2023 has been the year of the backup QB, but if you're still playing Fantasy Football into Week 18, you haven't seen anything yet. As of Tuesday morning, we aren't projecting or ranking Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Brock Purdy, Matthew Stafford, or Joe Flacco to play in Week 18. And if a couple of those guys do play it may only be for a quarter or two.
In their place, we're projecting Blaine Gabbert, Tyler Huntley, Sam Darnold, Carson Wentz, and P.J. Walker. While those guys aren't the guys you would like to turn to in the Fantasy championship (you should move your championship game to Week 17) Gabbert and Darnold are interesting because of their coach and offensive system while Huntley's legs make him intriguing.
Thankfully, it sounds like the Cowboys will be playing their starters, because Dak Prescott is my No. 1 QB this week. Prescott is in a dogfight with Jackson to finish the season as a top three Fantasy QB and a matchup against a Commanders defense that has surrendered the second-most Fantasy points to QBs this season should easily put him over the top.
My full set of projections for quarterback and every other position can be found at SportsLine. Here's everything else you need to know about quarterback in Week 18:
300,000 -- Baker Mayfield will earn $300,000 for finishing in the top 10 in the NFL in any of these categories (current rank): Passer Rating (9th), TD passes (4th), passing yards (8th), completion percentage (18th), yards per attempt (9th).
360.5 -- Jordan Love currently ranks as QB5 in total Fantasy points with 360.5. If Jackson sits out, Love would only need 19 Fantasy points to move up to QB4.
20 -- Dak Prescott has scored at least 20 Fantasy points in nine of his last 10 games.
240 -- Tua Tagovailoa has only topped 240 passing yards once in the last month. He went over that mark in each of his first six games and nine of his first 11.
20.8 -- Tyrod Taylor was QB12 last week with 20.8 Fantasy points. This week he faces an Eagles defense that has given up the most Fantasy points to opposing QBs.
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Carr has thrown 10 touchdown passes in his last four games and ranks as QB10 over that stretch in total Fantasy points. He'll be at home, in a dome, with something to play for. You can't ask for much more out of a Week 18 streamer.
Taylor has now started and finished three games for the Giants this season. He's topped 20 Fantasy points in two of three and he's averaged 266 passing yards and 33 rushing yards per game. Add in the cake matchup and Taylor is a fine starting option.
Prescott has one last chance to make his case before the MVP voters and it just happens to come against arguably the worst pass defense in the league. Hopefully the Cowboys road woes will hold down Prescott's roster rate. I expect more people to play cheap QBs this week, so I'll pay up for Prescott in tournaments.
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Heath's projections
My full set of Week 18 Fantasy Footballprojections for every position are now available on SportsLine. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 18. Projected stats for all starting quarterbacks are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.
