Welcome back to Lucid Streams. Our goal here is going to change now that we’re into the fantasy playoff weeks. No longer will we dig through the players at the bottom of the barrel to find fantasy football sleepers. Sure, if there are options that can help you in a given week who are likely on the waiver wire, I’ll point those out to you. Mostly, though, I am shifting my focus to finding underappreciated players who might be better plays than some of the players you’d normally start, as well as steering you away from any players who might let you down and force an early playoff exit.
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Wide Receiver Starts Week 15
Adam Thielen, Carolina Panthers
This one will definitely feel gross, but Thielen can help you advance in the playoffs. Bryce Young is looking more and more like an NFL-caliber quarterback every week, and a finally healthy Thielen has slotted right back in as his top target. Despite facing Philly’s defense, which has been the league’s toughest vs. WRs, Thielen turned 11 targets into nine catches for 102 yards in Week 14. This week, he faces a very mid Cowboys pass defense. I’m firing him up in several places.
Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions
I don’t know if we can expect the fantasy carnival we had last week when the Bills faced off against the Rams, but this week’s Lions/Bills tilt features two heavyweight offenses more than capable of standing toe-to-toe and slugging it out. Williams has actually earned two more targets than Amon-Ra St. Brown over the past three weeks, as the Lions have deployed him at all levels of the field. With his elite speed, Williams is overdue for a monster game.
Ray-Ray McCloud, Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons have ceased even to pretend to involve Kyle Pitts in the offense over the past month, and the direct beneficiary of this situation is McCloud, who has 23 targets over his past three games. McCloud is more of a high-floor play than a ceiling play, but if that fits your team’s needs for this week, get him in your lineup.
Wide Receiver Sits Week 15
DeVonta Smith, Philadelphia Eagles
It’s hard to sit big-name wide receivers who you probably selected early in fantasy drafts, but Smith is one receiver that I won’t mind benching if I can afford to do so. The Eagles pass only as much as is necessary each week, and most weeks, that’s not much. Meanwhile, teammate A.J. Brown publicly called out his own lack of usage and is thus likely to get the squeaky-wheel treatment, leaving even fewer targets for DeVonta.
Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers
This hasn’t been a good season for Deebo, who’s been mired in a fantasy-points funk since Week 2. He’s only topped 15 points once and has failed to top 10 points in each of his last four games. It’s smart to let a player stay in your lineup to play his way out of a short funk so you don’t miss a fantasy points explosion, but now it’s time to put down the hopium pipe and score some points. There are 61 WRs who have scored more points than Deebo over the past five weeks. Surely you can find one of them to put in your lineup instead.
Tight End Starts Week 15
Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers
‘Muth has been a disappointment to those who drafted him in the mid-rounds for most of the season, but things have been looking up for him lately. This week, in particular, George Pickens is unlikely to play, opening up additional targets for Freiermuth. I’m not starting him over any elite options, but I’m not afraid to put him in my lineups where I’ve been streaming or using a committee approach at tight end.
Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers
It’s hard to know which WRs we can trust from week to week in the Packers’ offense, but Tucker Kraft is a steady option at TE who gets plenty of usage in the red zone. In PPR leagues, Kraft has double-digit points in seven of his past 10 games. This week, I’d definitely put him in lineups over the players on our “Sit” list.
Tight End Sits Week 15
Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys
He’s been a reliable, if unexciting, option for most of the season, but things have changed for Ferguson over the past month. He’s now catching passes from Cooper Rush, and, since Ferguson missed two games with a concussion, the Cowboys have discovered another TE to siphon targets away from him, Luke Schoonmaker. I’d definitely be looking for other options now that we’ve hit the knockout rounds of the fantasy playoffs.
Cade Otton, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
During Weeks 7-10, Otton was a target monster, feasting in the absence of both Chris Godwin and Mike Evans with 9.75 targets per game. We’d hoped the good times might continue with Evans taking away defensive attention upon his return, but as it turns out Evans has taken a big chunk of the targets as well. Since Evans returned to play, Otton has gotten less than half as many targets per game and is no longer a player we can automatically slot into the TE position.
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