Week 15 Waiver Wire
We are entering the Fantasy Football playoffs. I removed percentages on what I would spend on players because we are at the stage in which there are way too many league specific budgets to make a recommendation. Ask me in chat how you should approach it if you are in that situation.
Note: Every suggestion will be pulled from either the Yahoo or ESPN rostership, and everyone in these articles will be less than 50% rostered on at least one of those sites. Only some leagues are cut and dry the same so this is just a template for a 12 team full PPR league. There may be players that would have made this article but are rostered in over 50% of the leagues on both sites so they were not included because you’re either in a smaller league or bigger league. If you have questions, please get in chat and ask. Going forward, I will list the bye week schedule below as it is going to become more important as we plan for that moving forward.
QB
Jameis Winston (Cleveland Browns)
Jameis is going to continue to sling it as the year runs out and his three playoff opponents are KC, CIN, and MIA. He has the 30 point ceiling we saw in Week 13 and a legitimate floor like we saw last week against the Steelers as he pulled together 15.3 points against a good defense. These next three opponents all have bad pass defenses and offenses to boot that could send all three games nuclear level with Winston.
Desmond Ridder (LV Raiders)
This name is crazy to write here but here we are. The Raiders host the Atlanta Falcons in Week 15 which is an ironic first start for Ridder. He is still relatively new to this system, only being there for about 6 weeks. I fully expect a Joshua Dobbs type run out for Ridder here, using his legs to make things happen when the first or second read isn’t there.
Drake Maye (New England Patriots)
Maye is coming off his Bye week and the last time he played he had a solid 19.4 point performance in Week 13 against the Colts. This week they travel to Arizona, a defense that has held opposing QBs to only 19.2 PPG but this is mainly due to them only allowing 188 rushing yards on the year to opposing QBs, the 5th fewest in the NFL. Drake Maye is a different beast and can go for a large chunk on any play while escaping the pocket like we saw in Week 13, when he ran for 59 yards on five attempts. Mix that with a post Bye rookie bump and I’m aiming for a high floor of 13+ per week from Maye with a 20+ ceiling any given week.
RB
Sincere McCormick (LA Raiders)
McCormick dominated the backfield and play phenomenal ball against a tough opponent in Week 14. Against a tough Bucs run defense, he ran the ball 15 times for 78 yards, catching two of his three targets for 11 yards. He was script independent and even with the Raiders down early, it didn’t matter. He has earned himself a shot at a legit run out here the last month of the season as the Raiders are playing for 2025. The Raiders host the Falcons in Week 15, a game that they will likely be in and McCormick will see a similar workload.
Patrick Taylor (San Francisco 49ers)
In a very Shanahan type of run for the 49ers RBs, Isaac Guerendo got hurt in Week 14 with a sprained foot. We won’t have an update before Week 15 so we need to be prepared for both paths. If Guerendo is fine, Taylor is useless. If Guerendo is out, Taylor becomes a very viable RB2 against the Rams. With this game being on Thursday night, it is very likely Guerendo is out.
Tank Bigsby (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Bigsby is very script dependent but we could get a positive script in Week 15. The Jaguars will host the Jets and are only 3.5 underdogs in this one. With a positive script in Week 14, Bigsby saw 18 carries, for 55 yards and a score. If the Jags are up in this one, expect a similar workload with a target or two mixed in.
Braelon Allen & Isaiah Davis (New York Jets)
I hope you don’t need to rely on either of these backs but in a pinch they can be used as a desperate FLEX. The saving grace here is that the Jets are facing the Jaguars in Week 15, a defense allowing the 2nd most PPR PPG (24.6) to opposing RBs over the last 8 weeks. These backs are both taking a 50/50 split in the backfield with Breece Hall out. In Week 14 Allen got the start but they rotated consistently with Allen finishing with 11 carries for 43 yards and four receptions for 38 yards on five targets while Davis finished with 40 rushing yards and a score on 10 carries with three receptions for 27 yards on six targets. This becomes even more of a cluster fuck if Breece is active this week but they would be insane to play him here. I don’t have a preference for Allen or Davis, whatever one is cheaper in your league which is very likely to be Davis.
