UPDATED 11/7 @11:39am ET

And in the blink of an eye, Week 18 is here, the final week of the regular season. This season has flown by, and like we’ve seen in recent weeks, some really good offenses are off the main slate, a la the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills, and Miami Dolphins. By taking a look at projected game and team totals, as well as our NFL DFS Week 18 player projections, we’ll get a good look at how we can best optimize the wide receiver position in our NFL DFS lineups. From superstar receivers to top NFL DFS stacks, the NFL DFS WR Coach will have multiple plays at various pricing tiers to help construct your lineups. Without further ado, let’s dive into this week’s DFS WR Coach, highlighting the top plays, values, and fades at the wide receiver position to help build your NFL DFS lineups for Sunday’s main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel.

Be sure to check out the rest of the NFL DFS Coaches and DFS Watch List throughout the week!

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NFL DFS WR Top Tier Picks

CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys

A Dallas win clinches the NFC East title for the Cowboys, but so does an Eagles loss. However, both teams play at 4:25pm ET, so the Cowboys don’t have the luxury of seeing how the early games play out to determine if they can rest their starters. So, that means its wheels up for Lamb against one of the most generous secondary to receivers in fantasy football this season! The Commanders have allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to wideouts this season, and Lamb had 53 yards and a touchdown earlier this year against Washington. Lamb has found the end zone in seven of his last eight games, and I expect him to find the end zone again this weekend against the Commanders.

Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings

I’d expect Nick Mullens to be under center and he raises the offensive floor for the Vikings. Jefferson flopped a bit last week against the Packers, but just two weeks ago, he burned the Lions for 141 yards and a touchdown on six receptions. The Lions have allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to wideouts over the last four weeks and Jefferson now has five games against the Lions in his career with at least 100 yards. He’s eclipsed 100 yards against Detroit in five of seven games for his career, and he has at least 133 yards in each of the three times he’s traveled to Ford Field (averaging 179.3 YPG).

Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions

St. Brown is on an absolute heater right now, putting up at least six receptions, 90 yards, and one touchdown in each of his last three games. He caught 12 passes for 106 yards and a touchdown two weeks ago against Minnesota, and now gets to face them again! The Vikings have allowed the third-most fantasy points to wide receivers over the last four weeks. Dan Campbell has come out and said that they are going to play their guys, but for how much St. Brown costs on both sites, we’ll need to confirm that the Lions intend to play their stars, and it’s not a situation where they only play for a drive or two.

DJ Moore, Chicago Bears

Justin Fields continues to make his case for Chicago’s quarterback of the future, and Moore is his unquestioned WR1. This week, the Bears get the Packers, who have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers over the last four weeks. After a couple down weeks, Moore exploded for 159 yards and a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons, and if the Packers can score like they have in recent weeks, we could have a nice little shootout on our hands! If that’s the case, Moore is going to dominate this secondary, en route to a massive fantasy day.

Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Carolina hasn’t been generous whatsoever to wide receivers over the last couple of weeks, but in a must-win game for the Bucs, how do you not look at Mike Evans? He beat the Panthers for 162 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions in Week 13, and in a must-win game, they will ensure Evans is targeted early and often. Evans’ numbers are more impressive at home than on the road, but he’s still managed to find the end zone six times in eight road contests on the season.The star receiver is averaging 8.3 targets and one touchdown per game over his last seven, with his per game fantasy average coming out to just under 18 PPR points (4.7 receptions for 70.9 yards and 1 TD).
 

NFL DFS WR Mid-Tier Picks

DeAndre Hopkins, Tennessee Titans

Week 18 means incentive season! Hopkins has been a bit hit or miss this season, but to appease its star receiver, I would expect that they funnel targets his way to hit some incentives that are nearby. He’s seven receptions, 39 yards, and two touchdowns away from his next incentive bonuses, so why wouldn’t Tennessee force feed him some targets? He beat Jacksonville for 59 yards and a touchdown earlier in the year, and with Tennessee playing for nothing in Week 18, get Hopkins his money and send him into the offseason with positive vibes! Jacksonville has been a bit better of late against receivers, but they have still allowed the 10th-most fantasy points per game to receivers for the 2023 season.

Calvin Ridley, Jacksonville Jaguars

I don’t fully know the extent of Trevor Lawrence’s injury, but it’s a must-win game for the Jaguars, so I’d expect to see Trevor Lawrence out there in Week 18, even if not at full health. Do the Jags really need Lawrence to beat the reeling Titans? Probably not, but they can’t risk it. The Tennessee secondary stinks, and alpha WR1’s have given them fits, most recently Nico Collins (15.7 fantasy points in PPR scoring). In Week 11, Ridley caught seven of nine targets for 103 yards and two touchdowns against the Titans, and he could be in line for a similar day in this one. The Titans have allowed the 10th-most receiving yards to wideouts over the last four weeks.

UPDATE: Trevor Lawrence is active, so we can deploy Ridley with more confidence compared to if Lawrence was not playing in this game.

Jakobi Meyers, Las Vegas Raiders

Davante Adams may have stolen the show last week, but perhaps lost in the shuffles is that Meyers still received 10 targets and posted double-digit fantasy points (PPR) in that loss to the Colts. Adams should see a good bit of Patrick Surtain in this one, and all the way back in Week 1, Meyers had 81 yards and two touchdowns against the Broncos! I like Meyers to give us a quality ROI this week, along with double-digit fantasy points, which would be the fourth time in the past six weeks (DraftKings) he’s achieved that.

