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Tuesday, December 10, 2024 |
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And here's Beyond the Box Score part two, where Dan and I did our best to prepare you for the first week of the Fantasy playoffs in under an hour. |
Week 15 Waiver Wire |
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Waiver Wire |
Quarterback |
Drake Maye -- You know the drill. We live and die by Maye here. He's QB15 in my Week 15 rankings. |
Bryce Young -- He's QB21 in my Week 15 rankings. His performance has been much better than the box scores imply. He almost beat the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs! Next up is a much easier matchup against the Cowboys. |
Running Back |
Sincere McCormick -- He's clearly the top waiver wire pickup (unless Adam Thielen is available! He's only rostered in 52% of CBS leagues?!) at this point, in my opinion. The Raiders gave him 94% of the RB rush attempts last week. He's looked good both weeks. Sure, the offense may suck with Desmond Ridder steering the rudder; my expectation is that we'll see the Raiders lean into the run game as much as possible. With a fine (20 points) implied total for a Week 15 matchup vs. a struggling Atlanta Falcons defense, the Raiders offense may honestly be fine. That's the same number of points that Jonathan Taylor's and Rhamondre Stevenson's offenses are implied for. |
Patrick Taylor -- I guess. I'm not using a waiver claim or FAAB on him anywhere. I picked up Israel Abanikanda in Dynasty leagues last week, he's who I'll look to stash if I can add him for free in season-long leagues this week. His one-cut running style fits Kyle Shanahan's system, and the speed is real. You can think of him as a Tevin Coleman-lite kind of RB. With San Fran on a short week, it wouldn't surprise me to see Deebo Samuel and Kyle Juszczyk handle the bulk of the backfield work in Week 15. |
Tyjae Spears -- The remaining matchups are awesome. If Tony Pollard misses any time, Spears could be a league-winner. |
Kimani Vidal -- His role didn't change any in Week 14, but Vidal again looked like the back with more juice of the Chargers options. Below are my notes from his Week 13 game. |
"He got the first touch on the second drive of the game in Week 13. The Chargers mixed him in several spots throughout the game. He gave up a sack on a pass pro rep and then was still out there for third down on the very next play (not a hurry-up situation). It feels like the Chargers are intrigued by Vidal and might not want Gus Edwards to see much of a role expansion. Also, Hassan Haskins fumbled in this game." |
Haskins was removed from the equation in Week 14. He played one snap. |
Other stashes, in order of how I'd prioritize adding/holding them: |
Blake Corum Ray Davis Khalil Herbert Trey Benson Cam Akers Jaylen Wright Kendre Miller |
Wide Receiver |
Xavier Legette -- This link should take you to the moment at which I discuss the Carolina Panthers in the Week 15 Beyond the Box Score. Definitely pick up Adam Thielen if he's available. And you could do worse than Xavier Legette if looking for Week 15 upside, honestly. He's getting a lot of downfield looks, and Bryce Young is delivering catchable balls. |
Rashod Bateman -- Speaking of upside, the Ravens could easily hang 50 on the banged-up Giants defense in Week 15. Bateman may literally score zero Fantasy points, but he also could have two touchdowns. |
Dontayvion Wicks -- If you want a "safer" play (hahaha we are laughing!), then Wicks could be considered an option. Only if Romeo Doubs (still in concussion protocol) doesn't play. If so, Wicks will likely rank second on the Packers in routes run in a potential shootout. Seattle's defense has been nasty to close out the season, and Wicks hasn't exactly been lighting it up, but this is the player who led the Packers in first-read targets in Week 14. |
Ray-Ray McCloud -- I guess this is the safest option on the board. He's had plenty of bust games too. But the target volume has been there recently and the Raiders play a lot of cloud coverage and generally keep opposing targets where their safeties can see them. We may see a whole lot of short targets go McCloud's way. Maybe you can PPR scam your way to a decent bridge-the-gap kind of game from your flex spot with ole Ray-Ray this week. I'm not going there, personally. |
Devaughn Vele -- He's seeing targets and looks good but has only been on the field about half of the time. Maybe his role increases coming out of Denver's Week 14 bye. |
Jalen McMillan -- The matchups are good, the Bucs love the rookie, and he ran a route on almost every dropback last week. |
Brandin Cooks -- He gets the Panthers and then the Bucs and was not limited in Week 14. |
Tight End |
Juwan Johnson -- The Saints continue to lose offensive weapons, leaving Johnson as one of the last men standing. He brings sneaky streamer upside with several winnable matchups remaining. Obviously, losing Derek Carr dampens his outlook. |
Ja'Tavion Sanders -- His route rate (54%) wasn't high enough in his first game back for Sanders to matter, but he might be helpful down the line. In Week 15, Carolina faces Dallas. After that, the Panthers face an Arizona defense that has been the best in the league at limiting first-read targets. Maybe we see Sanders get more involved in that game. Week 17 brings the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense, that game has sneaky shootout potential. Sanders could finish his lowkey impressive rookie season on a strong note! |
Week 15 Rankings |
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Quarterback |
I'll sort these rankings into tiers in the Thursday update. Check back on Thursday if you want tiers. |
("ECR" = expert consensus rank. These images show my rankings and how they compare to consensus, courtesy of FantasyPros) |
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Running Backs |
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I'll sort these rankings into tiers in the Thursday update. Check back on Thursday if you want tiers. |
("ECR" = expert consensus rank. These images show my rankings and how they compare to consensus, courtesy of FantasyPros) |
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Wide Receivers |
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I'll sort these rankings into tiers in the Thursday update. Check back on Thursday if you want tiers. |
("ECR" = expert consensus rank. These images show my rankings and how they compare to consensus, courtesy of FantasyPros) |
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Tight Ends |
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I'll sort these rankings into tiers in the Thursday update. Check back on Thursday if you want tiers. |
("ECR" = expert consensus rank. These images show my rankings and how they compare to consensus, courtesy of FantasyPros) |
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If you have any feedback on the newsletter, feel free to send it my way! Thank you for reading! And please, do check out Beyond the Boxscore on FFT! Adam, Dan, and I put a lot of work into that podcast project and aim to make it fun and accessible for any level of NFL fan! |
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