While I’m sure there’s a small number of people in the world still sweating their season-long championship into Week 18, most of us in the fantasy community agree that the final week of the NFL regular season is reserved for DFS. Either way, there’s going to be a lot of teams resting players this week, so make sure to keep your head on a swivel for news leading up to lock on both Saturday and Sunday.
Now that we’ve properly set up the context for this weekend’s action on the gridiron, let’s dive into some starts and sits and the RB position.
Check out Jeff’s full Week 18 start/sit article with picks at each position here!
Start ‘Em: D’Andre Swift (Chicago Bears) vs. Detroit Lions
The Bears have a reason to play on Sunday. It’s not just the NFC’s two-seed that would secure home field advantage for the opening two rounds of the playoffs, it’s the fact that Ben Johnson is once again squaring-off with his former employers. When these two squads met in Week 2, Detroit throttled Chicago, dropping 52 points in an very lopsided win. Something tells me things will be a little different this time around.
Look no further than the Lions’ recent defensive struggles. Since Week 12, Detroit is surrendering a whopping 30.2 points per contest. It’s also a span where the Lions have conceded at least 400 yards of total offense to four different opponents. Woof.
Meanwhile, D’Andre Swift continues to be the 1A to Kyle Monangai’s 1B in the Bears’ running back committee, seeing roughly a 60/40 split in snap share across the team’s past four contests. Even without a clear monopoly on Chicago’s backfield touches, Swift’s managed to exceed 20 FPTS in three of his last five games. He clearly possesses upside, and I’ll take a shot on his services in a tilt that owns one of this slate’s highest implied totals.
Sit’ Em: Ashton Jeanty (Las Vegas Raiders) vs. Kansas City Chiefs
I’m not yet saying that Ashton Jeanty is a bust in real-life — though he is another example of how dangerous it can be to use a first-round pick on a running back — but for the purposes of fantasy, Jeanty left a lot to be desired in his rookie campaign. Obviously, some things were outside of the 22-year-old’s control. For instance, there’s only so much you can expect from a running back that is tied to an offense that ranks dead-last in points per game (14.2) and second-last in red zone scoring attempts per game (2.1).
That said, Jeanty has averaged just 46.4 rushing yards per contest dating back to Week 7. It’s a span where the former sixth-overall pick has also been limited to two rushing touchdowns. Despite his first-round price tag in most formats, the fact of the matter is that Jeanty has been performing as a RB3 or FLEX option for the majority of the season. I don’t suspect that’ll change in Week 18, either. Not against a Chiefs defense that performed well against the Broncos on Christmas Day, and especially not with the Raiders already proving how motivated they are to lose and secure the No. 1 pick in 2026. Would anyone be shocked if Jeanty logs fewer snaps than usual this Sunday?
CLICK HERE FOR FULL WEEK 18 START/SIT PICKS AT EACH POSITION!
Start ‘Em: Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) vs. Arizona Cardinals
Sean McVay has already said he’s planning on playing his starters in Week 18, despite the Rams having no chance to win their division. That’s likely because the highly-coveted five seed is still up for grabs, which should be enough of a carrot for Los Angeles’ offense to give its all on Sunday.
Obviously, Kyren Williams is a must-start most weeks, yet I wanted to give the veteran RB some love specific to his DFS value on DraftKings. At $6,700, Williams is only the 10th-most expensive running back on Sunday’s 13-game slate, sitting $2,000 below Bijan Robinson. However, Williams is not only going up against a Cardinals defense that has surrendered the second-most FPTS to opposing backfields all season long, there’s a possibility he’ll be doing so without Blake Corum (ankle) pilfering carries, as the Michigan product was forced to leave Monday Night Football with an injury.
If Williams gets anywhere close to 20 touches in this premium matchup, he’s sure to make his owners quite happy in the process.
Sit ‘Em: Tony Pollard (Tennessee Titans) at Jacksonville Jaguars
Tony Pollard is probably having the quietest 1,000-yard rushing season in recent memory, but there he is, one of 15 men who enter Week 18 with a four-digit rushing yardage total to their name. In all honesty, Pollard’s actually been fantastic in recent games, sitting second to only Derrick Henry in rushing yards since the beginning of Week 14 (452). What happened in prior to this run in Week 13? Well, Pollard and the Titans came up against the Jaguars.
Jacksonville has arguably been the league’s most stout run defense in 2025, allowing the fewest opponent rushing yards per game (86.1) and not having conceded a single 75-yard individual rushing performance. That includes Pollard, who managed only 60 yards on the ground and 6.3 FPTS back in late November.
Pollard’s been almost non-existent in the Titans’ passing attack for over a month, so his viability in Week 18 essentially comes down to his ability to find the end zone. That’s probably asking a lot from a man who has just five touchdowns in 16 games, thanks primarily to the fact that Tennessee ranks dead-last in red zone scoring attempts per contest (2.0).
