Quick note for this week. Use your FAAB bucks. I’m going to refrain from putting suggested amounts by the players names for the playoffs because, at this point, scaling is out of the window. We only have three weeks remaining of waivers for most leagues, so you should be aggressive with using your FAAB. It’s like vacation time, you can’t take it to next year with you. You should also be focusing more on optimizing your starting lineup over depth pieces and looking forward to Weeks 16 and 17. Depth isn’t nearly as important as we dive into must-win scenarios. Ask me in chat if you are caught between what pickups to make and how much to spend. 

QB

Jared Goff (Detroit Lions)

Jared Goff should be viewed as a weekly top 12 QB, but his team faces off against a top five defensive pass unit in the NFL in Week 15. So there should be some caution proceeding here. The Lions are visiting the Jets, so this could turn into a rough one where players under perform with frustration. However, Goff has a great Week 17 matchup, at home against the Bears. With the insane amount of weapons around him, all he has to do is distribute the ball and he is one of the better QBs in the NFL when that is all he has to do. 

 

Mike White (New York Jets) 

We need to keep an eye on Mike White’s health entering this week but if he gets the go, which he should, he has a smash spot against the Lions Sunday. The Lions defense has played better, but this is mainly because of increased success stopping the run. They are still unable to stop anything in the air, which benefits White. Before the ugly Bills game in Week 14, he scored 24.8 against the Bears in Week 12 and 17.5 against the Vikings in Week 13. White offers a solid floor and prolonged streaming ability since he will face the Jaguars, Seahawks and Dolphins to end the season, all three of which are plus opponents for White.

 

Mac Jones (New England Patriots)

Mac will face off against the Raiders in Week 15. The Raiders are a premium matchup within itself but Mac has been playing better as of late. He scored 23.3 fantasy points against the Vikings in Week 12 and 12.5 against the tough Bills in Week 13. Coming off of a bye, I would expect Mac lands somewhere in that 17-20 range for Week 15.

 

RB

Chubba Hubbard (Carolina Panthers)

I watched almost every snap of the Panthers game against the Seahawks in Week 15 and Hubbard looked like the superior back over Foreman. This backfield is somewhat turning into a 3-headed beast with Hubbard having the most valuable role. Hubbard saw only 31.9% of the offensive snaps, but he ended up with the same amount of yards on only ⅔ of the carries. Hubbard also saw just as many goal line touches and three targets where Foreman only saw one target. Having the ability to add 5.5 PPR points through the air is a nice floor. We also have the added bonus where he is a great handcuff if anything were to happen to Foreman. The Panthers play the Steelers in Week 15, another game script projected to be like Week 14’s win in Seattle.

 

Cam Akers (LA Rams)

Akers is the 1A in LA for the Rams. He is taking 55% of the running back carries and is getting all of the goal line work. I think the Rams want to push him to see if he actually is going to be a back for them in 2022. As I mentioned last week, the Rams have a fantastic schedule to run the year out for Akers. He will face GB, DEN, LAC, and then SEA. If he can get 12-17 carries a game like he has averaged the last month, he will continue to churn out about a 10-point PPR average as the season closes out. 

 

Gus Edwards (Baltimore Ravens)

JK Dobbins played great on Sunday against the Steelers in Week 14 but he didn’t look right. He didn’t look like he trusted himself, he didn’t have the long stride speed we’re used to and Gus was the one who was the hammer to close the game out. Even with Dobbins being the hot hand, he only out-carried Gus 15 to 13. I expect Gus to take on a 1A role for this team moving forward with Dobbins spelling him while his knee gets right. The Ravens play the Cleveland Browns in Week 15, which presents an elite matchup. After that they will face the Falcons and Steelers again to round out the standard fantasy football playoffs. Gus should be viewed as a solid FLEX for those three games.

 

Jerick McKinnon (Kansas City Chiefs)

The Chiefs backfield is narrowed down to a two-headed beast at this point. The Chiefs are ramping up McKinnon after babying him all season in the pass game. In Week 14, McKinnon had a monster game where he caught seven of his nine targets for 112 receiving yards and two receiving TDs. I would typically have McKinnon higher with this type of ceiling but the Chiefs have a soft schedule as they close the season. Their backfield is predictable in the sense that, as heavy favorites, they are likely to lean more on Pacheco than McKinnon. The Chiefs visit Houston in Week 15, home against Seattle in Week 16 and close out the fantasy playoffs facing Denver at home in Week 17. All three of these matchups I envision the Chiefs being at least a 7-point favorite and all three of them have below average to putrid rush defenses. 

WR

Donovan Peoples-Jones (Cleveland Browns) 

I’ve admittedly been stubborn on DPJ this year because I just don’t think he was good when he was drafted. He is proving me wrong on the main things I look at for productive WRs, which includes earning targets. He is playing nearly every snap for the Browns and is earning almost a 20% target share. He has averaged 10.2 PPR points per game this year and eight double digit performances, with six of them coming in his last eight games. He offers a solid floor and displays the 19.4 ceiling that we saw in Week 14, even without a TD. It seemed like Watson was gelling with DPJ over Amari in this game and that could be due to the various injuries that Amari is playing through. DPJ has a favorable schedule to run out the season with the Ravens at home in Week 15 and the Saints also at home in Week 16. The Commanders are a neutral matchup for DPJ in Week 17 and as of right now should be considered a WR3 moving forward. 

