Week 18 DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Football Picks, Lineup Tips for Sunday

Joe Tansey@JTansey90Featured ColumnistJanuary 9, 2022

Week 18 DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Football Picks, Lineup Tips for Sunday

0 of 3

    AJ Mast/Associated Press

    The final week of the NFL regular season is always the hardest to figure out from a daily fantasy football perspective.

    Some teams that have already secured playoff spots have revealed they will play backups, such as the Cincinnati Bengals, who are resting quarterback Joe Burrow.

    Other squads will begin the game with their starters on the field, but they may not play the whole game. That could be in play with the Green Bay Packers, who locked up the NFC's No. 1 seed in Week 17.

    The best players to use for Week 18 DFS contests are the ones on teams that have something to play for in the postseason hunt.

    Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor will be a popular lineup anchor because he should have an easy day on the field against the Jacksonville Jaguars as his team tries to lock up a playoff berth.

    The Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots boast good DFS targets as well since both teams are fighting for the AFC East crown.

    Alvin Kamara and Cordarrelle Patterson should also be high on the list of top targets for Sunday. Kamara will be asked to do everything as the New Orleans Saints try to clinch a playoff spot with a win and some help, while Patterson and the Atlanta Falcons try to play spoiler in that situation.

Start Lineup Build with Jonathan Taylor

1 of 3

    AJ Mast/Associated Press

    Jonathan Taylor should be the first name added to a large amount of DFS lineups.

    The Indianapolis running back will likely receive a heavy workload against a Jacksonville Jaguars defense that is waiting for the end of the season to get here.

    Taylor ran for 116 yards and a touchdown in the Week 10 win over Jacksonville. He could post similar totals Sunday.

    Indianapolis needs a victory to secure one of the two remaining AFC wild-card spots. The Colts would love to have Sunday's game wrapped up before the fourth quarter. They can do that by running Taylor at a high volume.

    Jacksonville was gashed for 454 rushing yards in the past two weeks by the New York Jets and New England Patriots. And the Jaguars allowed a combined 106 points in the past three weeks, so Indianapolis could be set to post another high total.

    Taylor might be the most rostered player on Sunday's slate, but he is more than worth it with the favorable matchup at hand.

Stack AFC East Favorites

2 of 3

    Joshua Bessex/Associated Press

    The Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots are two of the best sides to use for DFS lineup stacks.

    Buffalo needs a victory to secure the AFC East title, while New England must win and have the New York Jets beat the Bills to land the division title.

    The Bills tore up the Jets defense in the teams' first meeting this season. Josh Allen threw for 366 yards and two scores in the 45-17 victory.

    Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis both had 100-yard receiving games, and the Bills scored four times on the ground in the Week 10 win. Diggs and Davis are solid options to partner with Allen in a lineup stack. Devin Singletary should be the first running back chosen to partner that group.

    New England faces a tougher matchup on paper versus the Miami Dolphins, but it could have its way in the contest since Miami is eliminated from playoff contention.

    The Patriots lost to Miami in Week 1 in Mac Jones' first career start, so it is harder to pull stats from that contest to see which players can be successful Sunday.

    Jones' recent connections with Kendrick Bourne and Jakobi Meyers make those three an ideal grouping for a lineup stack. The two wide receivers caught a combined 13 passes for 149 yards in Week 17's win over Jacksonville.

    Damien Harris or Rhamondre Stevenson is worth adding at running back as well. Both players scored two touchdowns in Week 17, and Harris has seven touchdowns in the past four weeks.

Target Alvin Kamara and Cordarrelle Patterson

3 of 3

    Derick Hingle/Associated Press

    Alvin Kamara and Cordarrelle Patterson could finish Week 18 with the most touches of any running backs.

    The former will be asked to do a bit of everything inside the New Orleans Saints offense as they look for a win over the Atlanta Falcons to try to secure a postseason berth. New Orleans needs a win combined with a San Francisco 49ers loss to the Los Angeles Rams to get in.

    Kamara had 17 total touches in his first meeting with the Falcons this season. Trevor Siemian was under center for the Saints in that contest.

    The Saints running back earned 18 touches inside the Saints offense in Week 17. He could soar over that total as the NFC South side tries to get its offense going Sunday. The Saints scored a combined 30 points in the past three weeks.

    Patterson should be used at a high volume if Atlanta wants to put the Saints on upset alert. He has been one of the fantasy football revelations of the season and could have one more high-volume game in him before the offseason arrives.

    Patterson caught six passes for 126 yards in his first meeting with the Saints in Week 9. He could be used in a similar role Sunday for Atlanta to ease the pressure from New Orleans' front seven.

    Kamara and Patterson should be two of the more popular running backs in DFS contests, and it is worth using a high salary on either of them with so many unknowns at other positions.

X