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John's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 18 of 2025. Are the breakout performances from Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Luther Burden III, Michael Mayer legit or flukes?
The 2025 fantasy football season is over for the majority of teams. But fantasy managers playing in public ESPN leagues, Daily Fantasy Sports players, and plenty of others are interested in Week 18's slate of games.
Some players really don't have statement performances until their second-to-last week of the season. Starters get injured all the time, and the backups are sometimes fantasy dynamite when the guy ahead of them isn't on the field.
That was the case with Washington Commanders running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Chicago Bears wide receiver Luther Burden III (quad), and Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer. But were their breakout games legit or flukes? Should you add and start them in Week 18? Let's dive in.
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Was Jacory Croskey-Merritt's Performance Legit Or A Fluke?
Croskey-Merritt had one big game near the beginning of the season when he scored 27.0 PPR fantasy points in a beatdown of the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 5. Since then, he's had a string of awful performances that resulted in him getting benched for fellow Commanders RB Chris Rodriguez Jr. (illness), who was the starter for a few weeks.
However, Rodriguez's performances weren't anything to write home about. He mostly struggled, though he was forced to face quite a few good run defenses. He did score 13.9 PPR fantasy points against the Eagles in Week 16, but his touchdown in that game was in garbage time.
.@JacoryMerritt15 was flying and @TheRealC_Portis was loving it
DALvsWAS on @Netflix pic.twitter.com/0BKryyOmHP
— NFL (@NFL) December 25, 2025
Most of his fantasy points came on a long touchdown with busted assignments by the Dallas Cowboys defense. That's something we're accustomed to seeing from them. In fact, many of Croskey-Merritt's points in his big games have come from free runs to the end zone in which the defense didn't do a good job tackling.
That said, he seems to have more burst than Rodriguez, while Rodriguez is the more powerful runner. That leads to each having different strengths that are more helpful to the team depending on the situation. Rodriguez doesn't have the athleticism to rip off long runs quite as well.
Chris Rodriguez Jr. is in for the @Commanders TD!
DENvsWAS on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/M4mZTpDyyV— NFL (@NFL) December 1, 2025
Rodriguez was a late inactive for Week 17, which led to Croskey-Merritt handling most of the rushing work. It's probable that if Rodriguez returns in Week 18, the Commanders will experiment with a committee between the two yet again.
The team will probably look to add an RB in the offseason, as its rushing attack wasn't great this season. With Rodriguez returning and a tough matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles' run defense coming up, it's hard to trust either of them in starting lineups this week.
In a deeper league, Croskey-Merritt serving as one of your multiple flex players might not be the worst idea. He's already shown how low his floor is, even in games where he gets lots of carries, like in Week 6 against the bad Chicago Bears run defense, in which he scored just 5.8 PPR fantasy points.
Week 18 Outlook: Add in 12+ team leagues, start in deeper leagues
Was Luther Burden III's Performance Legit Or A Fluke?
Burden had shown flashes all season long of his ability. While there was criticism of his admittedly very raw route-running ability coming out of college, he made great strides in that area of his game. And he's outproduced every other pass-catcher on the Bears in nearly every per-route and per-catch statistical category.
Yet, he simply wasn't targeted very much in a run-heavy offense that loved to distribute the ball around. That wasn't the case in Week 17 -- the Bears got into a shootout with the San Francisco 49ers and were forced to pass the ball more, and Burden benefited with nine targets, of which he caught eight for 138 yards and a touchdown.
Just a casual 64 seconds of Luther Burden III carving up the 49ers secondary.
(Hang around until the 54-second mark to watch him make Chase Lucas an enemy for life) pic.twitter.com/vu8rpi61wJ
— Dan Fornek ↗️ (@fornekdf) December 30, 2025
Burden was lucky to be drafted by a team that had an elite offensive mind at head coach in Ben Johnson. Johnson's first task with the Bears was to beef up the offensive line, and it's worked wonders for the offense. Burden is now in a fantastic situation that should allow him to produce very well.
Of course, it's just everyone's luck that he was unfortunately injured on the last play of the game. He had to be carted off the field and was in severe pain. However, he's just questionable for next week, as he has a quad injury that might not cause him to miss time.
We're not sure yet. But with Bears wide receiver Rome Odunze (foot) potentially being shut down until the NFL playoffs, if Burden plays in Week 18, he could be a fine start to make. The problem is that the Bears might just cap his reps to help preserve him for the postseason, or hold him out altogether.
Week 18 Outlook: Add in all leagues, start in all leagues (if he's removed from injury report)
Was Michael Mayer's Performance Legit Or A Fluke?
Mayer hasn't had much of a chance to shine in the NFL because the Raiders drafted Brock Bowers (knee) the year after they selected Mayer. Bowers is unarguably one of the best tight end prospects of all time, and he proved that he was an elite pass-catcher in Year 1.
Bowers has played injured most of this season, but he did have some great performances. But when he wasn't able to go in Week 17, Mayer capitalized by catching nine of his 10 targets for 89 yards. While not quite to the extent that Bowers is, Mayer is also capable of serving as a team's de facto WR1.
They really showcased Michael Mayer with 10 targets.
Got him isolated vs a slot corner and he gets square and hits a nice jab step back inside. Lots of separation. pic.twitter.com/mL0L0LIKNh
— Marcus Johnson (@TheMarcJohnNFL) December 29, 2025
He's also able to succeed in non-ideal offensive situations. Teams with struggles in the passing game can sometimes lean heavily on their tight ends, and Mayer is enough of a mismatch weapon to be targeted heavily. He's too athletic for most linebackers to cover well and far too big and physical for cornerbacks, usually.
The Raiders will face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 18. Though it probably won't matter much for Mayer's production, Vegas is fighting for the No. 1 overall pick, so it is probably not trying too hard to win this game. That won't make him a player you shouldn't start, of course.
The tight end position is not often highly productive, and some teams will be resting their starters in Week 18, so he's a good player to slot in at TE in your fantasy lineups. Perhaps for those who have him in dynasty leagues, he'll be on another team soon, which would greatly help his long-term value.
Week 18 Outlook: Add in all leagues, start in all leagues
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the Who Should I Start tool:
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 18 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Luther Burden III, Michael Mayer, but not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 18. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 18 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 18 Player Decisions. Need a replacement? Today's focus is on specific players -- Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Luther Burden III, Michael Mayer. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 18.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed, our Who Should I Start? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 18 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 18 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 18 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Need a replacement? Below are some popular Week 18 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Luther Burden III, Michael Mayer compared to others:
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