Should I Pickup and Start Colby Parkinson For Fantasy Football Week 18? Waiver Wire Outlook

The Seattle Seahawks have confounded fantasy football managers all season long with their talented tight end trio. Fantasy footballers have tried to figure out which tight end QB Geno Smith is going to target on a weekly basis, but it has proven to be futile.

Veteran No. 2 TE Will Dissly is on the injured reserve with a knee injury, though, so that just leaves starter Noah Fant and playmaking No. 3 man Colby Parkinson for this week’s finale. The latter is coming off his second-best game of the year as he set season-highs with five catches on seven targets to finish with 36 yards and a touchdown against the New York Jets. Parkinson was actually targeted more than superstar wideouts DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.  That was a shocker.

So now that it appears he has an expanded role in Seattle’s offense, should you pick up and start Parkinson this week in fantasy leagues and DFS contests? Here is my take:

Should I Pick Up  and Start Colby Parkinson For Fantasy Football Week 18?

The answer is no. You cannot bank on Parkinson having a repeat performance of what he did in Week 17. The young upstart has not done enough to warrant waiver wire looks from fantasy managers just because he has 81 yards over his past two contests.

Forget about Parkinson topping his Seattle team in targets last week. It was a fluke. He is not going to do it again in a must-win game for the Seahawks when Metcalf and Lockett are playing. Smith knows how his bread is buttered, and so do the Seahawks offensive coaches. Unless the L.A. Rams somehow lock up both wonderful wideouts with Jalen Ramsey and Jalen Ramsey’s clone, the Metcalf/Lockett combo will get aimed at more often than the team’s backup tight end.

And if dealing with the top two receivers taking his targets was not enough, Parkinson must split targets at tight end with Fant, who outgained him 40 to 36 last weekend despite only catching two passes and being targeted four fewer times. Fant is banged-up with a knee injury, but he appears to be on track to play, so Parkinson will probably not be on the field for the majority of the offensive snaps.

There are better options on fantasy league waiver wires and DFS lists than Parkinson. Risking your fantasy season or your chance at winning hundreds, thousands, or millions of dollars in a DFS contest on Parkinson when he will likely see just a handful of targets is not wise. One good game does not make him a fantasy godsend.

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