Week 18 Fantasy Picks: Start 'Em, Sit 'Em for Chargers vs Raiders in Fantasy Football Playoffs

The NFL's slate of Week 18 matchups includes an AFC West showdown between the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders. FanDuel Sportsbook is listing the Chargers as the slight 2.5-point road favorite for the Sunday Night Football matchup.

Fantasy Football Playoffs Advice

If you need some help with your fantasy lineups, here's some start 'em, sit 'em advice for this Week 18 showdown.

Austin Ekeler Fantasy

Start Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers: Austin Ekeler has been one of the most consistent fantasy options this season — regardless of position. The 26-year-old enters Week 18 as the RB2 in PPR formats and has touchdowns in seven straight games. He has a great chance to continue that streak this Sunday night. After all, the Raiders are giving up the fifth-most fantasy points to running backs and just gave up an RB15 performance to Jonathan Taylor last week. It's a must-win game for the Chargers, so expect Ekeler to be involved early and often.

Josh Jacobs Fantasy

Start Josh Jacobs, RB, Las Vegas Raiders: Josh Jacobs has had his ups and downs this season, proven by his touchdown last week being his first following a three-game drought. Fortunately, there's a lot to like about his fantasy potential this week. On one hand, the Chargers are just as bad as the Raiders at stopping the run, giving up the sixth-most points to RBs this season. Jacobs has also averaged 14.7 PPR points in his last two games, which is good enough to be listed as RB16 during that stretch. Taking that into account, he should finish as a high-end RB2 with RB1 upside this week.

Jalen Guyton Fantasy

Sit Jalen Guyton, WR, Los Angeles Chargers: After finding the end zone in three straight games, Jalen Guyton finished his Week 17 outing with two catches on as many targets for 10 yards. He's now seen two targets in back-to-back weeks, which is a result of Mike Williams and Keenan Allen being healthy. Guyton has the talent and skill to be a reliable fantasy option one day, but that likely won't happen as long as he is where he is on Los Angeles' depth chart. Add in the fact that the Raiders boast a top-3 unit against the pass and all signs point to another underwhelming day for the 24-year-old.

Bryan Edwards Fantasy

Sit Bryan Edwards, WR, Las Vegas Raiders: Wide receiver Bryan Edwards has shown flashes of what he can do throughout the 2021 NFL season. The problem is that those instances are usually far between each other. Edwards has been targeted 15 times in his last six games for just nine receptions, 74 yards and a touchdown. He also has two outings with zero catches during that stretch. The fact of the matter is that Edwards is too hard to trust this deep in the fantasy playoffs, especially with the Chargers surrendering the fourth-fewest points to wideouts.

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Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.