The Los Angeles Chargers will face the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Chargers and Raiders skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 18 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Los Angeles Chargers Week 18 Start-Sit Advice
Justin Herbert, QB
On Saturday, Justin Herbert officially became the NFL’s top passer through the first five seasons of a career (he opened the win over the Patriots by completing 17 of his first 21 passes for 162 yards and a pair of scores and a pair of teammate drops).
He also missed Ladd McConkey on what could (should) have been a 23-yard touchdown. Since Week 8, even in a system that can be restrictive at times, Herbert has seven top-12 finishes. I think you can go ahead and adjust that number to eight with the 10th-worst passing defense when it comes to opponent touchdown rate.
I’d love to see the rushing numbers bump up a bit (he cleared 12 yards on the ground just once in December), but with Jim Harbaugh trusting him with more weekly and a career-best yards-per-pass pace, you’re playing Herbert with confidence this week.
Gus Edwards, RB
Updated at 2:55 ET on Sunday, January 5
Edwards is inactive for today's game.
Gus Edwards did not play last week with an ankle injury, and I’m not sure the Chargers will rush him back (3.6 yards per carry this season).
Edwards had a weird 43-yard carry late in Week 16 against the Broncos. Remove that, and we are looking at a player averaging 3.2 ypc with nearly as many targets (five) as receiving yards (six).
Touchdowns were the driving force behind Edwards’ value last season, and while it was risky to bank on last season, he was playing for a potent offense.
These Chargers can score if called upon, but that’s not their design, and in a committee situation, Edwards’ health is not something I’m tracking closely this week.
You can find better options.
Kimani Vidal, RB
Kimani Vidal has yet to clear eight touches in a game this season, and given the number of injuries that have taken place in this backfield, it’s clear that the team doesn’t intend to give this sixth-round pick much runway this season.
Chargers RBs Week 17 participation rates:
- J.K. Dobbins: 53.2% snap share and 14.1 expected points
- Hassan Haskins: 35.1% snap share and 5.6 expected points
- Vidal: 11.7% snap share and 5.3 expected points
We will need to see more versatility from Vidal (held without a reception in three of nine appearances) before assuming that he is a rosterable player next season, but this is a good team with a need for backfield stability – the situation could well present itself for Vidal to be a name of note for 2025.
Joshua Palmer, WR
Updated at 2:55 ET on Sunday, January 5
Palmer is inactive for today's game.
Joshua Palmer has been more involved of late (12 targets on 47 routes over the past two weeks), but we really haven’t seen him impact winning in a major way for the Chargers.
He’s posted a negative EPA per target rate in three straight games, and the usage is simply too spotty to bank on. I’d love to say that a 6’1” athlete carries reliable upside, and his 15.1 aDOT gives him a path to success, though the projectable nature of his profile is limited due to inconsistent usage in the red zone.
Palmer was in a walking boot following Week 17’s blowout win, introducing yet another factor into things. Ladd McConkey is the only member of this passing game you can trust, and with Quentin Johnston soaking up plenty of perimeter usage, you’re overthinking things by going in this direction.
Ladd McConkey, WR
Updated at 2:55 ET on Sunday, January 5
McConkey is active for today's game.
Ladd McConkey started his NFL career with a 5-39-1 game against these Raiders, and he figures to be a strong fantasy asset again as he closes an impressive rookie campaign so long as the Chargers value their seed (their win against the Patriots on Saturday assured them of a playoff berth).
If you’re willing to give McConkey a seven-week adjustment period, his pace since Week 8 is noteworthy:
- 100 catches
- 1,491 yards
- Nine touchdowns
The only second-year receivers to hit all of those thresholds in NFL history are Justin Jefferson (2021) and Isaac Bruce (1995).
We could be looking at a special receiver who is going to be afforded the ability to grow alongside a franchise quarterback – this is how difference-making fantasy WRs are created. He’s the franchise’s leader in receptions by a rookie, and I’d wager that more history awaits this versatile steal of a draft pick.
You’re playing McConkey this week, understanding that you need to at least monitor reporting out of Los Angeles when it comes to their level of motivation.
Quentin Johnston, WR
I’ve never been so conflicted with a player as I have been with Quentin Johnston. It’s not a secret – I’m very much a numbers guy over an eye test/feel guy. Part of that comes from my math background and part from being 140 pounds soaking wet – I’m built like a researcher more than a receiver, a man of data lines more than a lineman.
Quentin Johnston’s profile looks strong across the board. He’s posted an on-field target share north of 22% in three of his past four games and has five end-zone looks over his past five. He’s operating opposite of Ladd McConkey and that puts him in favorable alignments as defenses can’t send much in the way of resources.
It all sounds so good. Add in the fact that Joshua Palmer is working through a heel injury, and it should be wheels up, right?
And then you flip on a Charger game and see a few drops. You see a few of the lazy routes. It challenges all of the data, and it makes sense why the star hasn’t shined the way he had hoped.
