I truly, truly, truly hope that you do not need this article, not at this point in the season. The playoffs are set, and if you’re reading this, then congratulations on the playoffs! If you’re making this and you’re in the consolation bracket, then congratulations on that, too(?). Let’s take a look at some week fifteen streaming options to bring you one step closer to fantasy football glory. To make this list, a player must be available in at least 50% of Yahoo! leagues. For each position, we also bring you a player available in at least 90% of leagues. Good luck with your playoff matchups!
Quarterbacks
Jake Browning versus Minnesota (45% rostered)
Jake Browning beat up on the Jaguars in his first start, and I chalked that up to a great matchup, as the Jags all the third-most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks. But, then he turned around last week and chewed up the Colts to the tune of 280 total yards and 3 total touchdowns. The Vikings haven’t given up a big fantasy day to a quarterback in a while (10 weeks since they allowed 19 or more points to a quarterback), and allow the sixteenth-most fantasy points to QBs on the year, but the Colts allow the fourteenth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks on the year and also boasted a 10-week streak of holding QBs below 19 fantasy points before Jake Browning came to town.
Zach Wilson at Miami (5% rostered)
Yes, that Zach Wilson. Wilson went YOLO mode last week, figuring that they have no choice but to let him do whatever he wants now that he’s made his way back to the starting lineup. Wilson threw the ball 36 times last week, completing two-thirds of his passes for 8.4 yards per attempt, chipping in two touchdowns and no picks. By all measures, it was a good week, and it came in a dominating effort over the Texans. This week won’t be as dominating, as the Dolphins come to town fresh from their confusing and heartbreaking Monday Night Football loss to the Titans. They have been a strong defense for most of the season, but losing Jaelan Phillips has put a hole in their defense, which Will Levis could exploit last week to the tune of 327 passing yards and a touchdown, and Sam Howell took advantage of two weeks ago for two touchdowns.
Nick Mullens at Cincinnati (3%)
Could you imagine how funny it would be if you won a 6-seed versus 3-seed matchup rolling Nick Mullens out there? It would be worth it just to see your opponent’s face and the years-long bragging rights. Fun fact, I once told fellow Football Absurditist Waleed Ismail that I was going to beat him with Andy Dalton, who I picked up off the waiver wire, in the finals, all week. Then I did it. It would be a lot like that.
That is a lot of preamble to say that there isn’t a lot to put this on, it’s just that there aren’t a lot of options at a sub-50% roster rate, especially since two of them (Aiden O’Connell and Easton Stick) already played. He’s had two significant stretches as a starting quarterback in the NFL, both with the 49ers. Both times, he walked the “fun but potentially disastrous” line well, averaging just over 250 yards and with a TD: INT ratio that ever so slightly tipped toward touchdowns.
The Bengals are a bad defense right now, and only Kenny Pickett failed to reach at least 15 fantasy points against them since their week seven bye week.
Wide Receivers
Curtis Samuel at L.A. Rams (36% rostered)
If Curtis Samuel’s last two games came in weeks four and five, then he would probably have 63% rostership, not 36%. In the last two contests combined, Curtis Samuel has 17 targets, 13 catches, and 165 yards. He did this against a bad matchup (Dallas) and an okay matchup (Miami). He spent last week on bye, so I understand us all not rushing out to pick him up. However, this week he gets the L.A. Rams and their suddenly disastrous pass defense. Odell Beckham and Zay Flowers destroyed them last week to the tune of a combined 10 catches for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns. That marked the seventh time in the four games since their bye week that the Rams have given up at least 10 fantasy points to an opposing wide receiver. With Samuel getting the most recent run of success, you can put some chips down on him in your fantasy playoffs.
Pop Douglas versus Kansas City (19% rostered)
Is the Patriots offense good? No. Does that matter for Pop Douglas? Absolutely not. Douglas missed the last two weeks with a concussion, but he had nine targets in back-to-back games before that, and at least six targets in five straight games. In their last four games with Pop, they averaged 11.75 points per game and Douglas had 7, 7, 9, and 9 targets for double-digit fantasy points in three-of-four games. The Patriots, by law, have to pass the ball at least a little bit. Douglas is the only receiver on this offense worth his salt, so here we are.
Demarcus Robinson versus Washington (4% rostered)
All of a sudden, Demarcus Robinson has some deep league flex appeal, after his last two games. Robinson had 5 targets two weeks ago, and 10 targets last week, which he’s used to turn in 15.5 PPR points and 13.6 PPR points, respectively. The Rams did this against spectacularly difficult competition, doing the Browns-Ravens two-step. This week, he gets a Commanders defense that is far more forgiving than their neighbors just outside the DMV. The Commanders boast the second-worst fantasy defense at stopping opposing wide receivers, giving up five double-digit PPR days to the position in the last two weeks.
