We have finally made it through the disaster that we called Week 15. With COVID issues, injuries, delayed games, season low in touchdowns and countless other issues, fantasy football managers are happy to have made it through the week. Week 15 did not hold back, and wiped countless top seeds out of their playoffs in Round 1 (if your league does not have bye weeks). I personally was wiped out of nearly all my playoffs with several 1 and 2 seeds going in. I am sad to be eliminated where I have been (including my primary league), but I still have a couple teams going.
Whether you won because of luck or had a dominant team that could sustain the week, it is time to stay focused. You are one step closer to that fantasy football championship. If there is any prize in your league, a win this week likely ensures that you get at least something back.
If you read this article last week you would have known that you should not have started guys like Carson Wentz, Chuba Hubbard, Dontrell Hilliard, and Courtland Sutton. Some of these guys were obvious, but others were being recommended as potential starts.
I did miss big on Dalton Schultz, who was the Cowboys leading receiver. Like the past couple weeks, I will be suggesting fantasy football roster cloggers that are just taking up valuable roster spots in this incredibly tricky and important part of the season.
Quarterback
Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans (58.4% Rostered, 20.7% Started)
Prior to this season, I was fairly high on Ryan Tannehill. But after losing Derrick Henry, Julio Jones, and A.J. Brown, the offense has just not looked the same. Tannehill has not thrown for over 200 yards since Week 11 against the Houston Texans. In addition, Tannehill has not had multiple touchdowns in a game since Week 10 against the Saints, when he had one passing and one rushing touchdown.
In Week 14 the Titans face the 49ers, who have given up at least 200 passing yards and 2 touchdowns in three of their last four games. If Tannehill is going to have a decent game, this could be the week for it. The Titans may be getting AJ Brown back this week which should help Tannehill; but they also just lost Julio Jones for the rest of the year. At this point it is just too much of a risk to put Tannehill into your fantasy football lineup. Tannehill can not help your starting lineup, so why not drop him and hope he hurts an opponents.
Running Backs
Mike Davis, Atlanta Falcons (52.2% Rostered, 15.2% Started)
Mike Davis was a mainstay of this article to start the season. In an attempt to add some variety, I stopped including him even though it was true every week. I have added him back to the list this week because there is no reason to be rostering him or starting him in your fantasy football lineup.
Cordarrelle Paterson has consistently been getting more snaps, and outproducing Davis for the majority of the season. Davis had ok fantasy games in Weeks 13 and 14, but in the playoffs we need more than OK.
Week 15 was a brutal week for injuries and COVID. Even with that, there was no way that I would have felt good putting Mike Davis into any of my lineups. Some fantasy football managers that were forced to start Davis are wishing they went to the waiver wire instead. Davis was not involved in the passing attack and only rushed for 21 yards. Davis’s lack of production likely caused several fantasy managers to be eliminated from the playoffs.
Lowest rate…
Mike Davis 13.7%
Mark Ingram 14.7%
Myles Gaskin 15.2%
CEH 17.3%
Alvin Kamara 17.4%
D'Andre Swift 17.9%
Michael Carter 18.5%
C. Patterson 18.8%
Saquon Barkley 19.1%
Chuba Hubbard 19.3%— Rich Hribar (@LordReebs) December 20, 2021
Wide Receivers
Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos (71% Rostered, 14.8% Started)
After being in last week’s article, Courtland Sutton is back yet again. Sutton was 2nd in snaps and routes run out of the Broncos WRs last week, but he led the team in targets. Sutton’s 7 targets in Week 15 were his highest since Week 6. Unfortunately for Sutton it only resulted in 2 receptions for just 12 yards.
This type of production is not what we are looking for in the fantasy football playoffs. Sutton has actually not had more than 2 receptions since Week 7 against the Browns. That was the last time that he has had over 50 receiving yards as well.
You should feel ok keeping Sutton on your roster if you play in a keeper league. With the likely improvement at the QB position in 2022, there should be better days for Sutton. You should drop Sutton today in your typical redraft leagues.
Cole Beasley, Buffalo Bills (70.3% Rostered, 27% Started)
Cole Beasley has been someone I have considered putting in this article for a while; he is just targeted so much that I couldn’t do it. But over the last few weeks, we have started to see Gabriel Davis getting even more involved in the passing game.
Over the past two weeks Beasley has caught 13 of his 19 targets for 99 yards and no touchdowns. On the other hand, Gabriel Davis has caught 10 of his 15 targets for 128 yards and 3 touchdowns.
I do not think that Davis will do this every game. But it would not surprise me if more targets start to move from Beasley to Davis as we finish of the season. The Bills should make the playoffs, but wins are going to be extremely important over the next few weeks as far as the AFC East is concerned. The Patriots, Bills, and even the Dolphins are still within range of winning the division.
But back to Cole Beasley. The lack of touchdowns limits his fantasy football ceiling, even though he is heavily targeted. In the playoffs we need to put up big numbers, and Beasley just isn’t getting enough to make him worthy of a starting spot or even a bench spot on your fantasy teams.
Update: He also was put in the Covid-19 protocol and will likely be unavailable for the remainder of the fantasy football playoffs.
Cole Beasley held to just 35 yards vs the Panthers https://t.co/INiFr2mvMc
— NBC Sports EDGE Football (@NBCSEdgeFB) December 19, 2021
Tight Ends
Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams (69.2% Rostered, 18.6% Started)
Tyler Higbee has been very frustrating to have on fantasy football rosters lately. It is never fun to lose a player prior to a Monday night game due to injury. But Higbee was moved to the COVID/IR prior to the Rams Week 14 game against the Cardinals due to a positive COVID test. This test was then followed by multiple negatives, implying it was actually a false positive that held him out of the matchup. Later this week Higbee was added to the COVID/IR again due to more positive tests. This occured in the midst of a COVID outbreak on the Rams resulting in the game being moved to Tuesday night.
Rams TE Tyler Higbee on the reserve/COVID-19 list again… pic.twitter.com/W3jcllLOsR
— People Are People (@FantasyLeftover) December 17, 2021
So not only did we lose Higbee for the last two weeks, but it is not a great idea to play him in Week 16 either. The Vikings have been one of the more difficult matchups in fantasy football for tight ends. Prior to the Vikings Week 15 matchup against the Bears, the Vikings have only given up three touchdowns to tight ends all season.
Roster Clogger Watch
Chase Claypool, Pittsburgh Steelers (89% Rostered, 48% Started)
Chase Claypool has certainly let many fantasy football managers down this season. After a questionable celebration in Week 14, he let the Steelers and their fans down to some degree as well.
Claypool is on the watchlist because if he does not have an increase in snaps in Week 16, he may be in Tomlin’s doghouse still. In Week 15, Ray-Ray McCloud was on the field and ran more routes than Chase Claypool. We can not start Claypool until we are sure he is out of the dog house. So really we need to watch in Week 16. If McCloud outsnaps Claypool again there is no way we can put Claypool into our championship lineups.
