Fantasy Football Week 18 WR Preview: Waiver adds, DFS plays, stats to know and more

No position is easy to project in Week 18, but wide receiver might be the most difficult. That's because to project wide receivers you need to have a good idea about the ability of their quarterback, the ability of the receiver, and most importantly, the projected volume. For many of the leagues top offenses we well be flying blind in that regard.

As of Tuesday morning we don't expect much from starters on the 49ers, Ravens, Chiefs, Rams, or Browns. But what exactly does that mean? Certainly we don't *think* we'll see much of Zay Flowers, Rashee Rice, or Puka Nacua. But what about Rashod Bateman, Justin Watson, or Tutu Atwell? Those tertiary wide receivers could be number one options this week, or they could spend a lot of time on the sideline. 

For now, I'm projecting the No. 1 and No. 2 options for these teams sitting out but everyone else playing. But we will get a lot of new information in the next five days. I often say that rankings on Tuesday don't mean much, but they mean even less this week. Make sure check back often as we do the best we can to project the least predictable week of the season.

You can find more in my weekly projections over at SportsLine. Now here is the rest of the Week 18 WR Preview:

Week 18 WR Preview

Who's Out

Numbers to Know

Matchups That Matter

Waiver Wire Targets

DFS Plays

Projections

WR Preview

Who's Out

The following players are not being projected to play Week 18 at this time. Here's what it means:

Puka Nacua WR

LAR L.A. Rams • #17
Age: 22 • Experience: 2 yrs.

We expect the Rams to rest their starters. I am projecting Demarcus Robinson and Tutu Atwell as the Rams top two receivers.

Rashee Rice WR

KC Kansas City • #4
Age: 24 • Experience: 2 yrs.

We expect the Chiefs to rest their starters. I am projecting Justin Watson and Marquez Valdes-Scantling as the Chiefs top two wide receivers.

Zay Flowers WR

BAL Baltimore • #4
Age: 23 • Experience: 2 yrs.

We expect the Ravens to rest their starters. I am projecting Rashod Bateman and Nelson Agholor as the Ravens top two receivers.

Amari Cooper WR

CLE Cleveland • #2
Age: 29 • Experience: 10 yrs.

I am projecting Cedric Tillman and David Bell as the top two receivers for the Browns.

Deebo Samuel WR

SF San Francisco • #19
Age: 28 • Experience: 6 yrs.

I am projecting Chris Conley and Ronnie Bell as the top two receivers for the 49ers.

WR Preview

Numbers to Know

• 250,000 -- DeAndre Hopkins could earn $250,000 each for hitting the following marks in Week 18: Seven receptions, 39 receiving yards, two touchdowns.
• 12.4 -- Demarcus Robinson has scored at least 12.4 PPR Fantasy points in five straight games for the Rams.
• 283 -- Tyreek Hill needs 283 yards to reach his stated goal of 2,000 yards this season. So you're saying there's a chance.
• 33 -- Adam Thielen is the ninth player ever to have 100 catches and 1,000 receiving yards in a season at Age 33 or older.
• 12.5 -- CeeDee Lamb leads Tyreek Hill by 12.5 PPR Fantasy points for WR1 overall on the season. We expect them both to be full gos in Week 18.
• 326 -- George Pickens has 326 receiving yards in his last two games combined with Mason Rudolph.

WR Preview

Matchups that matter

Matchups that matter

Wan'Dale Robinson WR

NYG N.Y. Giants • #17
Age: 23 • Experience: 3 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs PHI PHI -5 O/U 41

OPP VS WR 12th

PROJ PTS 9.9

WR RNK 29th

YTD Stats
REC 55	TAR 72	REYDS 440	TD 2	FPTS/G 8.6

Brandin Cooks WR

DAL Dallas • #3
Age: 30 • Experience: 11 year

Weekly Breakdown

@ WAS DAL -13 O/U 45.5

OPP VS WR 20th

PROJ PTS 11.3

WR RNK 31st

YTD Stats
REC 48	TAR 73	REYDS 618	TD 7	FPTS/G 10.5

Adam Thielen WR

CAR Carolina • #19
Age: 33 • Experience: 11 year

Weekly Breakdown

vs TB TB -5.5 O/U 37.5

OPP VS WR 24th

PROJ PTS 11.3

WR RNK 21st

YTD Stats
REC 101	TAR 134	REYDS 1002	TD 4	FPTS/G 14.2

WR Preview

Waiver Wire Targets

Week 17 Adds (WR Preview)

Demarcus Robinson WR

LAR L.A. Rams • #15
Age: 29 • Experience: 9 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ SF SF -3 O/U 42.5

OPP VS WR 11th

WR RNK 24th

ROSTERED 29%

YTD Stats
REC 26	TAR 39	REYDS 371	TD 4	FPTS/G 5.8

Assuming both Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp are out then Robinson could absolutely be the team's No. 1 wide receiver and see 10-plus targets. The only real concerns are that he'll be catching passes from Carson Wentz and he's been so good lately that the Rams might rest him too. He's averaged 13.4 PPR FPPG since Week 12, which makes him a Fantasy WR3 in that stretch.

Wan'Dale Robinson WR

NYG N.Y. Giants • #17
Age: 23 • Experience: 3 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs PHI PHI -5 O/U 41

OPP VS WR 9th

WR RNK 29th

ROSTERED 19%

YTD Stats
REC 55	TAR 72	REYDS 440	TD 2	FPTS/G 8.6

Robinson has at least seven targets in three of his last four games and faces an Eagles defense that hasn't been able to stop anyone lately. Ten wide receivers have scored at least 12 PPR Fantasy points against them in their last five games.

WR Preview

DFS Plays

Top DFS Play (WR Preview)

CeeDee Lamb WR

DAL Dallas • #88
Age: 25 • Experience: 5 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

@ WAS DAL -13 O/U 45.5

OPP VS WR 3rd

PROJ PTS 22.2

WR RNK 1st

YTD Stats
REC 122	TAR 168	REYDS 1651	TD 12	FPTS/G 23

Lamb is on a remarkable heater to finish the season. He's scored a touchdown in eight straight games and just hung 42 PPR Fantasy points on the Detroit Lions. The Commanders haven't covered anyone all season, though they did hold Lamb to a paltry 15.3 Fantasy points on Thanksgiving. He's scored more than that in every game since. Stack him with Dak in cash games, there's plenty of value everywhere else.

Contrarian DFS Play (WR Preview)

Curtis Samuel WR

BUF Buffalo • #4
Age: 27 • Experience: 8 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

vs DAL DAL -13 O/U 45.5

OPP VS WR 20th

PROJ PTS 10.8

WR RNK 36th

YTD Stats
REC 60	TAR 87	REYDS 598	TD 5	FPTS/G 10.1

Samuel is coming off of back-to-back duds which is reflected in his price and I would expect it will also be reflected in his roster rate. He's also shown big upside this season, including nine catches for 100 yards the last time he faced the Cowboys. He saw a season-high 12 targets in that game.

WR Preview

Heath's Projections

My full set of Week 18 Fantasy Football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 17. Projected stats for all starting quarterbacks are available at Sportsline.