No more bye weeks, we can all rejoice. Even more encouraging is that we don’t have a ton of injuries at the wide receiver position. Less positive is that we have a few quarterback injuries and some really tough matchups for some of our top wide receivers. With this being the fantasy playoff you can’t afford to miss. While starting your studs is always recommended is you need them here are Week 15’s wide receiver streamers and sleepers.
Week 16 Wide Receiver Streamers
Xavier Worthy – Kansas City Chiefs
It’s been an up-and-down season for rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy. While he hasn’t lived up to the hype so far he has been consistently producing the past few weeks. Worthy has had at least 40 yards in the last four games. The Chiefs haven’t been blowing teams out so they have yet to get into a game script where they can switch to a run-heavy offense.
Week 15 gives us a matchup against the Cleveland Browns. The Browns lack a solid second cornerback after Denzel Ward. The safeties for the Browns are experienced but will have to contend with Travis Kelce and trying to put pressure on Patrick Mahomes. This should open up the back end for the speedy Worthy and allow him to find seams to get open. His snap share is hovering around 60% but even with the limited snaps he has produced enough to be a flex play. I expect him to see a jump in production this week and make him a solid wide receiver streaming option.
Amari Cooper – Buffalo Bills
When the Bills traded for Amari Cooper they were trading for a guy who could be their top receiver. Cooper has dealt with injuries that have slowed that ascension but Week 14 showed what he can be in that role on this Bills team. Cooper saw 14 targets, catching six of them for 95 yards. He seems to be fully healthy and fully up to speed on the playbook.
Week 15 is a marquee matchup against the Detroit Lions. A team with a great defense and a very good offense. I’m not worried about the game being low-scoring. The matchup will be interesting when the Bills have the ball. The Lions have a very good cornerback in Carlton Davis III. The question will be does he shadow Cooper or does he line up across from Khalil Shakir? Even Mack Hollins has shown flashes of being accounted for in the offense. Even if Cooper does see Davis on the majority of his snaps Cooper has the skill and experience to still get his targets. With the way the Bills offense and Josh Allen are clicking it won’t matter. Cooper is a solid wide receiver who is always undervalued in fantasy and you will be disappointed having him on your bench this week.
Jakobi Meyers – Las Vegas Raiders
Jakobi Meyers is the most underrated wide receiver in the NFL. Has been for years. This season even with the revolving door of quarterbacks he has been consistent enough to be the wide receiver 23 on the year. He has double-digit targets in the past three games and should continue that this week.
The matchup this week for Meyers isn’t great except for when he is in the slot. It’s a position that Meyeres is spending a third of his snaps in. That role gives him a matchup against Dee Alford who is ranked as the 81st-best corner by PFF.com. When Meyers is on the outside he will see either A.J. Terrell or Mike Hughes who are tied as the 35th best cover corner. With the quarterback situation up in the air, I expect the offense to be simplified. That means more running and more short passes. That is where Meyers excels. He should continue to be a consistent wide receiver for your fantasy team.
Wide Receiver Sleepers
Allen Lazard – New York Jets
We were all surprised but not surprised to see Allen Lazard have a solid start to the season with the New York Jets. He is a favorite of quarterback Aaron Rodgers and that relationship helped him see a solid target share. Lazard has missed time with a chest injury but returned to limited snaps in Week 14. With Lazard back what will his role be?
Lazard should fall back into his outside receiver role against the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. I expect him to outpace Garette Wilson in targets just because of the connection with Rodgers. In three wide sets, Davante Adams moves into the slot which provides a better matchup for Lazard. Lazard should see Tyson Campbell who rates as the 66th best corner by PFF.com. The Jets and Jags are both struggling but the rest of this season seems like a legacy builder or maintainer for Rodgers so he will be playing with vigor and want to put up gaudy numbers. Lazard should benefit from that.
Tyler Boyd – Tennessee Titans
I love a good revenge game. We’ve got a solid one this week with Tyler Boyd going against the Cincinnati Bengals. A team he played eight years for. Neither team is playing for much so bragging rights are all that’s left. The Titans have a growing passing attack as second-year quarterback Will Levis continues to grow as an NFL passer.
While it is a revenge game it is a tough matchup. Boyd is mainly a slot player. That puts him against former teammate Mike Hilton. Hilton rates well by PFF.com. I think Boyd will utilize the knowledge he gained facing Hilton in practice over the previous few years and find his groove. I’m encouraged by the jump in snap share Boyd has seen over the past two weeks. Jumping from the 60% to the 80% mark shows he is getting more involved in the offense.
Michael Wilson – Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals, to me, are an enigma. They have such talent on offense. Kyler Murray, James Conner, Trey McBride, and Marvin Harrison Jr. Despite that they have only scored 46 points over the past three weeks. Even with all those stars I love wide receiver Michael Wilson this week. He has been a solid WR2 for the Cards and since the Week 11 bye his snaps share has risen from the sub 70% to over 80%.
This week they will be facing the New England Patriots. I expect star cornerback Christian Gonzalez to follow Harrison most of the game. That will put Wilson across from Jonathan Jones in two wide sets and Marcus Jones in three-wide sets. I love the matchup in two wide sets not so much in three wide sets. Given that the Cardinals are not known for running a ton of three-wide sets it should allow Wilson to see a solid number of targets. Even though he only saw three this past week he has games where he has seen six or more, including Week 13 where he had seven. The Cardinals are still in the playoff hunt and need to win to keep their hopes alive. Involving Wilson and taking advantage of the matchups will be key to that.
Make sure to check out all of our Week 15 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!