Brandin Cooks, Dallas Cowboys

As mentioned in the CeeDee Lamb writeup, Dallas needs to win this game to secure the No. 2 seed in the NFC, and the Dallas passing offense has a sizable advantage against the Washington Commanders secondary. Cooks received eight targets last week against the Lions, his highest number since receiving a season-high 10 targets back in Week 10. He is the clear-cut WR2 in this offense, and last week, Jalen Tolbert and Michael Gallup both saw fewer than 40 percent of the team’s offensive snaps. Washington has been brutal all year along, and back in Week 12, Cooks caught four passes for 72 yards and a touchdown against the Commanders, and overall against the NFC East, he’s averaging 62.2 yards per game on the season, his highest mark against any division.
 

NFL DFS WR Value Picks

Christian Kirk, Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars designated Christian Kirk to return from IR, and the hope is that they can have him out there for Sunday’s must-win game against the Tennessee Titans. At just $3,000 on DraftKings and $4,000 on FanDuel, he could end up being the free square of the week, assuming that he will play a full snap share or close to it. As you read earlier with Calvin Ridley, the Titans are a porous secondary, and Kirk was playing really well prior to his injury. In the four full games he played prior to exiting early against the Bengals, he was averaging 71.8 yards and 7.3 targets per game! Keep an eye on his status throughout the week, as well as quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s availability.

UPDATE: Despite being activated off injured reserve, Kirk is not playing today.

Darius Slayton, New York Giants

Tyrod Taylor has invigorated the New York offense a bit over the past two weeks, and with that, his willingness to throw the ball downfield has “unlocked” Slayton. Slayton has touchdowns of 69 yards and 80 yards over the last two weeks, and he has at least 18 fantasy points (PPR) in back-to-back games. He won’t command a massive target share, but he is the downfield threat in the offense, and the Giants now get a Philadelphia Eagles secondary that has allowed the most fantasy points per game to wideouts in 2023. One long score from Slayton will give us all we need for fantasy purposes, and I’m betting on him doing it for a third straight week.

Greg Dortch, Arizona Cardinals

While Kyler Murray’s TD/INT ratio is more impressive on the road than at home, Murray has averaged over 30 more passing yards per game at home this season. With Marquise Brown on IR and out for the rest of the season, Dortch has been a prominent piece of the Arizona passing attack over the last two weeks, hauling in nine of 12 targets for 127 yards and a one touchdown. Seattle plays a lot of zone defense, which would favor Michael Wilson moreso than Dortch, but aside prior to Week 17, Wilson put up a goose egg in two straight games. Dortch is the safer play of the two, hence why I included him here. I’d have some GPP lineups with Wilson instead of Dortch, but again, Dortch is the safer play in my eyes.

DJ Chark Jr, Carolina Panthers

There is going to be some volatility in Chark’s game, and we saw that last week. His one catch for 18 yards on six targets was not the ideal follow up to 98 yards and two scores the week prior. However, we go back to the well with Chark this week, as receivers who get downfield can wreak havoc on a porous Tampa Bay secondary. The Bucs have allowed the eighth-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers this season, and over the last two weeks, Chark is dominating the air yards amongst the Carolina receivers. Chark caught three passes for 56 yards against Tampa Bay earlier this season, but with him averaging seven targets per game over the last two weeks, I like his outlook this week, as Carolina looks to play spoiler to Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes.

Josh Reynolds, Detroit Lions

We’ll monitor Jameson Williams’ status throughout the week, but Reynolds would serve as the WR2 for Detroit in this one if Williams were to miss this contest. Detroit could rest some starters, so we’ll keep an ear/eye out for that as well, but Reynolds has put forth some notable games here in 2023. The Vikings have allowed the third-most fantasy points to wide receivers over the last four weeks, and this game is being played in Detroit, which is good for the offense as a whole.

UPDATE: Jameson Williams is OUT, so Reynolds will serve as the team's WR2 in this matchup. I like his outlook today!

Jauan Jennings, San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers should be resting key starters, meaning that Jennings could ultimately serve as the team’s top wide out against the friendliest defense to opposing wide receivers over the last four weeks. The Rams will also likely be resting key starters, too. Sam Darnold should start this game for the 49ers, and he can do enough with his arm in this scheme. In the four games Jennings has played at least 45 percent of the snaps, he's recorded at least 44 yards receiving in three of those games, and four or more targets in all but one. This is a pure speculative dart throw, and it could change later in the week.

NFL DFS WR Fades

Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals

The Browns figure to rest many key starters, but while Higgins was able to return from a hamstring injury during the game last week, he was hardly utilized. Jake Browning crashed back to Earth last week against Kansas City, and he’s now been sacked 13 times over the last three weeks. Let’s monitor Higgins’ practice availability throughout the week, though if he is healthy enough to play on Sunday, even against Cleveland’s second string, I likely won’t be rostering him in DFS. I also hate to be a pessimist, but why risk further injury when Higgins could be looking at a massive payday this offseason? Why risk injury in a game that doesn’t really matter for the Bengals?

UPDATE: Higgins didn't practice all week and was listed as doubtful. With a potential BIG contract on the horizon this offseason, there's little reason for him to play. I doubt he even plays, so fade, fade, fade. Slight bump to Tyler Boyd today with this news.