Quarterbacks

Ryan Tannehill (TEN) – He just keeps on producing. Part of the reason it’s so hard to believe that Tannehill is doing so well is because he isn’t throwing the ball that much. He’s been incredibly efficient with multiple touchdown passes in six of his last seven games. On top of that he has three rushing touchdowns as well. Next week is no different. The Texans secondary is incredibly weak and their pass rush was non-existent last week, save for one sack. Drew Lock made the Houston secondary look terrible and Tannehill, with how well he’s playing, is a damn good play next week in the semifinals for most fantasy football leagues. Week 16 is a little worrisome against the Saints, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Tannehill will be a popular streamer this week.

Mitchell Trubisky (CHI) – This is a massive risk. I’d much rather prefer Tannehill than Trubisky, but Trubisky’s playing better of late. He has nine total touchdowns in his last three games with at least 240 passing yards in each game. Unlike the other quarterbacks on this list, Trubisky is throwing it more than them. He has at least 31 pass attempts in four straight games. The matchup this week is a little difficult, let’s be transparent on that. It’s in Lambeau Field for a rematch of the Week 1 snoozefest where the Packers won 10-3. But if you can get away with Trubisky this week he gets a home matchup next week against the Chiefs and he’ll be a very appealing streamer for Championship Week.

Drew Lock (DEN) – Denver’s rookie quarterback looked very impressive last week against the Texans. I mentioned David Blough over him last week and that was a big mistake as I was concerned about Lock’s pass attempts. And to be fair, he still only threw it 28 times. However, you can’t argue against 300+ passing yards and three touchdowns. He now has five touchdowns in two starts and he gets a matchup against the Chiefs. Arrowhead Stadium is difficult to play in, but he proved last week that he could pick apart a weak secondary and the Broncos will likely be playing from behind. I wouldn’t recommend him in a 12-team league, but he’s viable in deeper leagues.

Eli Manning (NYG) – Eli got the start on Monday night and he actually looked pretty good. The completion percentage wasn’t great, but in the first half alone he threw for over 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns. We should operate under the assumption that Daniel Jones is still “hurt” and that Eli will start next week against Miami. So the matchup alone makes him a must add as he could have a solid day for fantasy purposes.

 

Running Backs

Raheem Mostert (SF) – For the second straight week, and in a week where Matt Breida returned, Raheem Mostert was the featured back in the 49ers offense. Now Breida still looked good when he did carry the ball, but this bodes terribly for Tevin Coleman , who has carried the ball just eight times in his last two games. Next week it might all be up in the air again. Sure, Mostert’s led the team the last two weeks and he’s scored four times in his last three games. But Breida might get a few more carries and the 49ers play the Falcons so there’s a revenge game narrative for Coleman. It’s a mess, but Mostert is definitely worth adding at the moment.

Adrian Peterson (WSH) – Derrius Guice has already been ruled out for Washington’s Week 15 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. This presents a tremendous opportunity for Peterson, who has scored in back-to-back games with at least 75 rushing yards in both contests. The good news is that he’ll be fed. The bad news is that he faces the Eagles. Philadelphia allows the third-fewest rushing yards per game although they have allowed eight rushing touchdowns on the year. It’s not a great matchup and you still can’t feel great about deploying him, but if you lost Guice or you’re a Josh Jacobs owner, you might be turning to AP in Week 15 with the hopes he finds the end zone once or twice.

DeAndre Washington /Jalen Richard (OAK) – Speaking of Josh Jacobs , if he’s unable to play again this Sunday then the Oakland backfield is in line for a phenomenal matchup against a terrible defensive line. The Jaguars recently allowed three straight opponents to run for over 200 yards and last week the Chargers totaled 195 yards and a pair of scores. Washington and Richard likely won’t combine for 200 yards, nor will they likely even get to 150. But it’s still a great matchup for the Oakland running game especially for Washington who saw a large amount of the work in Jacobs’ absence.

