NFL Player News

Smith practiced in full, putting him on track to suit up this week. He missed the Raiders’ Week 15 game against the Eagles, in which Las Vegas’ offense totaled 75 yards. Hopefully, Smith is feeling ready to play. He entered Week 15 with a foot injury, suffered abrasions on his throwing hand’s ring and pinky fingers, plus injured his throwing shoulder and back. The Texans’ elite pass rush will be a problem for him, if he is active.

Jacobs was limited in practice all week but does not carry an injury designation into Saturday’s game against the Ravens. The Packers’ RB1 played through the same injuries last week but wound up playing on just two offensive snaps after he lost a fumble in the third quarter. A loss by the Lions on Thursday means the Packers have officially clinched a playoff berth, and it seems unlikely they would propel themselves to an NFC North title, although, it is still possible. Jacobs is expected to draw the start on Saturday against the Ravens, but given his injuries and the fact the Packers already secured a playoff spot, he’s becoming hard to trust in the fantasy championships.

McCarthy was sidelined for Week 17’s game against the Lions due to a hairline fracture in his throwing hand. The Vikings don’t have anything to play for in the season finale, so there will be little reason to force McCarthy back onto the field if he’s not at or close to 100 percent. The Vikings will evaluate him in the weeks leading up to next week’s game, but it wouldn’t be surprising if we saw Max Brosmer under center to close out a disappointing 2025 campaign for the Vikes.

JuJu, Xavier Worthy, and Hollywood Brown all saw exactly three targets with Rashee Rice sidelined this week. Smith-Schuster somehow led the trio in catches and yards. He isn’t a fantasy option in his own right, but JuJu is preventing any other wideout from stepping up as the team’s No. 1 receiver. Fantasy managers can ignore all three players for their Week 18 showdown with Las Vegas.

Worthy’s box score speaks for itself. Even with Rashee Rice out, the speedy wideout was nowhere to be found. Of course, he did pull off his signature move once again by catching a pass with one foot out of bounds, resulting in an incompletion. A complete lack of spatial awareness has been one of Worthy’s many issues entering the NFL, and he hasn’t made any progress in his second year. We don’t need to tell you this, but Worthy is not on the fantasy radar for Week 18.

Brown has caught more than three passes in two of his last 10 appearances. He has more than five grabs in just one game. That came all the way back in Week 1, when Rashee Rice was still suspended and Xavier Worthy left on the opening drive with a shoulder injury. Brown hasn’t been able to find a consistent role in the offense this year and even the loss of Rashee Rice over the past two weeks hasn’t changed that. He is not on the fantasy radar for Week 18.

Kelce couldn’t get much going in what might have been his final game in Arrowhead Stadium. That was, however, until the last drive of the night, when third-string passer Chris Oladokun connected with him three times for 23 yards. It was the best sendoff the Chiefs could muster for Kelce after losing Patrick Mahomes to a torn ACL two weeks ago. With nothing left to play for in Week 18, Kelce is barely a TE2 to close out the year.

Smith did not carry the ball once for the second week in a row. He last saw more than three attempts in Week 7. He did, however, bring in a goal line touchdown toss from Chris Oladokun. It was the first career score for both players. Smith is good for a handful of catches every week, but his non-existent role on the ground will keep him off the fantasy radar for Week 18.

Pacheco led the team in carries again this week, though it didn’t make a differnce for his fantasy outlook. Kareem Hunt still saw seven attempts. Brashard Smith also stole all of the receiving work a week after Pacheco caught six passes. That proved to be the difference between Pacheco being a PPR RB3 and barely appearing in the box score at all. Without the pass-catching work to juice his fantasy numbers, Pacheco is not on the menu for Week 18 DFS players, even in a plus matchup with the Raiders.

Hunt only saw three carries last week, so this goes down as an improvement of sorts. He also led the Chiefs in rushing yards despite Isiah Pacheco earning two more attempts. Neither back caught a pass. That all went to Brashard Smith. With the backfield work being split three ways and the Chiefs’ offense floundering under Chris Oladokun, Hunt can be ignored in all fantasy formats next week.

Oladokun added 11 yards on two carries. The third-string quarterback was under constant pressure from the Broncos’ vaunted pass-rush. The fact that he took just one sack is wildly impressive, even if he came close to taking several more. Andy Reid doesn’t want Oladokun throwing often and he isn’t taking many downfield looks. To no one’s surprise, this has tanked the Chiefs’ offense. Oladokun will not be on the fantasy radar for Week 18. His presence under center makes the Chiefs a no-man’s land for fantasy purposes.