I find myself often relying on matchups with Johnston more than anything, and shockingly enough, this isn’t as good a spot as you want to think. Up to this point, 95.8% of his fantasy points this season have come when lined up out wide, a spot on the field where the Raiders have proven reasonably stingy (top 12 in both yards per attempt, completion percentage, and touchdown rate on perimeter targets).
Johnston is sitting outside of my top 30 at the position, a damning ranking given that his team is motivated to play all out this week.
Will Dissly, TE
Will Dissly returned last weekend from a shoulder injury that cost him two weeks. While I value what he brings to the table for the Chargers, the fantasy impact is minimal at best.
This season, Dissly owns a shallow route tree (4.9-yard average depth of target) and that’s a tough sell in a run-first offense led by a receiver like Ladd McConkey. Like most tight ends, he needs to find paydirt to pay off. With just one end-zone target on his 2024 résumé, I can’t get him higher than TE15 this week.
Las Vegas Raiders Week 18 Start-Sit Advice
Aidan O’Connell, QB
Aidan O’Connell turned 12 third-down pass attempts into 131 yards and his first third-down score of the season on Sunday. We’ve seen him weasel his way into the top 15 fantasy performers at the position twice this season, but I still think we are looking at a player that is a ways from mattering for fantasy managers consistently.
Over his last 14 appearances (12 starts), O’Connell has completed 69.4% of his non-pressured passes with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. I think he’s proven himself to be the best option in Vegas — that might be damning with faint praise. But if they can stabilize the run game and/or add another pass catcher, there’s a world in which O’Connell is a matchup-based streamer in very specific windows next season as he navigates a last-place schedule.
Alexander Mattison, RB
Alexander Mattison last averaged 4.0 yards per carry in 2020 while with the Vikings, so his 3.2 mark this season shouldn’t be overly surprising.
He hasn’t had a 15-yard carry since September, and the fact that this team was willing to flip Ameer Abdullah from a third-down specialist to a full-blown bellcow instead of handing the keys to Mattison should be all you need to see to fade.
I’m not in a hurry to play any Raiders outside of Brock Bowers, and I don’t make a habit of playing fringe options against the Chargers — when both of those instances occur in a single game, there really isn’t a decision to be made.
Ameer Abdullah, RB
Updated at 2:55 ET on Sunday, January 5
Abdullah is inactive for today's game.
Abdullah has three straight top-15 finishes at the position and is coming off the first 100-yard rushing game of his career. He left last week’s win over the Saints early with a foot injury, and that’s something to be tracked, but as of now, I’m penciling him in for the lead role. Unfortunately, he’s out due to injury, and that will now go to Alexander Mattison.
Leaders in percentage of carries gaining 5+ yards, Weeks 16-17 (min. 25 carries):
- Abdullah: 59.3%
- Derrick Henry: 52.9%
- Jahmyr Gibbs: 51.2%
- De’Von Achane: 48.1%
Of course, the value of that role can be debated. The Chargers are in a spot where they want to win, and they own the eighth-best EPA rush defense.
Abdullah being penciled in for 12+ carries and the primary role in the passing game would have been enough to justify starting him. You just would have had to be aware that banking on a repeat of Week 17 is unlikely.
Jakobi Meyers, WR
Jakobi Meyers is a good example of how valuable raw volume can be (eight top-30 finishes) if you trust the player. He’s proven to be an above-average player throughout his career, and that’s often enough if assigned this sort of alpha role.
I’m largely on board with a player like this, but against an elite defense with motivation, it isn’t really the spot for me. The Chargers have given up their fair share of big receiver games, and we may see that weakness exposed during the postseason, but I don’t expect it to be on Sunday.
The pass catchers who have given Los Angeles problems have been the big/physical types that want to high-point targets and/or box you out.
- Mike Evans (Week 15): 36.9 PPR points (17.8 expected)
- Tee Higgins (Week 11): 29.8 PPR points (22.1 expected)
- Ja’Marr Chase (Week 11): 26.5 PPR points (26.1 expected)
- Calvin Ridley (Week 10): 25.4 PPR points (14.9 expected)
Meyers really isn’t that type of player, and with Las Vegas projected for just 18 points this week, I’m looking for other options to fill out my Week 18 lineup.
Brock Bowers, TE
Brock Bowers is eight catches away from tying the all-time tight end record for receptions in a single season (116 by Zach Ertz in 2018) and is 104 yards away from posting a top-10 yardage season all-time at the position.
Forget the rookie numbers that Bowers is extending, this is one of the best seasons ever by a tight end. The Raiders don’t have much to play for, and I don’t think they mind padding the stats of a franchise centerpiece. Bowers has caught 18 of 20 targets over the past two weeks, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they look to get to that all-time reception number.
Even if you don’t want to use a narrative as an excuse, Bowers projects to be on the field. And any time in which that is the case for the next five years, you play him.