5 breakout fantasy football stars to pick up for Week 18

2. Top Fantasy Football Pickups For Week 18 – Los Angeles Chargers RB Joshua Kelley

One of the reasons it is so hard to play fantasy football in Week 18 is you don’t know how each team will treat the week. The Los Angeles Chargers are a good example of this because they are firmly locked into a wild card spot but have little to gain by going full throttle in Week 18 against a Denver Broncos team going nowhere fast.

The bet here is that Los Angeles plays its starters for a series or two and then rests everyone for the playoffs. This would create a huge chasm at running back as Austin Ekeler, one of the league’s best fantasy players at the position, may see a rather light workload in Week 18.

This would open the door for a big day from his backup, Joshua Kelley, who carried nine times for 45 yards as the Chargers blew out the Rams in the battle for Los Angeles. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Kelley get upwards of 15 carries against the Broncos while practice squad call-up Larry Rountree also fills in.

Going for Kelley, who is rostered in seven percent of leagues, is admittedly a speculative play. Teams in need of help at the flex position could certainly roll the dice here and hope they hit the jackpot with a big effort from him.