Top RB Handcuffs
- Blake Corum (LA Rams)
- Zach Charbonnet (Seattle Seahawks)
- Tyler Allgeier (Atlanta Falcons)
- Ray Davis (Buffalo Bills)
- Isaac Guerendo (San Francisco 49ers)
- Cam Akers (Minnesota Vikings)
- Kenneth Gainwell (Philadelphia Eagles)
- Jimani Vidal (LA Chargers)
- Jeremy McNichols (Washington Commanders)
- Devin Singletary (New York Giants)
- Audric Estime (Denver Broncos)
- Jerome Ford (Cleveland Browns)
- Trey Benson (Arizona Cardinals)
- Sean Tucker (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
- Roschon Johnson (Chicago Bears)
- Braelon Allen (New York Jets)
- Dameon Pierce (Houston Texans)
- Jalen Wright (Miami Dolphins)
- Antonio Gibson (New England Patriots)
- Emanuel Wilson (Green Bay Packers)
- Ezekiel Elliott (Dallas Cowboys)
- Tyler Goodson (Indianapolis Colts)
WR
Adam Thielen (Carolina Panthers)
Bryce Young is balling out and Thielen is performing like I expected Diontae Johnson to perform like before the season. Over the last two games Thielen has caught 17 of his 21 targets for 201 yards and a score with PPR scores of 23.9 and 19.2. There isn’t much more to say except I expect this trend to continue in Week 15 against the Cowboys.
Elijah Moore (Cleveland Browns)
We now have an 6 game sample size with Jameis Winston under center and Elijah Moore leads the Browns WR group with a 22% TPRR with a 21% target rate to boot. He has a respectable 11.6 ADOT and 24% of the team’s air yards. He offers a decent floor, scoring 5.1, 5.8, and 6.4 in his three worst games with Jameis but also has three games of great production of 16.5, 18.6, and 19.2. The Browns close out by facing three good offenses these fantasy playoff weeks against the Chiefs, Bengals, and Dolphins.
Romeo Doubs (Green Bay Packers)
Doubs should be back from his concussion in Week 15, just in time to face off against the Seattle Seahawks. He will run out after the Seahawks with the Saints and Vikings, two profitable matchups. Doubs doesn’t offer much consistency target wise and relying on any of these Packer WRs is brutal but he will play the most snaps upon return of the group and at this point, being on the field is half the battle given the WR pool available.
Jalen McMillan (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Since Chris Godwin went down with his season ending knee injury, McMillan leads the team with an 83% route participation. It finally showed its head in Week 14 as he caught four of his seven targets for a season high 59 yards and two scores. The Bucs defense is awful and this team will likely find itself in a lot of shootouts, unable to pull away. They visit the Chargers in Week 15, another chance for McMillan to see a 85% route participation and 6-8 targets.
TE
Stone Smartt (LA Chargers)
This one is tough so keep an eye on it. I doubt we get any Will Dissly news before waivers run but it would be wise to roster both, if you can. In Week 14 Smartt came in relief for Dissly, who had 2/19 at halftime and Smartt proceeded to drop 54 receiving yards on three receptions. The Chargers host the Bucs in Week 15, a game that could become a shootout and an opponent allowing the 5th most PPR PPG (9.4) to opposing TEs.
Noah Gray (Kansas City Chiefs)
You know the deal by now with Gray. He notched yet another 4 reception game and ended with 6.6 PPR points. He now has four receptions in each of his last four games and 6.6+ in each. The Chiefs play the Browns in Week 15 who is allowing the 8th most PPR PPG (8.9) to opposing TEs.
Daniel Bellinger (New York Giants)
Bellinger saw a season high seven targets in Week 14, catching five of them for 45 yards. There is an increasingly likely chance this team loses every game to end the season and secures the #1 overall pick. On top of that, Malik Nabers is consistently banged up every single week which would open up targets if he were to miss time. The Giants play the Ravens in Week 15 who is allowing the 10th most PPR PPG (7.7) to opposing TEs and the 6th most receptions (75) to the position.
DST
Baltimore Ravens
This is as simple as the Ravens coming off of a Bye week, visiting the New York Giants as 14 point favorites. They should absolutely steamroll the Giants and harass whoever is under center for the Giants all game, especially if Malik Nabers isn’t healthy.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders played well in Week 14, holding the Bucs to only 28 and harassing Baker Mayfield all game. This team did not quit and actually held the Bucs scoreless in the 2nd and 3rd quarters while accruing 4 sacks. This week they host the Atlanta Falcons who have been playing terrible on offense with Kirk Cousins showing major issues with velocity and decision making. He has not thrown a TD since Week 9 and has eight interceptions over that span while absorbing 12 sacks.
Washington Commanders
The Commanders are coming off of their late season Bye week and will be traveling to New Orleans to take on the Saints. The Saints are likely to be without QB Derek Carr and should struggle to formulate any sort of consistent offense. Mix that with a Bye week surge for the Commanders against a poor run defense, the Commanders should be in complete control of this game from start to finish.
