Week 18 is here, and if you’re still setting lineups, you already know what comes with it: rested starters, snap-count roulette, and late-week chaos.

In this episode, Matt Schauf and Jared Smola break down the toughest Week 18 start-sit decisions, focusing on teams expected to rest starters like the Chargers, Packers, Bills, and Eagles. We cover how aggressive to be with the Rams, whether any Packers or Bills backups are actually usable, why Eagles players might be impossible to trust, the Bears’ motivation, and the uncertainty surrounding the Cowboys. All of it is backed by Draft Sharks’ Week 18 projections and rankings, with updates continuing right through inactives to help you squeeze every last edge out of the final week.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:11 What to do with Chargers

4:48 Stay away from Packers

6:09 What to do with Bills

10:52 Are we underrating the Rams in Week 18?

13:58 Start Tanner McKee, Tank Bigsby, or Jahan Dotson?

17:00 Trust the Bears?

18:58 What does Rams decision mean for Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals?

21:40 Trust the Cowboys?

23:41 Dallas backfield gets complicated

25:38 Trust Lamar Jackson?

29:03 What Riley Leonard means for Michael Pittman and Colts offense

32:08 Seahawks RBs still annoying

34:02 Which Commanders RB should you play?

EPISODE LINKS:

• Week 18 Rankings
• Week 18 Start-Sit
• Week 18 QB Preview
• Week 18 RB Preview
• Week 18 WR Preview
• Week 18 TE Preview

DRAFT SHARKS - YOUR UNFAIR ADVANTAGE
Award-winning fantasy football rankings, projections and draft tools. Live-draft sync, player analysis, draft strategies and expert advice to dominate your leagues.

HELPFUL LINKS

• Draft War Room - Featuring Live Draft Sync
  Think of the Draft War Room as a “dynamic fantasy football cheat sheet”. As you draft, your live-synced Draft War Room automatically updates your board as players are selected.
  
• Award Winning Fantasy Football Rankings
  We calculate floor, ceiling, and consensus projections for all fantasy-relevant players. These projections all feed into our 3D Value system. 3D Values are calculated using a cross-positional algorithm based on your exact league setup and scoring.
  
• Mock Draft Simulator
  Our Mock Draft Simulator will help you prepare for your upcoming drafts, allowing for a customized setup to fit your specific league settings.
  
• Trade Calculator and Trade Value Charts
  We made winning fantasy football trades easy. Powered by real-time player stats, our award-winning 3D projections and expert rankings, these trade tools assign each player a value based on your league's unique scoring system.

Championship week is here, and setting a clean Week 17 lineup is harder than ever. Matt Schauf and Jared Smola break down the toughest start-sit decisions of the season, navigating injuries, tough matchups, a weird holiday schedule, and playoff-clinching scenarios that could change team plans. We dig into what to do with Lamar Jackson, how to handle the Steelers backfield, whether Michael Carter is a real option, how to approach Justin Herbert after last week’s bounce-back, and the impossible Justin Jefferson conversation, plus more tough calls for Week 17.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:19 Playoff-clinching scenarios

6:12 Start or sit Lamar Jackson

9:10 Start or sit Steelers RBs

11:48 Start or sit Michael Carter

15:06 Start or sit Justin Herbert (and other Chargers)

21:54 Start or sit Taysom Hill (and other Saints)

28:22 Start or sit Justin Jefferson (and other Vikings)

35:25 Top 5 Week 17 team defenses

EPISODE LINKS:

• Week 17 Fantasy Rankings
• Week 17 Start-Sit
• Week 17 Matchups That Matter

DRAFT SHARKS - YOUR UNFAIR ADVANTAGE
Award-winning fantasy football rankings, projections and draft tools. Live-draft sync, player analysis, draft strategies and expert advice to dominate your leagues.

HELPFUL LINKS

• Draft War Room - Featuring Live Draft Sync
  Think of the Draft War Room as a “dynamic fantasy football cheat sheet”. As you draft, your live-synced Draft War Room automatically updates your board as players are selected.
  
• Award Winning Fantasy Football Rankings
  We calculate floor, ceiling, and consensus projections for all fantasy-relevant players. These projections all feed into our 3D Value system. 3D Values are calculated using a cross-positional algorithm based on your exact league setup and scoring.
  
• Mock Draft Simulator
  Our Mock Draft Simulator will help you prepare for your upcoming drafts, allowing for a customized setup to fit your specific league settings.
  
• Trade Calculator and Trade Value Charts
  We made winning fantasy football trades easy. Powered by real-time player stats, our award-winning 3D projections and expert rankings, these trade tools assign each player a value based on your league's unique scoring system.

Matt Schauf and Jared Smola break down the toughest start-sit decisions of the week, starting with the Chargers mess and what to do with Justin Herbert in his best passing matchup of the season. We also dig into uncomfortable but viable QB starts such as Trevor Lawrence, J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, and C.J. Stroud. And we’ll hit the post-Mahomes Chiefs, sort Packers receivers, and ponder the usability of Michael Carter and Kenneth Gainwell. If you’re staring down tough lineup calls, this episode’s built to help you advance through the fantasy football playoffs.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

0:42 Start or sit Justin Herbert and other Chargers

11:31 Non-obvious QB starters for Week 16

13:11 Start or sit Trevor Lawrence

16:08 Start or sit Chiefs without Patrick Mahomes

20:38 Tua Tagovailoa benched

25:37 Start or sit Packers WRs

28:50 Start or sit Michael Carter

33:01 Start or sit Steelers RBs

EPISODE LINKS:

• Week 16 Fantasy Rankings
• Week 16 Start-Sit
• Strength of Schedule
• Week 16 Matchups That Matter
• Week 16 Expert Moves
• Don’t Trust the Box Score

DRAFT SHARKS - YOUR UNFAIR ADVANTAGE
Award-winning fantasy football rankings, projections and draft tools. Live-draft sync, player analysis, draft strategies and expert advice to dominate your leagues.

HELPFUL LINKS

• Draft War Room - Featuring Live Draft Sync
  Think of the Draft War Room as a “dynamic fantasy football cheat sheet”. As you draft, your live-synced Draft War Room automatically updates your board as players are selected.
  
• Award Winning Fantasy Football Rankings
  We calculate floor, ceiling, and consensus projections for all fantasy-relevant players. These projections all feed into our 3D Value system. 3D Values are calculated using a cross-positional algorithm based on your exact league setup and scoring.
  
• Mock Draft Simulator
  Our Mock Draft Simulator will help you prepare for your upcoming drafts, allowing for a customized setup to fit your specific league settings.
  
• Trade Calculator and Trade Value Charts
  We made winning fantasy football trades easy. Powered by real-time player stats, our award-winning 3D projections and expert rankings, these trade tools assign each player a value based on your league's unique scoring system.