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Who Should I Start for Week 18? Fantasy Football outlooks for Jacoby Brissett, Tanner McKee, Baker Mayfield, Quinn Ewers, Trey Lance, Jordan Love, Josh Johnson, Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward, Clayton Tune.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 18 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Jacoby Brissett, Tanner McKee, Baker Mayfield, Quinn Ewers, Trey Lance, Jordan Love, Josh Johnson, Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward, Clayton Tune. However, don't worry, we are here to help you 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.
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Fantasy Football Matchup Outlooks
Below are some fantasy football outlooks written by our NFL team here at RotoBaller, bringing you their fantasy football analysis and advice on which players to consider starting in Week 18:
Trey Lance, QB, Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are choosing to rest starting quarterback Justin Herbert for the Week 18 regular-season finale on Sunday in Denver against the division-rival Broncos, which opens the door for backup Trey Lance to make his first start of the season. Head coach Jim Harbaugh confirmed on Monday that Lance will start against the Broncos and their strong defense. The 25-year-old former third overall pick by the San Francisco 49ers back in 2021 out of North Dakota State will be making just his sixth start in the NFL.
There is an opportunity for Lance, but we won't be expecting much from him in his first start of the year for various reasons. For one, the Chargers' banged-up offensive line is unlikely to be able to protect him consistently against a Broncos D that leads the league in sacks. Additionally, the Bolts could be resting other key offensive skill players besides Herbert. Lance should be considered a desperation low-end QB2 in superflex leagues this weekend.
Quinn Ewers, QB, Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers completed 14 of 22 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns in his first career win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After struggling in Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Ewers led the Dolphins to victory, averaging 7.8 yards per attempt and throwing a touchdown on 9% of his pass attempts. With the team deciding to bench quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, all signs point to a new quarterback taking over for the 2026 season, and the 2025 seventh-round pick is making his case.
He faces a New England Patriots defense that has ranked among the top five in 2025. While the Dolphins are playing a "meaningless" game this week, this one is anything but for the rookie quarterback, who is currently contending to be the 2026 starter.
Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (knee, shoulder) practiced in full for the second straight day on Thursday and has been cleared to play in Saturday's Week 18 regular-season finale against the division-rival Carolina Panthers. Mayfield is nursing knee and shoulder injuries, but he will be active as the Bucs look to win the NFC South this weekend with a win over Carolina and a loss by the Falcons to the Saints.
The 30-year-old won't be a very inspiring QB1 option for fantasy managers still playing for something in Week 18, although he is coming off a 346-yard passing effort with two touchdowns in last week's loss to the Miami Dolphins. In the first meeting against the Panthers two weeks ago, Mayfield threw for only 145 yards with a touchdown and an interception. After four straight games without multiple passing TDs, Mayfield has two TD passes in two of his last three games.
Jacoby Brissett, QB, Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett went 21-for-37 for 212 yards with two touchdowns in his team's 37-14 Week 17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Arizona's pass-happy offense stalled despite going against a bottom-tier pass defense. Brissett threw for under 215 yards and finished outside of QB1 territory for a second straight week, marking the first time since taking over the offense.
From Week 6 to Week 15, Brissett was the QB3 overall in all fantasy football and averaged 21.2 fantasy points per game. The 33-year-old veteran has averaged 14.05 fantasy points over his last two games. Brissett seems to have found himself in a valley with his play during the fantasy football playoffs, but he will look to climb out of it in Week 18 against the Los Angeles Rams.
Cam Ward, QB, Tennessee Titans
Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Cameron Ward, the first overall pick back in April, has completed 59.6% of his passes for 3,117 yards, 15 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in his first year in the NFL. He's added 148 rushing yards and a score while also fumbling a league-high 11 times (losing seven). Ward's 79.8 passer rating ranks 26th out of 27 qualifying QBs. He's been sacked 55 times, tied for the most in the NFL. The 23-year-old came into the NFL with a sharp learning curve after spending most of his college career in an Air Raid system.
Ward has made some wow plays with his strong arm, but "there are some around the NFL who are concerned his accuracy will have a ceiling if he doesn't refine his mechanics," according to The Athletic's Jeff Howe. Ward's scrambling ability can help him compensate for some of it, but in the long term, he could be inconsistent if he doesn't clean up his mechanics.
Who Should I Start Tool
You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.
Week 18 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Jacoby Brissett, Tanner McKee, Baker Mayfield, Quinn Ewers, Trey Lance, Jordan Love, Josh Johnson, Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward, Clayton Tune. 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 name. In the second box, search for the second player 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 that 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, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with 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 circle), 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
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 18 for Jacoby Brissett, Tanner McKee, Baker Mayfield, Quinn Ewers, Trey Lance, Jordan Love, Josh Johnson, Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward, Clayton Tune:
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