When it comes to season long play this is the first week of the fantasy football playoffs. I want to wish everyone playing in the fantasy playoffs of their leagues good luck. Get out there and win yourself a championship. You can use this article for some sit start advice to help you with some players you may not have thought about starting.
If you did not make the fantasy playoffs the good news for you is you can keep playing DFS until the end of the NFL season.
When the end of the season hits I will be conducting the NFL Playoff Challenge again this season. Please feel free to reach out to me on X (formerly Twitter) if you are interested in playing.
Good luck and have a great weekend!
Let’s move right into Money Makers and Heart Breakers for the Week 15 NFL DFS Main Slate. And don’t forget, you can also use these insights as sit/start advice for your weekly lineups.
Here is a brief definition of each of my terms for anyone that might be new:
💰 Money Maker – This player will perform better than expectations
💔 Heart Breaker – This player will perform lower than expectations
Week 15 NFL DFS Picks and Plays
💰 Money Makers
Quarterback
Matthew Stafford – Stafford is my play of the week. The Rams are going up against the Commanders, who give up the second most fantasy points to opposing teams’ quarterbacks. How bad are the Commanders? Only Mac Jones and Joshua Dobbs have not had multiple touchdowns against them this season. Meanwhile Stafford has passed for over 220 yards and 3 or 4 touchdowns in each of the last 3 games. This is an absolute smash spot for Stafford and the Rams passing offense.
$6,000 on DraftKings
$7,200 on FanDuel
Will Levis – Levis is coming off a game in which he passed for 327 yards and a touchdown. He is playing the Houston Texans in Week 15. In Week 14 Zach Wilson passed for 301 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Texans. The Texans are not good at defending the pass. The Texans give up the sixth most fantasy points to quarterbacks. Levis is not someone I want to trust but I am willing to play if I am desperate or looking for upside in tournament play.
$5,400 on DraftKings
$6,800 on FanDuel
Joe Flacco – The Bears have been tough on quarterbacks the last couple of games. But overall have given up the 12th most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season. Flacco has passed the ball 89 times in the past two games. He also has passed for over 250 yards and multiple touchdowns in each of those games. The Browns have given him the green light to go pass crazy and he is. This game is also in Cleveland where Flacco has consistently won throughout his career.
$5,500 on DraftKings
$7,100 on FanDuel
Other Quarterback DFS Picks for Week 15
Sam Howell
$6,300 on DraftKings
$7,700 on FanDuel
Brock Purdy
$6,800 on DraftKings
$8,400 on FanDuel
Zach Wilson
$4,900 on DraftKings
$6,700 on FanDuel
Running Backs
Bijan Robinson – Robinson finally looks like he has command of the running back touches in the Falcons backfield. He had 55% of the running back touches in Week 14 and that included all of the receptions made by running backs. In Week 15 he gets to play a Panthers defense which is horrible against running backs. Running backs have scored 21 touchdowns against the Panthers this season. The odds are Bijan will score one or two touchdowns this week. Finally, people will stop complaining about Arthur Smith.
$6,800 on DraftKings
$8,600 on FanDuel
Christian McCaffrey – The Niners will play the Cardinals in Week 15. The Cardinals give up the second most points to opposing teams running backs. The Niners and Cardinals played in Week 4. In that game, McCaffrey ran for 106 yards and 3 touchdowns and caught 7 passes for 71 yards and another touchdown. We may not be looking at another 45 points on FanDuel or 55 points on DraftKings but I think we can all agree if you were ever going to pay up at running back for CMC this is the week to do it. This guy just makes it look so easy.
$9,300 on DraftKings
$10,500 on FanDuel
Kyren Williams – As you read this article you will realize I really like the Rams in Week 15. The Commanders’ defense allows a lot of fantasy points to multiple positions. As a matter of fact, they give up the seventh most fantasy points to opposing teams running backs. Since coming back from his injury Williams has over 100 total yards each week and he has scored 3 touchdowns. The match-up is right, he is heavily involved in the offense. Kyren is going to lead a lot of teams to wins in Week 15.
$7,500 on DraftKings
$9,600 on FanDuel
Other Running Back DFS Picks for Week 15
Alvin Kamara
$8,600 on DraftKings
$8,900 on FanDuel
Rachaad White
$7,000 on DraftKings
$7,600 on FanDuel
Jerome Ford
$5,500 on DraftKings
$6,400 on FanDuel
Wide Receivers
Puka Nacua – Oh look another Rams player. That is because the Commanders also stink against defending wide receivers. How bad are they here? Well, the Commanders give up 12 receptions 198 yards and 1.5 touchdowns on average weekly to wide receivers. Puka had 8 targets, 5 receptions, and 8 yards in Week 14 against the Ravens. The volume will be there. I am not afraid to plug Cooper Kupp and even Denard Robinson in depending on your lineup in Week 15. It’s going to be a frenzy as this game has a 49-point over-under, which is the second-highest on the main slate.
