Welcome to what should be a wild, wild Week 18! In almost every week of the NFL season, great value options step up at wide receiver, and in Week 18, there are usually even more fantasy football sleepers. Many teams are resting their regular starters for the playoffs or trying to get a look at potential options who they can count on in the future. Those situations often give players increased opportunities to step up and be great fantasy contributors for however you play fantasy football in Week 18.
While it’s almost a sure thing that there will be great value plays at the position, it’s tricky to predict exactly where they will come from. The unpredictability of the week makes for some wild ownership percentages and big booms or busts. To help you navigate the uncertain waters of Week 18, I’ve identified five fantasy football sleepers at receiver who I think can step up with big Week 18’s.
Throughout the season, I’ve been making these fantasy football sleeper picks at wide receiver on Saturday. Last week I selected Jalen Tolbert ($4,000; 12 FPTS), Tre Tucker ($3,900; 10.9 FPTS), Dontayvion Wicks ($4,100; 8.3 FPTS), Kevin Austin Jr. ($3,100; 3.3 FPTS) and Ryan Miller ($3,000; 4.6 FPTS).
On the first Sunday of 2025 and the last week of the regular season, the NFL has 13 games on the main fantasy football slate, and the biggest DFS tournament is the NFL $2.25M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]. For this post, I’ll keep my fantasy football sleepers to that 26-team player pool and include players salaries in that contest.
Even though these fantasy football sleepers are a little off the radar, I love the upside they bring at their DFS salary. If you’re playing in a season-long league that uses Week 18, these options also make sense as potential plays off the waiver wire.
Here are my top five sleepers at WR for Week 18:
Jalen Coker, Carolina Panthers ($4,100)
The Panthers’ offense has been much better since Bryce Young ($5,800)‘s return to the starting lineup. Until last week when they were blown out by the Bucs, they were competitive in most games. Adam Thielen ($6,200) has been the team’s top option, and Xavier Legette ($4,200) continues to struggle with drops. Legette had nine targets last week but finished with five catches for 28 yards. Coker out-produced him on just two targets, snagging both for 35 yards.
In Week 16, Legette was sidelined by hip and wrist injuries and was limited in practice this week with the same issues. Legette is questionable this week against the Falcons, and if he’s out, Coker would be in line for even more work. If Legette is active, he’s a safer play due to his target volume, but I prefer the home run potential that Coker brings.
The undrafted free agent out of Holy Cross has had a good rookie year, hauling in 25 of 39 targets in 10 games for 416 yards and two touchdowns. He has already set the franchise record for most yards by an undrafted free agent.
Jalen Coker deserves more opportunities.
Last game of the season against ATL I’d love to see some designed downfield opps for him and/or Bryce look his way on some scramble drills.
He has good hands and has shown the ability come down with contested catches. pic.twitter.com/j7yNV8ttYC
— Keep Purring Podcast (Ben) (@KeepPurringBen) December 31, 2024
If Legette is out or limited, Coker is my top fantasy football sleeper receiver of the week since he brings so much upside and makes the most of his opportunities. If Legette plays, Coker would likely have fewer chances but still brings enough big-play upside to be worth considering against the Falcons, who have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers this season.
Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers ($4,100)
Pearsall is another rookie looking to top off his first campaign with a big week. I wrote up Pearsall is a sleeper to start after his big week on Monday Night Football when he racked up 147 yards and a touchdown on eight catches.
Ricky Pearsall takeover game? Ricky Pearsall take over game pic.twitter.com/GDOqynzIxE
— trey wingo (@wingoz) December 31, 2024
Pearsall was limited in practice this week due to illness and a chest injury, but he does not have an injury designation for this week’s game in Arizona. With Deebo Samuel Sr. (ribs/wrist) out and George Kittle ($6,000; ankle/hamstring, questionable) uncertain, Pearsall should have a featured role against Arizona.
The biggest question mark with Pearsall is that he’ll be working with a new QB as Joshua Dobbs ($4,000) replaces Brock Purdy (elbow). Dobbs has shown upside in the past though, and Pearsall brings both a good ceiling and a good floor based on his workload and the upside he showed last week.
