If you play fantasy football, you know that winning doesn’t happen at the draft. Here are our suggested Week 15 waiver wire pickups. Or, skip straight to the initial release of our model’s complete Week 15 projections.
If you play in a league with a three-round structure, the fantasy football playoffs are now here! If you’ve made it to the “Big Dance” in your league – which we’re going to assume since you’re reading this article – congratulations! However, the work is just beginning as it’s going to take some key decisions to bring home the championship trophy.
While nailing your start/sit decisions is a big part of that, adding key pieces off of the waiver wire – either to bolster your depth or play defense against your opponent – is crucial. With that in mind, here are the top targets to go after heading into Week 15.
Week 15 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Running Backs
Tank Bigsby, Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby has been a frequent mention on these waiver wire articles throughout this season. He’s shown plenty of flashes, but an ankle injury earlier on in the year prevented him from truly building on the momentum that he had to potentially take over the lead role in this offense.
Now that he’s at full strength, we may have seen that shift finally happen in Week 14. Against the Tennessee Titans, Bigsby saw 18 carries to Travis Etienne’s four. While Bigsby’s stats may not jump out – 55 yards and a touchdown – the Titans do boast a stout run defense that can consistently keep opposing rushing games in check.
Bigsby now heads into the fantasy playoffs as an NFL team’s RB1, which certainly has value heading down the stretch. Due to the state of the Jacksonville offense, it’s difficult to see how Bigsby could be instantly inserted into your lineup as a top-20 play in Week 15, but a matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 16 should have him in consideration for your starting lineup.
Sincere McCormick, Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders have been searching for an answer at the RB position this season, yet to no avail. Zamir White, Alexander Mattison, Ameer Abdullah and Dylan Laube have all failed to deliver consistent and explosive plays out of the backfield.
Sincere McCormick – a rookie out of UTSA – took the increased opportunity in Week 14 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and didn’t look back. He turned 15 carries into 78 yards on the ground for an impressive 5.2 yards per carry, and he was consistently making the most out of any chance he could get to create extra yardage.
McCormick ended the week with 2.53 yards after contact per attempt, which was the second-highest total at the RB position on the week for players with more than 10 rush attempts. He showed that he’s deserving of more touches and, with injuries plaguing the backfield, McCormick should be a decent Flex option in Week 15 against the Atlanta Falcons.
Patrick Taylor Jr., San Francisco 49ers
It’s highly unlikely that a roster that’s in the fantasy playoffs is in need of a pinch-hit option at the RB position, but deeper formats could certainly put someone like San Francisco 49ers RB Patrick Taylor Jr. on the radar.
With the Week 14 injury to Isaac Guerendo – after Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason already landed on injured reserve – Taylor Jr. stepped in as the main option in the backfield, and that could be the situation he finds himself in again on a short week. While we shouldn’t expect a dominant performance from the veteran RB, he could be a valuable plug-in play for fantasy managers that need a solution.
It is worth noting that Guerendo’s injury status for Thursday Night Football is still up in the air at the time of writing, so it’ll be worth monitoring as we go throughout the week.
Wide Receivers
Quentin Johnston, Los Angeles Chargers
There may not be a player who’s been mentioned more frequently in these waiver wire articles this season than Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Quentin Johnston. While he has not consistently shown an ability to produce this season for fantasy football outside of touchdown totals, he’s provided enough upside to be considered frequently.
However, in Week 14 against the Kansas City Chiefs, we saw Johnston take on the WR1 role with Ladd McConkey sidelined and that led to a very solid outing for fantasy managers that plugged him into their Flex.
The second-year WR out of TCU saw his second-highest target total of the season and was able to find the end zone yet again, bringing his total up to seven on the year. It’s unknown at the time of writing just how significant McConkey’s injury is, which could put Johnston into Flex consideration this next week if McConkey is forced to miss another contest.
Elijah Moore, Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns WR Elijah Moore’s stat line isn’t going to catch the attention of most fantasy managers on the waiver wire this week, but he is still worth targeting for lineups that need a decent Flex option in the fantasy playoffs.
While the quick-twitch wideout only saw four targets this past week, he saw a whopping 14 the week prior and he could be needed heavily again this next week against the Chiefs, who will most likely be leading big by halftime.
Moore’s still showing an ability to create separation – as evidenced by his 75% open rate in Week 14 – and Jameis Winston is not afraid to look his way when the matchup is right.
Jalen McMillan, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Jalen McMillan had a solid two-game stretch back in weeks 7 and 8, but an injury derailed any momentum he had building and he went back to fantasy irrelevance pretty quickly.
However, after an impressive Week 14 outing against the Las Vegas Raiders, McMillan may need to be viewed as an upside Flex play again as early as this next week against the Los Angeles Chargers.
McMillan reeled in four of his seven targets this past week for 59 yards and two touchdowns, while posting an impressive 71.4% burn rate. Baker Mayfield is playing at an impressive level recently, and McMillan could slide into the vacated Chris Godwin role now that he’s back to 100%. He’s worth picking up now and stashing to see how this situation plays out.
Quarterback
Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints
With New Orleans Saints tight end Taysom Hill out for the season now, fantasy managers looked to Juwan Johnson to see whether or not he would inherit a fraction of the workload that the former had been seeing up to this point of the year.
That was the case against the New York Giants as Johnson saw five targets that he turned into four receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown, which was good enough for a top-five fantasy finish on the week.
While the Saints will experience a downgrade at QB with Derek Carr out now, this move could potentially mean an uptick in targets for Johnson in the short-to-intermediate levels of the field. If you’re in need of a TE play in your playoff matchup, Johnson should be at the top of the list.
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