$7,300 on DraftKings
$8,000 on FanDuel
Chris Olave – The Saints play the Giants in Week 15. The Giants give up the third most fantasy points to opposing teams’ wide receivers. Olave has 26% target share and 41% air yards share for the Saints passing offense. Olave has 5 straight games with either 100 yards or a touchdown. So the match-up is right, the player is right, and all of the stars are aligned for Olave. No wonder my happy heart sings, your play has given me wings. Olave Oh oh.
$7,100 on DraftKings
$7,500 on FanDuel
Jayden Reed – Do you know who the best wide receiver for the Packers is? It’s this Swiss army knife player Jayden Reed. In 4 of the last 5 games, Reed has double-digit fantasy scores. He is scoring fantasy points for you by land and by air. There is so much to love with this player. The Buccaneers are up in Week 15. The Buccaneers give up the 6th most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. Reed is going to catch passes, Reed is going to run for yards, and Reed is going to score a touchdown in Week 15.
$4,900 on DraftKings
$6,100 on FanDuel
Other Wide Receiver DFS Picks for Week 15
Noah Brown
$5,000 on DraftKings
$6,500 on FanDuel
Marquis Brown
$5,100 on DraftKings
$6,400 on FanDuel
Brandon Aiyuk
$7,200 on DraftKings
$7,800 on FanDuel
Tight Ends
Chig Okonkwo – In the past three games Okonkwo has seen 17 targets which he has turned into 12 receptions and 153 yards. This week the Titans play the Texans. The Texans give up an average of 6 receptions and 61 yards per week to the tight end position. The Houston defense is the fourth friendliest defense to tight ends. Gettin’ Chiggy wit it; na na na na na na na.
$2,900 on DraftKings
$5,000 on FanDuel
David Njoku – You know who has benefitted the most from Joe Flacco taking over as the Browns quarterback. That would be the Browns’ tight ends, of which Njoku is the best. In Week 14 Njoku saw 8 targets which he turned into 6 receptions for 91 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Chicago Bears are up in Week 15 and are average against defending the tight end. Since Flacco has taken over he has targeted tight ends 20 times which is 23% of the target share for the Browns. I am not Njokuing around on this one, play him.
$4,700 on DraftKings
$6,200 on FanDuel
Cole Kmet – On the other side of the ball in the Browns against the Bears we have Kmet. Kmet has a 20% target share which is second on the Bears behind only DJ Moore. The Browns are supposed to be good against tight ends but gave up 11 receptions, 95 yards and 2 touchdowns last week to Evan Engram. I think we can look to Kmet being involved heavily in the Bears passing game this week against the Bears.
$4,500 on DraftKings
$5,800 on FanDuel
Other Tight Ends DFS Picks for Week 15
Hunter Henry
$3,200 on DraftKings
$5,300 on FanDuel
Cade Otton
$3,200 on DraftKings
$5,200 on FanDuel
Tyler Conklin
$3,100 on DraftKings
$5,000 on FanDuel
Defense
Bears – The Bears play the Browns in Week 15. The Browns give up the seventh most fantasy points to opposing teams’ defenses. More importantly here, the Bears defense has been good the past 3 games. Over the past three games, the Bears have had 8 sacks, 9 interceptions, and 2 fumble recoveries. They are playing great right now and will get after it with the Browns.
$3,300 on DraftKings
$4,100 on FanDuel
Saints – The Saints defense is good. In Week 14 they were really good against the Panthers, scoring 21 fantasy points. We aren’t into chasing points though here in Money Makers and Heart Breakers. This week the hot Saints defense plays the Giants. The Giants give up the most fantasy points to opposing teams’ defenses. The Saints have 23 sacks on the season and can get after the quarterback. The Giants appeared to solve their sack issues last week against the Packers giving up zero sacks. But the 4 games prior the Giants gave up a total of 28 sacks. It looks like the cutlets might get pounded a little flat this week.
$3,800 on DraftKings
$4,600 on FanDuel
Rams – The Rams play the Commanders in Week 15. The Commanders give up the most sacks in the league. Over the past 3 games, the Commanders have given up 11 sacks, 5 interceptions, 3 fumble recoveries, and a defensive touchdown in each game. The Rams is by no means amazing, but the situation is right this week if you want to plug them in. The Commanders just love letting defenses score fantasy points for you.
