Fantasy Football Week 18: Waiver wire pickups for the wildest week

In recognition of the fact that a small percentage of fantasy football managers are absolute gluttons for punishment who insist on crowning a league champion in the most chaotic week of the NFL season, today we reluctantly present waiver options for Week 18. All players listed below are available in at least 50% of Yahoo leagues.

While we do not officially recognize the current week as an appropriate time to settle league titles, we are committed to assisting you in your pursuit of a title. Several of the NFL’s elite teams will be resting essential personnel ahead of the playoffs, so anyone still active in a season-long fantasy league surely has some work to do.

Quarterbacks

Russell Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers (44% rostered)

Wilson is coming off one of his uglier passing lines of the season in the loss to Kansas City (205-0-1), although he managed to deliver a tolerable fantasy total thanks to 55 rushing yards, with a short TD included. He now has George Pickens back in the receiving mix and a favorable matchup ahead with Cincinnati’s dreadful defense. The Bengals have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, and they surrendered an outrageous 414 yards and three scores to Wilson himself back in Week 13.

Michael Penix Jr., Atlanta Falcons (13%)

Penix is heading into a must-win matchup against Carolina, a team that just allowed 48 points and 551 total yards to the Buccaneers. So yeah, he’s in a friendly spot. Penix is also coming off a 223-yard performance on the road against Washington in which he directed a late 12-play game-tying drive, punctuated by this dart to Kyle Pitts:

The rookie has a big arm and a talented receiving corps at his disposal. Atlanta also has no lack of motivation, with the division title still unsettled. In the regular season’s final week, it’s comforting to know that your fantasy QB actually has something meaningful on the line.

Mac Jones, Jacksonville Jaguars (3%)

Jones has been a functional-if-not-dazzling quarterback in recent weeks, tossing five touchdown passes over his last three games. Four of those TDs belong to Brian Thomas Jr., who has finally emerged as the centerpiece of Jacksonville’s passing offense. Jones and his Jaguars conclude their season with a trip to Indianapolis to face a defense that was just humiliated by Drew Lock and the Giants. It’s not unreasonable to expect another multi-score effort.

(Honestly, if you signed up for a league that runs through Week 18, you deserve the “Mac Jones or Aidan O’Connell or Drew Lock?” decision that you are now facing. You will receive no sympathy around here.)

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Running Backs

Ray Davis, Buffalo Bills (18%)

With their postseason position locked in, the Bills are likely to rest all essential starting skill players. Assuming we don’t see much of James Cook against the Pats on Sunday, Davis could be in line for a beefy workload against a run defense that ranks in the bottom-third of the league, allowing 131.4 YPG and 4.4 YPC.

We don’t have to speculate about what Davis is capable of accomplishing in a featured role, because we saw it back in Week 6 against the Jets — and it was spectacular. That week, the rookie converted 23 touches into 152 scrimmage yards, with receiving highlights included:

If Davis sees double-digit touches on Sunday, he’s a near-lock to deliver a useful fantasy total.

Khalil Herbert, Cincinnati Bengals (7%)

Chase Brown suffered a late high-ankle injury on Saturday, leaving Herbert as Cincinnati’s lead back. He’s had only a minimal role behind Brown to this point, but his rushing services are now urgently needed. Herbert has averaged 4.8 YPC over his four NFL seasons, so he certainly has some juice. He’s not quite an all-purpose dynamic receiving threat like Brown, but he’s plenty effective. The Steelers are on deck, which is certainly not ideal, but there’s a clear chance Herbert is headed for a significant workload.

As of this writing, Brown has not been ruled out, but has also not been ruled in.

Ameer Abdullah, Las Vegas Raiders (35%)

Abdullah more than doubled-up Alexander Mattison’s touches on Sunday, delivering 115 yards on the ground and another 32 as a receiver. He’s drawn 17 targets over the past three weeks, so he was already an important weapon in the Raiders’ passing game. Abdullah is fully approved in PPR formats. He’ll wrap his season against the Chargers, a team that’s already clinched a playoff berth but is likely still positioning to face the Texans.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

Wan’Dale Robinson, New York Giants (31%)

Your fantasy championship will be so much sweeter if you manage to win it with Drew Lock’s No. 2 receiver in your lineup. Robinson has been targeted a whopping 38 times over his last four games and he’s coming off a week in which he caught five balls for 71 yards and a score.

New York finishes the season with a trip to Philly, which of course would be a daunting matchup at any other time. The Eagles have clinched the second seed in the NFC, however, and they can’t climb to No. 1, so they will almost certainly rest many of their key starters in the regular season finale. We might just get another noisy fantasy performance from Lock and friends. If that happens, Robinson should be involved in a meaningful way.

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Tennessee Titans (26%)

One of the strangest individual seasons in recent memory will conclude in Nashville on Sunday, as the Texans roll into town. Westbrook-Ikhine has somehow scored nine touchdowns this year on just 28 total receptions, a ratio that seems impossible. If you’re gonna have a reputation as an NFL player, touchdown-prone is a great choice. At this stage, it seems silly to forecast anything for this man other than his usual 2-catch, 33-yard, 1-TD stat line.

Fun fact: If you happen to play in a truly old school fantasy league — awarding points only for touchdowns, not for yardage or catches — Westbrook-Ikhine is the overall WR9 on the season.

Marvin Mims Jr., Denver Broncos (3%)

Mims was simply unreal against the Bengals, catching all eight of his targets for 103 yards and two scores. It’s never a surprise when Mims roasts defenders on a deep shot, as he did on Saturday. But it isn’t often that we see him Mossing two dudes in a contested situation:

The Broncos have ramped up Mims’ usage over the past two months, feeding him 4-5 targets each week, along with a handful of carries. It was only a matter of time before the talented playmaker broke out with a multi-score performance. Denver is facing a win-and-in scenario in Week 18 against Kansas City, so Sean Payton won’t be holding anything back.

Chig Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans (25%)

Surprisingly enough, Okonkwo has drawn 28 targets in his last three games. The spike in volume is of course related to gameflow in matchups with the Bengals, Colts and Jaguars, but it’s also a reflection of the team’s confidence in the third-year tight end. Okonkwo’s big-play ability has always been apparent, but he’s spent his career to this point as a supporting receiver tied to sketchy quarterbacks. When opportunity flows his way, however, he can get interesting.

You won’t find many tight ends on the wire who have averaged 9.3 chances per game over the past three weeks, so Okonkwo deserves a look.

Defenses

Atlanta Falcons (30%)

Atlanta’s defense has been entirely playoff-quality in recent weeks, delivering 21 sacks, 8 takeaways and 2 TDs over their last five games. This unit finishes up at home against Carolina in a must-win matchup, so another double-digit fantasy total is a strong possibility.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (45%)

By now, you are no doubt aware that Tampa Bay’s defense is actually among the most generous in the league and untrustworthy in fantasy under normal circumstances. But they are also headed into a gotta-have-it game at home, facing the smoldering ruins of the 2024 New Orleans Saints. Spencer Rattler is coming off a two-interception game against the Raiders and his team is running dangerously low on offensive playmakers.

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