After 17 grueling weeks, survivor pools are coming up on the finish line and those still looking for the best survivor pool strategy are anxiously awaiting all the news regarding which teams have something to play for and which ones don’t. You’ve made it this far with just one more hurdle to jump and we at Fantasy Alarm commend you and are happy to offer up our top NFL Week 18 survivor pool picks. Some pools, when you get down this far, force you into making multiple picks to help whittle the field down, so researching every team and every remaining option becomes paramount. Obviously, you know all this and if you’re sitting here reading this, you know what’s at stake. So, let’s not waste any more time and just get to the top NFL Week 17 survivor picks. We’ve got work to do.

 

 

 As always, the best survivor pool strategy isn’t simply about picking the biggest favorite each week; it’s about understanding matchups and managing risk. There is very little planning ahead at this time with just two weeks left to go. Your options are limited and it’s a matter of picking your best option this week. You can deal with next week then. Those who are still in it are ready to scratch and claw their way to the final week, so identifying the best survivor pool strategy can be the key to outlasting the competition and claiming the prize. In this week’s article we'll take you through our process to help you make the most sensible picks to advance to next week and beyond.

Best NFL Survivor Pool Strategy for 2025 NFL Week 18

Before we get to the basics of what our best survivor pool strategy has been and how we don’t want to alter the process too much, our friends at Pool Genius have a fantastic “endgame strategy” article to help guide you on how you may want to start considering how individual opponents will pick this week when making your own selection. It’s a quick read and very worthwhile.

As for the basics, when it comes to lining up our top NFL Week 18 survivor picks, our mindset hasn’t changed regarding what the best survivor pool strategy should be. It continues to revolve around the "chalky" plays, if they are still available to you. Considering it’s Week 18, there is no tomorrow and there is no saving of teams or worrying about upcoming schedules. This is it.

Here in NFL Week 18, the premium examples are the Denver Broncos who are a 12.5-point home-favorite over the Los Angeles Chargers, the Jacksonville Jaguars who are a 13.5-point home-favorite over the Tennessee Titans and both the Houston Texans and New England Patriots who are each 10.5-point home favorites over the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins, respectively. They’re all divisional matchups, all at home and all four have something to play for here in the final week of the regular season. If you have any of the four available, our friends over at Pool Genius have them listed as their top-four for this week. Keep reading to see who else Pool Genius recommends among their top-five picks this week  

 

 

Dominate Your Survivor Pool with Pool Genius

Back in Week 3, you got a great introduction to Pool Genius and everything they have to offer. It doesn’t matter that it’s Week 17 -- there is still an opportunity for you to join at the last minute and still take advantage of everything they have to offer. If this is your first time hearing about them, please allow me to show you the way, because they have some exciting tools to help you make the right picks. What happens is, you load in all the information about your pool – how many total participants, cost per entry, specific rules to your pool regarding things like repeat picks or buybacks and since we are already here in Week 18, who you’ve taken so far. From there, they analyze all the data and make suggestions as to who to take, so it is a VERY personalized service.

To continue guiding you, I am using all the tools Pool Genius has to offer and making one of my picks based solely off their data and recommendations. The pick I had been tracking in this article series had Arizona in Week 5, so I had to shift gears. As I lost my final pick on Black Friday thanks to the Eagles, I am out personally, but still using the tools here to help guide you to a win. I will simply discuss the top few recommended picks overall and from there, you can determine who you want to take each week.

The top Pool Genius recommendations are as follows:

  1. Denver Broncos (vs Los Angeles Chargers, 1% popularity)
  2. Jacksonville Jaguars (vs Tennessee Titans, 39% popularity)
  3. Houston Texans (vs Indianapolis Colts, 5% popularity)
  4. New England Patriots (vs Miami Dolphins, 1% popularity)
  5. Minnesota Vikings (vs Green Bay Packers, 8% popularity)
  6. Cincinnati Bengals (vs Cleveland Browns, 19% popularity)

According to Pool Genius the Jacksonville Jaguars are actually expected to be the most popular pick this week (39%) as a 13.5-point home favorite with a -800 money line. They’re actually my favorite pick, but with such a high popularity score at this point of the season, you may want to go in another direction unless you’re fine chopping with 15 people. Funny enough, I listed the top-six simply because the Bengals are listed as the second-most popular pick at 19% and even though the Browns are a bit of a hit mess, I might pass on this one. It feels a little grimy to me for some reason. Like everyone is going to head in that direction and get screwed. That kind of grimy.

Now before I get to my favorite picks to use, I do want to remind you that Pool Genius is a paid service, but for the Fantasy Alarm #Family, they have some discounts available to you. The data and service they provide has been fantastic thus far and I feel confident using their suggestions. 

Now let’s get to my three favorite options for NFL Week 18:

 

 

NFL Survivor Pool Picks for Week 18

Tennessee Titans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: Pick Jacksonville Jaguars

While Pool Genius lists this one as their second-favorite, likely because of such popularity, it is still my favorite. It just feels the safest. Liam Coen has this offense playing to uts full potential right now, Trevor Lawrence is locked in and the Jaguars need a win if they want to win the AFC South and earn the No. 2 overall seed. The Titans aren’t going to go down without a fight, but there are just too many issues on defense to be solved tight now.

Denver Broncos vs. Los Angeles Chargers: Pick Denver Broncos

Our friends over at Pool Genius list this one as their favorite this week, and it’s very difficult to not invest in them if you somehow still have them available as a pick. The Chargers are sitting Justin Herbert, the game total is low and the Broncos are favored by double-digit points. It doesn’t sound like the Chargers offense is going to test this tough Denver defense and Sean Payton and Joe Lombardi can still squeeze just enough out of this offense to get by with a win. 

Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans: Pick Houston Texans

Pool Genius lists this game as their third-favorite on the slate and it’s pretty obvious as to why. The Colts are starting Riley Leonard and there’s even an outside chance we see a mid-game appearance by Anthony Rochardson. But the bottom line is that the Texans can earn the AFC South with a win and a Jaguars loss, but more importantly, if the Jaguars win, the Texans can still maintain that No. 5 seed and face the winner of the Steelers/Ravens game for the first round of the playoffs.

These are the picks in my order of preference this week. If you don’t have any of them available to you this week, then my next three favorites are the New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings and yes, probably the Bengals too. 

Best of luck to you all in your survivor pool contests. Bring home the top prize!