$3,100 on DraftKings
$4,300 on FanDuel
Week 15 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End | Half-PPR by Position | Flex Rankings | Positional Ranks w/ K & DST | Dynasty | Superflex Dynasty
💔Heart Breakers
Quarter Backs
Tua Tagovailoa – In week 12 The Dolphins also played the Jets in that game Tua scored 10.8 fantasy points on DraftKings. Yuck. The Jets give up the fewest fantasy points to opposing teams’ quarterbacks, they just shut down CJ Stroud in a big way in Week 14. With Tyreek Hill potentially out I want no part of this. Tua I am out on You-ah.
Desmond Ridder – In Week 14 Ridder passed for 347 yards. Wow sounds like you want to ride that hot hand into Week 15. The answer is no, you don’t. The Panthers are a run-funnel defense, and the Falcons will come out running. In Week 1 Ridder passed for a whopping 115 yards and 1 touchdown against this defense you can expect much of the same in Week 15.
Justin Fields – The Bears play the Browns in Week 15, the Browns give up the fourth fewest points to opposing quarterbacks. With that said, there is hop here as the past two weeks the Browns have given up over 250 yards and 3 touchdowns passing in each of those games. So while I am out on Fields in DFS, there is a chance if you need him in season-long.
Running Backs
James Conner – In Week 4 the Cardinals also played the Niners. In that game, Conner totaled 56 yards. Only one running back has broken the 20 fantasy point barrier against the Niners all season. The Niners are good on both sides of the ball and will score a bunch of points. This is a game where the Cardinals will have to pass to stay in the game. Sorry James but it is in the script that you will be phased out in Week 15, the game script.
James Cook – The Bills play the Cowboys in Week 15. The Cowboys give up the third-fewest fantasy points to opposing teams running backs. With that in mind, I am out on Cook in DFS, for the most part. Cook will probably be involved in the passing game and may very well produce there for you. I have him going in season-long PPR leagues for the first round of the fantasy playoffs.
Chubba Hubbard – The Falcons play the Panthers in Week 15. There are a lot of things not to like about this game. I don’t like the Falcons passing game and I don’t like the Panthers run game. The Falcons defend the run exceptionally well. Only 6 running backs have even hit double-digit fantasy scores against them all season. Neither Miles Sanders nor Chubba Hubbard managed that the last time they played. This match-up makes me throw up in my mouth.
Wide Receivers
Jaylen Waddle – You saw that I was out on Tua. I am also out on Waddle. While Waddle did manage 8 receptions for 114 yards in their last meeting. Tyreek was on the field in that game. If Waddle is the focal point of the passing attack against the toughest defense against wide receivers, I’ll pass on him in DFS. See what I did there?
DJ Moore – The Bears and Browns seem to be in this article a lot this week. The Browns defense gives up the second-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers. Only the Jets are tougher on the position. Moore is a case of playing him in season long, but don’t pay for him in DFS this week. He can beat almost any defense and is the focal point of the Bears passing attack. But probably needs a touchdown to produce big in fantasy this week.
Wan’Dale Robinson – Robinson was very good in Week 14 and it looks like Tommy DeVito was looking for him. I would call plugging Robinson in because of a good week against a defense that defends wide receivers well, as “getting cute.” Don’t get cute this week. I get it, everyone is excited about Tommy Cutlets and the Giants passing game. Robinson is a desperation play only.
Tight Ends
Brevin Jordan – The Texans are running out of pass catchers. So, it is tempting to plug Jordan in lineups. The only issue is the Texans play the Titans in Week 15. The Titans are the toughest defense at defending tight ends. CJ Stroud may not play. The list for not playing Jordan may be longer than the list of reasons to play him. Avoid, avoid, avoid as if he is having a coughing fit and you don’t want to catch something from him.
Travis Kelce – Ok, in season long you are playing Kelce. But let’s face it, he hasn’t been exactly a match-up-proof stud in 2023. This week the Chiefs also play the Patriots. The Patriots give up the third-fewest points to opposing tight ends. The Patriots defense is actually good. Bill Belichick tends to try and take away the opposing team’s best weapon. With Isaiah Pacheco dings up and the Chiefs wide receivers just so-so, Kelce will be what the Patriots focus on. He will still probably get you 10 fantasy points, but that isn’t what you want in DFS.
Trey McBride – Trey McBride might not break your heart because of volume. But the Niners defense is really good. It is also really good at defending tight ends. The Niners have given up only 1 double-digit fantasy score to an opposing tight end all season. Just one.
Thanks for checking out Money Maker and Heart Breakers. For more great content from Fantrax, follow us on X and @MikeReedyFF for more great content