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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Footballprojections 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.