Tre Tucker, Las Vegas Raiders ($3,800)
The Raiders offense hasn’t been a source of much fantasy goodness this year, but there have been some exceptions. Brock Bowers ($6,600) has been excellent all year and Aidan O’Connell ($5,100) has at least made the offense passable the last two weeks. The Raiders have had good matchups against the Jaguars and Saints and have won back-to-back games despite not having anything to play for.
This week, they’re in another “meaningless” game but should once again play hard against the Chargers, who have already secured a home playoff game and don’t have much motivation to play their starters this week. Tucker brings good upside to the Raiders passing game with plenty of big-play potential.
He only has two catches in each of the last four weeks, but last week he had eight targets, good enough for second on the team behind only Jakobi Meyers ($5,700). Tucker had a touchdown and 24 yards on his two catches last week to hit double-digit fantasy points for the first time since Week 13.
Well connected 🛜#LVvsNO | 📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/f6DveutCFb
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) December 29, 2024
Tucker had a pair of seven-catch games earlier this season, dropping 22.6 fantasy points against the Panthers in Week 3 and 15.1 fantasy points against the Broncos in Week 13.
In this week’s game against the Chargers, Tucker again brings plenty of big-play upside, but he brings a low floor too since his volume has been inconsistent at times this year. The spike in targets last week, though, could be a good sign of things to come in the season finale.
KaVontae Turpin, Dallas Cowboys ($3,400)
The Cowboys shut down CeeDee Lamb (shoulder) before last week’s game against the Eagles. While Brandin Cooks ($5,700) and Jalen Tolbert ($4,300) each saw target increases and are good options as well, Turpin brings a lot of upside since he has the speed and elusiveness to take any opportunity for a touchdown.
Last week against Philly, Turpin only had one catch for 16 yards, but he was targeted four times. He also got two carries that he took for 18 yards including this carry which almost turned into a much bigger play.
Brian Schottenheimer talked last week about KaVontae Turpin having a natural feel for running the ball. You can see it on this 12-yard carry. Watch him get skinny on the second cut. If he keeps his footing, he's gone.
If the Cowboys bring back Turpin, a RFA, more backfield reps? pic.twitter.com/zypALDcGlg
— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) December 30, 2024
Turpin’s workload in the final week is uncertain, but if the Cowboys give the restricted free agent more opportunities, he could make himself a lot of money with a big game.
The Cowboys have a plan to get Trey Lance ($4,700) significant work, so how exactly the offense will look is a big unknown. However, like Tucker, Turpin’s big-play ability gives him a high ceiling from under $4,000.
Jordan Whittington, Los Angeles Rams ($3,300)
Another offense that will have a very different look in Week 18 is the Rams, who will rest Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp at receiver while giving Jimmy Garoppolo ($5,200) his first action of the year.
It’s been a while, but Whittington was one of the buzziest names after a big preseason. The former Texas receiver was a sixth-round pick by the Rams but made the team out of camp and stepped into a larger role when both Nakua and Kupp went down with injuries.
In Week 4 and Week 5 combined, Whittington had 13 catches on 18 targets for a total of 151 yards. However, he was injured in that Week 5 game against the Packers and has been in a limited role since his return.
He did not have a single target from Week 7 through Week 16, but he did make an important play in Week 16 to help the Rams secure a low-scoring win over the Jets.
Jordan Whittington recovers to muffed punt to seal the win for the Rams!
(via @RamsNFL) pic.twitter.com/jdKhS1BJP7
— Rams Newswire (@RamsNewswire) December 22, 2024
With both Nacua and Kupp out this week, coach Sean McVay said he hopes to get Whittington looks in both their places in the receiver rotation. The Rams’ offense hasn’t been especially effective the last few weeks, so it’s unclear how good it will be with mostly backups going against Seahawks’ starters. It’s also uncertain how Jimmy G will spread the ball around or how even the work will be divided.
However, with his preseason success and the way he has stepped up when given a chance, I like Whittington’s upside at barely over the minimum salary this week. There’s definitely a chance he works as the team’s top receiver, and we’ve seen how effective he can be when given opportunities.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
