By Winsto (01/0/2024)
If you are reading this, then you are probably one of the many who are willing to embrace the fantasy football madness that is Week 18 in the NFL. I applaud you! I wonder how many leagues do take the fantasy football season all the way to the end. I personally think that if you are in leagues in which championships are decided by final records as opposed to playoffs, then why not? We only have 18 weeks in a year to play fantasy football. Why not take advantage of all of those weeks as opposed to shorting us fantasy enthusiasts by one week? If you are in leagues in which you do have playoffs and your championship is indeed Week 18, then I very impressed by your willingness to take the madness of fantasy to a whole new level!
1. Week 18 of this season will see several playoff-bound teams have nothing to play for: Baltimore, Kansas City, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Los Angelas Rams. What does this mean? Starters will play limited amounts if not at all. The question is then who WILL play?
2. Could Melvin Gordon III (or even a recently signed Dalvin Cook) get some run for Baltimore? It would be hard to trust either, honestly.
3. For Kansas City, I would avoid any of the skill position back-ups here. My best guess is La’Mical Perine could see as much action as Clyde Edwards-Helaire, if not more.
4. I do wonder if Pierre Strong Jr. could be a sneaky play for Cleveland against Cincinatti? Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt will most likely see little to no action. I could see Strong Jr. Having a decent game. He is my Hail Mary play of the week!
5. I also wonder how San Francisco will handle its backfield. With Christian McCaffrey already ruled out, the next man on the depth chart is Elijah Mitchell. However, given his durability issues, Jordan Mason may see the most touches here. But, considering Mitchell’s durability issues, I would “think” that Mason is about as valuable a back-up at Mitchell, thus I would not be surprised to see Tyrion Davis-Price get a good bit of time. I guess what I am saying here is unless we find out concrete information regarding who is going to get the snaps right before kick-off, then I would be hard pressed to trust any of the three. If I HAD to put them in order, however, I think I may go Davis-Price, Mason, and then Mitchell.
6. As for the Rams, Sean McVay has stated that Royce Freeman, Ronnie Rivers, and Zach Evans will all see action against San Francisco. This is a situation I would also avoid.
7. And then there are Philadelphia and Detroit. Both teams could improve their playoff seeding with some help. For Philadelphia, it needs Dallas to lose to Washington to jump from the 5 seed to the 2 seed; however, Dallas is favored by 13 points. For Detroit, who could move from the 3 seed to the 2 seed, they also need Dallas to lose but also Philadelphia to lose to the New York Giants, who are a 5.5 point underdog. The interesting thing about these scenarios are that Detroit plays in the early window of afternoon games while Philadelphia and Dallas play in the later window. Thus, Detroit will not be scoreboard watching, but Philadelphia could be. Even though we are only talking about moving from the 3 seed to the 2 seed, Detroit Head Coach Dan Campbell has already suggested that he is treating Week 18’s game against Minnesota as any other game, so I “think” I would trust Detroit’s skill position players here. Given the absence of many fantasy relevant players for Week 18, we should have a solid degree of confidence in Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, David Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Sam LaPorta. As for Philadelphia, there is a real chance that they may pull their starters if they are scoreboard watching and see Dallas jumping out to a big lead. Be mindful of this when starting Jalen Hurts, A. J. Brown, D’Andre Swift, and Dallas Goedert—DeVonta Smith has already been ruled OUT.
8. Thus, with all of this uncertainty, you should consider leaning on players on teams who are playing for something (Miami, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Houston, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Green Bay, Seattle, New Orleans, Minnesota, and Atlanta) or on teams who are already eliminated but are still playing their starters. There is simply more predictability with these teams. In addition, you also have to consider that those playoff bound teams are not just going to rest skill position players, but other players as well. Thus, it is not like the back-ups are stepping into the scenario as the starters, as there will be back-up offensive linemen as well as back-up QBs.
9. I do wonder how Tyrod Taylor and Nick Mullens will fare in Week 18, as one or both could be quite useful if you looking for a QB replacement for QBs already ruled out. Both have favorable matchups.
10. I also wonder if Cincinatti may give Chase Brown a longer look in Week 18 against Cleveland. There is a very strong chance that Joe Mixon will not be back with the team next season. Brown is an interesting and electric player. It would make sense for the coaching staff to give Brown a significant increase in snaps to get a better look at him, as they head into the offseason. He could also be a sneaky play.
11. Speaking of sneaky plays, I wonder how much truth there is to the rumors that Jaleel McLaughlin will see more work in Week 18 against Las Vegas. It would make sense for Sean Payton to also see what McLaughlin can do with more snaps. He is averaging 2 more yards a carry than Javonte Williams (5.6 versus 3.6). I could see McLaughlin also being solid play here.
12. And finally…, I wonder what would happen if a pickle won a fantasy football league. I guess it would just try to relish the moment.
Good luck to you in Week 18!