NFL DFS, Week 18: Top DraftKings, FanDuel daily Fantasy football picks, advice, strategy for Sunday, Jan. 9

Unlike previous years, the final week of the NFL season isn’t expected to be one where many teams rest their top players in anticipation of the postseason. That’s because the playoff seeds are so fluid with the Green Bay Packers the only team who has locked up its spot, and even with that, both Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams have expressed their desires to play in Week 18. Thus, this week’s NFL DFS lineups shouldn’t look drastically different than weeks prior with a combo of big-name players and hidden gems. One player who could fall into the latter category is Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard, who has become a bigger part of the offense in recent weeks.

Lazard has scored a touchdown in three out of the last four weeks and has been a top-15 player at his position on both FanDuel and DraftKings over that stretch. He’s also low enough on the depth chart that he could see time with Jordan Love or other reserves if the Packers do elect to pull their starters early. Before making your Week 18 NFL DFS picks, be sure to check out the NFL DFS advice, strategy and stacks from SportsLine daily Fantasy expert Mike McClure. 

McClure is a legendary professional DFS player with almost $2 million in career winnings. His methodology has led to enormous cashes on FanDuel and DraftKings. He took down two high-stakes tournaments on FanDuel in 2020 and recorded a pair top-10 finishes in tournaments with over 130,000 entrants on DraftKings. His lineups also finished inside the top 1 percent in more than a dozen other tournaments last season.

He uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every snap of NFL action, taking factors such as matchups, statistical trends and injuries into account. This allows him to find the best DFS values that he shares only with members at SportsLine.

Now, McClure has turned his attention to Week 18 and locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.

Top NFL DFS picks for Week 18

One of McClure’s top NFL DFS picks for Week 18 is Bears running back David Montgomery at $6,800 on DraftKings and $7,600 on FanDuel. Montgomery outscored the Giants by himself last week as he scored two touchdowns in a 29-3 victory. He also had 64 rushing yards and 17 receiving yards as he’s topped 80 scrimmage yards in five straight weeks.

One of those five games came against the Bears’ Week 18 opponent, the Minnesota Vikings. Montgomery had 83 yards from scrimmage vs. Minnesota three weeks ago, which was actually a down performance considering his previous success against the divisional rival. Montgomery has averaged 106.3 scrimmage yards in four career games vs. the Vikings, who rank 27th against the run this year. Minnesota just allowed over 200 scrimmage yards to Green Bay’s ball carriers last week, so Montgomery is a must-start against their porous defense on Sunday.

Part of McClure’s optimal NFL DFS strategy includes rostering Rams receiver Cooper Kupp ($9,700 on DraftKings and $10,000 on FanDuel), who posted a 6-95-1 stat line last week and has at least 92 receiving yards in all but one game this year. Kupp is on pace to hold the fourth receiving Triple Crown since the merger as he leads the NFL in receptions (138), receiving yards (1,829) and receiving touchdowns (15).

The Rams still have something to play for in Week 18 so Kupp should see a full complement of snaps, which boosts his NFL DFS value. He also gets to face a 49ers defense that Kupp torched in Week 10, securing 11 catches for 122 yards. San Francisco has been shredded by opposing receivers this year and has allowed nine receiving TDs to wideouts alone over the last six weeks. Lock Kupp in your NFL DFS lineups and look for a big return against the 49ers. 

How to set NFL DFS lineups for Week 18

McClure is also targeting an undervalued player who is set to explode for huge numbers in Week 18. This pick could be the difference between winning your tournaments and cash games or going home with nothing. You can only see who it is here. 

So who is Mike McClure putting in his optimal NFL DFS lineups for Week 18? Visit SportsLine now to see optimal NFL DFS picks, rankings, advice, and stacks, all from a daily Fantasy expert with nearly $2 million in winnings, and find out.