Bilal Powell (NYJ) – While Jen Piacenti may have been right that Bilal Powell was a trap, I won’t complain about the 10.8 fantasy points he got me in a PPR league. It helped me (the eighth seed) beat my opponent (the top seed). I’m completely against eight teams making the playoffs in any format, but alas, I’m moving on in that league. But next week’s matchup isn’t nearly as favorable as last week’s was. It’s a short week of prep for the Jets as they play the Ravens Thursday night and that’s not a matchup we want to target right now. However, in deeper leagues you might be forced to start him. Regardless, if you don’t like Powell then check out the next guy on the list who could be a little more useful in PPR formats.

Patrick Laird (MIA) – A week after averaging 0.5 yards per carry, Laird improved to 3.2 YPC with 48 yards on 15 carries. It also helps his PPR value that he’s caught at least four passes in back-to-back games and three of his last four. The Dolphins will play in their second-straight game in the Meadowlands after playing the Jets last week in New Jersey. Next week they’ll face the Giants and with nobody else really getting touches in the backfield, Laird is an intriguing Flex play in deeper leagues.

Boston Scott (PHI) – This is primarily a deep-league suggestion. Miles Sanders briefly left Monday night’s game against the Giants and Boston Scott got featured a little more. As of this writing, Scott had 128 scrimmage yards on 16 touches with a touchdown. The injury to Sanders isn’t serious. He was dealing with some cramping due to dehydration, but Wentz became a pretty big fan of Boston Scott in the second half. Again, this is just a deep-league addition. This was also Scott’s first career game with over ten touches, but he made the most of them.

 

Wide Receivers

Zach Pascal (IND) – I whiffed on mentioning Pascal last week. He left a bad taste in my mouth after putting him in this article a month or so ago. But we won’t be making that mistake again. With T.Y. Hilton potentially done for the year Pascal could be the top receiver in the Colts offense. It’s not official that Hilton’s out, but it’s a possibility. In his last two games Pascal has 12 catches on 19 targets for 183 yards and a touchdown. The Colts get a pretty tempting matchup next week against the Saints on the road in primetime. While it’s a great matchup for the Saints, the Colts offense could put up some points. The Saints secondary has been pretty bad against opposing wide receivers as of late. Pascal is a low-end WR2 for Week 15 and easily the wide receiver you should be looking to add since Hilton may not play again next week.

Anthony Miller (CHI) – He didn’t get the target share that we’ve seen from him in recent weeks, but he found the end zone on Sunday, so he remains involved in the offensive gameplan. On four targets he only caught three passes for 42 yards and the aforementioned score. He had 33 targets in the three games leading up to last Sunday and I like to think they try to keep him involved especially with a pair of big matchups on the horizon against the Packers and the Chiefs. Do not keep sleeping on Miller, his ownership is still too low.

A.J. Brown (TEN) – Brown looks like he is Ryan Tannehill ’s favorite target. Tannehill isn’t throwing it a ton, but he’s a big play threat as we’ve seen the last couple weeks. In two of his last three games, Brown has recorded over 130 receiving yards and scored. He’s a solid candidate to score again on Sunday against the Texans at home. He’s fast and very elusive and it’ll be fun to see him match up against the weak Texans secondary.

Darius Slayton (NYG) – With Eli Manning under center on Monday night, Slayton benefitted greatly. Hell, he even benefitted when Daniel Jones was under center, but Jones looked his way more often when Sterling Shephard and Evan Engram were both out. Engram was still out Monday night and Slayton shined with Eli. Through the first half alone he had a pair of touchdowns and over 100 receiving yards. He came into the game with 30 targets in his previous three games and he’s becoming a weapon that is being featured more and more in the Giants offense. Slayton and the Giants play Miami next week and he’s definitely a Flex play even in shallower leagues.

