The Los Angeles Rams will face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding QB Jimmy Garoppolo.
Is Jimmy Garoppolo Playing in Week 18?
Garoppolo is not listed on the injury report — he will start in place of Matthew Stafford, who will be getting rest in time for the playoffs.
We’ll continue to monitor the Rams’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 18?
We haven’t seen much of Garoppolo since his time with the 49ers, but the snapshot that we got last year with the Raiders wasn’t exactly encouraging if you’re hoping to mine value in a spot start.
Through 17 weeks, the Seahawks ranked fourth in pressure rate and 20th in blitz rate. They excel at speeding up opponents without having to allocate additional resources, and that’s enough to have me looking just about anywhere else.
Garoppolo was a mess when feeling the heat in 2023. The NFL average is a 48.8% completion percentage and a 1.5 TD/INT rate when pressured. Last season, Garoppolo was 16-of-41 (39%) with zero touchdowns and five interceptions.
Add in the fact that he’ll be supported by a skeleton crew, and there’s no reason to go this direction with any level of optimism.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 18 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Jimmy Garoppolo’s Fantasy Points Projection in Week 18
As of Sunday, Garoppolo is projected to score 9.8 fantasy points in Week 18. This includes 150.4 passing yards, 0.9 passing touchdowns, and 0.6 interceptions. It also includes 1.7 rushing attempts for 2.8 yards and 0.1 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insight on the Seahawks' Defense
After three straight weeks of above-average grades, the Seattle Seahawks defense nearly peaked in holding the Chicago Bears to just three points last Thursday night.
The Seahawks posted a 90.5 (A-) grade, the best by any team in Week 17 and the defense's second-best performance of the season. They had a 92.2 back in Week 3 against the Miami Dolphins, also the highest grade that week.
Seattle may not have a household pass rusher that casual fans can name off, but its committee has gotten the job done in 2024. The Seahawks are up to the third-highest non-blitz pressure rate (36.4%) this season, allowing the defense to thrive despite a relative lack of takeaways.
Seahawks fans will be disappointed that they were eliminated from playoff contention, with the Rams narrowly escaping the Cardinals on Saturday night. Still, this unit has improved massively in Mike Macdonald's first campaign after ranking 29th last season.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Jimmy Garoppolo’s Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 7:00 AM ET on Sunday, January 5. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Week 18 Consensus Superflex Rankings.
Week 18 QB PPR Rankings
1) Lamar Jackson | BAL (vs. CLE)
2) Jayden Daniels | WAS (at DAL)
3) Baker Mayfield | TB (vs. NO)
4) Joe Burrow | CIN (at PIT)
5) Sam Darnold | MIN (at DET)
6) Jared Goff | DET (vs. MIN)
7) Jordan Love | GB (vs. CHI)
8) Bo Nix | DEN (vs. KC)
9) Kyler Murray | ARI (vs. SF)
10) Justin Herbert | LAC (at LV)
11) Drake Maye | NE (vs. BUF)
12) Bryce Young | CAR (at ATL)
13) Russell Wilson | PIT (vs. CIN)
14) Geno Smith | SEA (at LAR)
15) Caleb Williams | CHI (at GB)
16) Aaron Rodgers | NYJ (vs. MIA)
17) Joe Flacco | IND (vs. JAX)
18) Michael Penix Jr. | ATL (vs. CAR)
19) Mason Rudolph | TEN (vs. HOU)
20) Aidan O'Connell | LV (vs. LAC)
21) Mac Jones | JAX (at IND)
22) Tanner McKee | PHI (vs. NYG)
23) Kenny Pickett | PHI (vs. NYG)
24) Cooper Rush | DAL (vs. WAS)
25) C.J. Stroud | HOU (at TEN)
26) Drew Lock | NYG (at PHI)
27) Jimmy Garoppolo | LAR (vs. SEA)
28) Carson Wentz | KC (at DEN)
29) Davis Mills | HOU (at TEN)
30) Tyler Huntley | MIA (at NYJ)
31) Joshua Dobbs | SF (at ARI)
32) Spencer Rattler | NO (at TB)
33) Mitchell Trubisky | BUF (at NE)
34) Taylor Heinicke | LAC (at LV)
35) Bailey Zappe | KC (at DEN)
36) Dorian Thompson-Robinson | CLE (at BAL)
37) Sam Howell | SEA (at LAR)
38) Josh Allen | BUF (at NE)
Seahawks at Rams Trends and Insights
Seattle Seahawks
Team: Seattle has lost five of six games from Weeks 4-9 – they are 8-2 otherwise this season.
QB: Geno Smith’s average depth of throw on Thursday night was 3.2 yards, the second shortest in a winning effort of his career (minimum 20 attempts).
Offense: The Seahawks have punted on over 45% of their offensive drives five times this season, all five since the beginning of November (three in the past four weeks).
Defense: In their past six games, the Seahawks have held their opponents to a 32.9% conversion rate on third downs (seven games prior: 46.6%).
Fantasy: DK Metcalf doesn’t have a catch gaining more than 30 yards since Week 7 and doesn’t have a 100-yard game since September.
Betting: The Seahawks are 6-2 ATS in their past eight games played on extended rest.
Los Angeles Rams
Team: The Rams will enter 2025 with the longest active December winning streak, eight straight victories.
QB: Matthew Stafford is completing a career-high 53.5% of his deep passes, those his yards per completed pass on those throws (24.3) is tracking to be a career low (he was over 26 yards in each of the previous 10 seasons).
Offense: Saturday was the Rams’ sixth game this season without committing a turnover this season (6-0 in those games, 4-6 otherwise).
Defense: Over their past three games, Los Angeles has allowed just two red zone touchdowns (and four scores) on seven opponent trips inside their 20-yard line.
Fantasy: Puka Nacua notched his 10th career game with 115+ receiving yards on Saturday, making him the fifth receiver to hit that benchmark in his first two seasons. He can join Justin Jefferson and Odell Beckham as the only players to record 11 such games in the regular season finale.
Betting: Unders are 7-1 in Los Angeles last eight games played on extended rest.