 

Elijah Moore (New York Jets)

Moore ended up taking 82.4% of the offensive snaps in his Week 14 matchup against the Bills. This is mainly because Corey Davis played only nine snaps before leaving the game with an injury. Moore saw 10 targets in this game and now has seen 16 over his last two games, pulling in eight of them for 67 scoreless yards, with 60 of them coming this past week against the Bills. If Corey Davis continues to miss, the volume will be there for Elijah Moore, who is clearly the second best WR on this team.

 

Darius Slayton (New York Giants)

Slayton and Richie James have both emerged as the top targets for Daniel Jones on this Giants offense. Since Week 7, Slayton has scored at least 11.6 PPR points in at least six of the nine games the Giants have played. He has seen at least six targets in six of them as well and at least 42 yards receiving in eight of those nine. Slayton has the average depth of target advantage over Ritchie James so Slayton’s targets are higher quality. This consistency should continue throughout the season as the Giants try to secure a wild card spot. 

 

Richie James (New York Giants)

Richie James isn’t that far off for me from Darius Slayton. Over the last four games, James has actually out-scored Slayton and scored at least 13.8 PPR points in three of those four games. James is lining up in the slot about 82% of his snaps, seeing higher percentage targets. The Giants have a favorable playoff schedule, with the Commanders (average) in Week 15 followed by the Vikings in Week 16 and Colts in Week 17. 

 

DJ Chark (Detroit Lions)

I think expectations should be tempered a little bit with DJ Chark. Chark is an average at best NFL WR and has pieced together back to back games with 40+ yard receptions. Over his last three games however, he has seen 18 targets, pulling in 13 of them for 208 yards and two scores. He has averaged 15.27 PPR points over this span. In Week 15, he has a tough matchup against the stingy secondary of the Jets and doesn’t have a positive matchup again until Week 17. I am concerned for Chark on volume and I do think that Jameson Williams will continue to grow his role in this offense. However, his production cannot be ignored and, if you need a WR, you can toss Chark in your lineup. 

 

TE

Tyler Conklin (New York Jets) 

The Jets will take on the Lions at home this week in a game both teams will need to win to progress into the playoff hunt. The Lions are playing better as of late and shouldn’t be viewed as an elite matchup but the volume is there for Conklin still, where even a neutral matchup is attractive in the TE market. Over the last two weeks Conklin has seen 15 targets, but pulled in only seven of them for 37 yards. I expect that to improve and in this baron TE landscape, 7-8 targets with an increased chance of scoring is the best we can ask for at this point of the season.

 

Juwan Johnson (New Orleans Saints)

Before his predictable Week 12 dud, Juwan Johnson had scored 12+ PPR points in four of his previous five games. He had at least a TD and 32+ yards in all four of those games. This week he will face the Falcons who have been unable to stop the TE position all season long. Look for 5-7 targets and a look or two in the endzone for Johnson. 

 

Hunter Henry (New England Patriots)

I’ve mentioned a few times in the previous weeks how beautiful the Patriots schedule is for Henry as the season runs out. In Week 15 he will face off against the Raiders. He gets the Bengals in Week 16 and then the Dolphins in Week 16. Henry gets the red zone looks and about 4-5 targets a game. In elite matchups, 10+ fantasy points from the TE position is pure gold right now.

 

DST

Green Bay Packers

The Packers are coming off of a bye and are a team that still thinks they are in the playoff hunt. They are one of the better pass defenses in the NFL but poor against the run. The Rams are going to try and run the ball but talent deficiency is likely going to hinder that. Baker Mayfield had a fun night last Thursday, leading the Rams to a come from behind 17-16 victory over the Raiders but we’ve seen a lot of Baker Mayfield. It is more likely than not that Baker just is a bad NFL QB rather than Sean McVay magically fixed him in 48 hours. Once the Rams are forced to pass, the Packers are going to feast on the mistake prone QB.

 

Carolina Panthers

Steve Wilks has his defense playing at a high level. They just went into Seattle and forced Geno Smith into two interceptions, and close to a third, while sacking him three times. This week they are at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who likely trot out Mitch Trubisky. Trubisky just tossed three redzone INTs against the Ravens in Week 14. I expect more of the same in Week 15.

 

Minnesota Vikings  

The Vikings are going to be at home on Saturday afternoon facing the Indianapolis Colts. The Vikings downfalls have come in the air but the Colts have one of the worst passing offenses in the NFL. The Colts offense is run through Jonathan Taylor, which is where the Vikings excel. If the Colts get Jonathan Taylor going on the ground, it is going to be a long day for Matt Ryan.

 

Looking Forward

As I’ve mentioned, at this point in the season. streaming forward on DST’s is a great strategy to get ahead of future waiver wires. I’ve listed out some streamers I like for the future weeks. This obviously can change as the weeks progress with injuries, weather, etc. 

 

Week 16 DST

DET

TEN

DEN

LAC

LV

 

Week 17 DST

DET

TB

LAC

JAX

NYG