Diontae Johnson (PIT) – This isn’t necessarily a league winner right here, but Devlin Hodges targeted Johnson eight times on Sunday. Johnson caught six of those for 60 yards and a touchdown in a winning effort on the road in Arizona. Now the Steelers get a very difficult matchup next week against the Bills, but it’s a home game and he now has 19 targets in his last three games. That’s nowhere near the workload of Pascal, Slayton, or Miller but in deeper leagues he might be worth picking up.

 

Tight Ends

Tyler Higbee (LAR) – The ownership is still just too low for Higbee. He now has back-to-back games with seven catches for 100+ yards. As long as Gerald Everett remains sidelined, what reason do the Rams have to take targets away from Higbee? Next week the Rams face the Cowboys and while Dallas has been better against tight ends of late, they struggled mightily earlier in the year and you can’t deny the workload Higbee has been getting lately. The two players listed below have better matchups, but Higbee’s been very impressive the last couple weeks and is startable in 12-team leagues.

Noah Fant (DEN) – Fant’s acknowledgement in this article comes with the caveat that he’s currently dealing with a bruised foot and a hip issue. It’s only Monday night (as of this writing) and I imagine Fant would play in a big divisional matchup on Sunday. The Broncos have no shot at making the playoffs, but it’s still a game you believe Fant wants to play in. The Chiefs struggle to defend tight ends. Prior to Sunday’s game against New England, the Chiefs had surrendered four straight games of at least seven catches and 55 receiving yards to opposing tight ends. If Fant’s active he’s a Top 12 play at the position, possibly even Top 8.

Ian Thomas (CAR) – Ian Thomas stepped in as the starting tight end over Greg Olsen and assumed all his targets and then some. Thomas ultimately finished with five catches on ten targets for 57 yards and a touchdown. Assuming Thomas fills in for Greg Olsen again next week as the starting tight end, he gets a great matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. Similar to Fant’s matchup next week, the Seahawks are awful against opposing tight ends. Over their last three games the Seahawks have allowed opposing tight ends to catch 33 passes for 303 yards and two touchdowns. Based on Fant’s health you could make the argument that Thomas is the better waiver add this week.

Hayden Hurst /Nick Boyle (BAL) – Assuming Mark Andrews is inactive for Thursday’s matchup against the Jets, then Hurst and Boyle could likely benefit from more targets. Andrews did not practice on Monday, but head coach John Harbaugh downplayed the injury and said it wasn’t serious. The three players listed above are easily better options. Hurst and Boyle are mostly deep league suggestions and figuring out who would score between the two would come down to a coin flip.

 

Defense/Special Teams

Cleveland Browns – The Browns defense hasn’t done much since they lost Myles Garrett for the season. They have just three sacks in their last two games, but they’ve held those opponents to a total of 39 points. This week they’ll face the Cardinals who have been struggling a little bit offensively. It looks as if opposing defenses have figured out Kyler Murray so this is a good matchup for the Browns secondary. I’d feel better about this game if it were home for the Brownies, but that is not the case. Tread carefully with the Browns in shallower leagues.

Tennessee Titans – The D/ST streamers this week are not great based on availability across a majority of formats. The Titans have one of the better matchups this week, and even it is a little worrisome. The Texans will be out for blood after being embarrassed at home by the Broncos. The Titans, however, have recorded a defensive/special teams’ touchdown in back-to-back games (which isn’t something you can predict), while also forcing four turnovers and five sacks in their last two games. They’re a very sneaky defense and at home we’ll take a gamble on them. The Texans will easily be favored in this game and the scoring expectancy will likely be high.

Oakland Raiders – I’m not too fond of suggesting D/ST’s that have scored negative points in fantasy five times on the season and twice in the last three weeks. However, they do host the Jaguars this week and the Jacksonville offense is a bit of a mess. They’ve put up a dud in back-to-back weeks regardless of who is under center. If you’re streaming the Raiders just count your blessings if you can get five or six points out of them. They don’t force many turnovers or sacks, but this is one of the better matchups they’ve in the last few weeks and the Jaguars have to travel cross country.