Running Backs
Ty Chandler at Cincinnati (34% rostered)
He almost doesn’t count because he’s a free space due to his low roster rate combined with Alexander Mattison’s pending inactive. This is likely due to the preponderance of dead or semi-dead leagues. It’s not a great matchup but any running back capable of getting 15+ touches in a game is someone who should be started in your fantasy football playoffs if you’re at all desperate.
Samaje Perine at Detroit (33% rostered)
Perine is suddenly doing what we hoped he would do when we took him late in the draft: getting a bunch of targets and high-value touchdown work. He’s RB33 over the last four weeks, getting five or more targets or a touchdown in three of the last four games, which are incredibly useful numbers. He’s done this on limited snaps, playing an average of 26% of snaps in the last four games, and two of the four games that put him in the top 33 came against bottom-ten matchups. That’s why the Lions’ matchup does not scare me, despite them ranking in the bottom four in fantasy points allowed to wide receivers: Perine’s already passed the test lately in bad matchups.
Chase Brown versus Minnesota (18% rostered)
It’s nice to have a weekly sleeper go off like Chase Brown did last weekend (8 carries for 25 yards, and 3 catches for 80 yards and a touchdown). What’s even nicer is when that player doesn’t get picked up, and I can just trot him right back out there. Brown had 11 touches last week, and it’s already fairly obvious that he’s a more dynamic running back than Joe Mixon. The matchup is the only downside to this burgeoning potential league winner: the Vikings’ run defense. They limit Brown’s upside, but they’ve only played two non-disastrous run games since their week nine bye, and both feasted. Brown is a boom-bust flex who could help you take out the 3 seed.
Jordan Mason at Arizona (2% rostered)
Elijah Mitchell has been on the shelf, and given that the 49ers can cruise past the Cardinals without him, is likely to stay there to heal up. Mason has been getting some opportunities in his stead, spelling Christian McCaffrey. While CMC is going to destroy opposing defenses (and snap shares), much like the friends around the star quarterback at the club, Jordan Mason will draft off of McCaffrey’s success. We already saw it last week: Christian McCaffrey took the 49ers down to the 3 in one play, was too gassed to continue, and the touchdown went to Mason. This is a glory play, but also one built on some strong numbers: the 49ers have a Christmas throwdown with the Ravens on the horizon, are double-digit favorites, and play the league’s second-worst run defense. It all points to Jordan Mason finishing the game with double-digit carries in a plus matchup.
Tight Ends
Logan Thomas versus L.A. Rams (44% rostered)
Take a tight end who has crushed positive matchups this season, and add in a positive matchup, and what do you expect to happen? Logan Thomas has been wildly inconsistent this season, but he’s played five top-ten tight end matchups on the season, finishing with an average of 11.1 PPR points per game in those matchups. The Rams are the third-best matchup in the NFL for opposing tight ends, having given up at least 11 PPR points to a tight end in five of the last six games (with the ill-used Seahawks’ tight ends as the lone dissenters).
Chigozeim Okonkwo versus Houston (34% rostered)
One day, maybe not this weekend, but maybe one day… Chig Okonkwo will score a touchdown. Unfortunately, until then, we have to rely on his target volume to get him into our lineups. Call him a song by American rapper and actor Will Smith, released as the third single from his debut solo album, Big Willie Style (1997), because he’s been Gettin’ Chiggy wit It. Okay maybe that was a bit much, but he he’s averaging 4 catches for 54 yards in the last two games. That’s a hair above what we are looking for in a streaming tight end, so I’ll take it. Chig gets a top-five matchup this week, with the Texans (freshly off getting smacked around by the Jets) on the docket. The Texans have allowed at least 9 fantasy points (4 catches for 50 yards) to a tight end in five straight contests, and Okonkwo should make that six.
Tucker Kraft versus Tampa Bay (9% rostered)
If you’re ready for a YOLO stream, then look no further than Tucker Kraft. Kraft and the Packers get the Buccaneers this week, who are completely incapable of stopping opposing tight ends. They allow the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends, and that’s with the disastrous Carolina tight end room and horrid Colts tight end room going against them in two of the last three weeks. Six tight ends on the season have at least 9 PPR points against the Buccaneers. Fellow rookie Luke Musgrave has missed the last two games after the Packers placed him on IR, moving Kraft up the depth chart. He turned his opportunity into 10 targets for 7 catches and 101 yards over the last two weeks.
