-site plays, let’s state the obvious. Literally, every player in the aforementioned Sunday Night game is in play on FanDuel. The game has a 56-point total and massive playoff implications. They won’t necessarily be cheap, or even reasonably priced for that matter, but they’re all options for FanDuel. Jahmyr Gibbs ($8800, 14.7%) may be mandatory at his cost.
Top Week 18 DFS Fantasy Football Picks
Quarterback
There are two top-end options at Quarterback this week, and since one was featured last week, the other gets the thumbnail this week. The two chalk plays this week will be Baker Mayfield ($8400, 14% of available salary on FanDuel; $7000, 14% of salary on DraftKings) and Jayden Daniels ($8700, 14.5% on FD; $7800, 15.6% on DK). With so many cheap options this week due to top players resting for playoff teams, you can and should pay up for the scarce positions (Quarterback and Tight End) this week. Since they both get elite matchups and both teams have the motivation to win, they’re the top plays of the week.
If you insist on being a contrarian (i.e. cheap, not that there’s anything wrong with that), Joshua Dobbs ($6000, 10% on FD; $4000, 8% on DK) gets the start for the San Francisco 49ers this week. The Niners looked like they wanted to go out with a bang on Monday Night against Detroit and Arizona provides a soft landing spot and a revenge game narrative. Of course, half the league is a revenge narrative for Josh Dobbs, but still.
Running Back
The top Running Back that will be available on both sites is Bijan Robinson ($9200, 15.3% on FanDuel; $8500, 17% on DK). He’s white hot, averaging 21.6 half-PPR points the last five weeks, and the team still has a chance at the playoffs with a win. And he gets Carolina, the juiciest defense to attack this week.
You don’t want to get too cute when looking for pay-down options. Find guys who will definitely get snaps. My favorite is Blake Corum ($5500, 9.2% on FD; $5600, 11.2% on DK). Sean McVay has said he’s resting his starters *and* is looking forward to seeing Corum in a full-time role. Excuse me while I go wipe up my drool.
Wide ReceiverÂ
It’s all about Mike Evans ($8900, 14.8% on FD; $8000, 16% on DK) this week. He’s still chasing his 1000-yard season and the Bucs are in a win-and-in spot. He’s also so obvious I feel like I need to add another top play. Brian Thomas, Jr. ($8000, 13.3% on FD; $7300, 14.6% on DK) is just as smash. The last time the Jags and Colts hooked up, they put up 71 points and BTJ went for 5/122/1. He’s also on a Bijan-level heater, averaging 25.9 half-PPR points in the last three weeks.
For a slightly less expensive option, you can look to Jauan Jennings ($6800, 11.3% on FD; $5800, 11.6% on DK). He was targeted heavily by his former college teammate (shower narrative alert!) Joshua Dobbs when the latter entered the game on Monday Night.
Tight End
Tight End is pretty gross once you get south of Brock Bowers ($7300, 12.2% on FD; $6600, 13.2% on DK) and Trey McBride ($7400, 12.3% on FD; $6500, 13% on DK). I’m not messing around in the slop this week. Bowers needs nine catches to break Zach Ertz‘s record for receptions by a Tight End in a season. That motivation is enough to give him a slight lean over McBride.
Defense
Defense is the Easy Button in Week 18. Find a cheap one playing against a bad backup Quarterback and roll with it. If the Chargers announce they’re resting their starters, the Raiders ($3300, 5.5% on FD; $2300, 4.6% on DK) are in play. If Jim Harbaugh decides to go for the win (for whatever reason), I’m looking at the Patriots ($3300, 5.5% on FD; $2600, 5.2% on DK) against the Mitch Trubisky-“led” Bills.
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Thank you for reading Joel’s Best Week 18 DFS Fantasy Football Picks. Be sure to catch next week’s NFL All-Star Lineup! Joel will line up another winning combination with expert insight and analysis. You can find and follow @theJoelWirth on X and BlueSky for more of his great content!
