Stars of Week 15
QB: Drew Brees, NO: 29-36, 375 yards, 3 TDs
RB: Jeremy Hill, CIN: 25 carries, 148 yards, 2 TDs
WR: Odell Beckham, NYG: 12 catches, 143 yards, 3 TDs
TE: Rob Gronkowski, NE: 3 catches, 96 yards, 1 TD
Drew Brees edged out Tony Romo for top QB honors this week. Brees has had a strong second half of the season, notwithstanding last week’s unfortunately timed lemon. Running back Jeremy Hill has been making his case as the top Bengals’ RB option – and fantasy owners would be wise to listen. Let’s see how the final few weeks shape up, but you should look at Hill as option 1 and Bernard as option 2 for the Bengals going forward. Speaking of emerging talents, Beckham has made his case as a top 5 overall WR for next season, and he edged out Dez Bryant as the top WR this week. He’s fantasy gold for the playoffs. And Gronk remains who he is – the top TE in the league when healthy.
Week 15 Takeaways – A Closer Look
Each week we’ve taken a closer look at a handful of performances from the week and sorted out what such performances meant going forward. At this point we’ve reviewed most notable players, so we’ll mix in some looks at how players look for 2015 in addition to how they look for this coming week.
- Carlos Hyde, RB – SF: 6 carries, 55 yards, 0 TDs
Analysis: Carlos Hyde suffered an ugly looking injury against the Seahawks, but hopefully it falls into the category of “looked worse than it is”. Over the past few weeks, Hyde has looked better while Frank Gore (also injured against the Seahawks) has looked worse. With the 49ers now eliminated from playoff contention, look for the team to give the bulk of the carries to Hyde (it appears that he should be fine for week 16). For those looking to next season (that’s most teams now), Hyde could be a great value pick in the draft. He’s got RB1 potential, and you may be able to get him at an RB2 draft slot. Obviously we’ve got a long way to go until next year’s draft, but Hyde looks like he could be a special player in the inevitable post-Harbaugh era.
- Latavius Murray, RB – OAK: 12 carries, 59 yards, 0 TDs
Analysis: Latavius Murray didn’t post special numbers against the Chiefs, but he continued to show considerable promise for the future. Murray has played well in each of his last three games (note that he missed the week 13 matchup). Against the Chiefs he averaged nearly 5 yards a carry, and for the season he’s been safely above that number. Murray should be viewed as a lower end RB2/flex, depending upon matchup. With a very tough matchup next week against the Bills, Murray slides into flex territory. But don’t be afraid to start him – he’ll be given every chance to continue to show his talent for the next two weeks.
- Harry Douglas, WR - ATL: 10 catches, 131 yards, 0 TDs
Analysis: Many of the questions I received this past week were about Harry Douglas. His status is closely intertwined with that of Julio Jones, as evidenced this past Sunday. With Jones out, Douglas starred for the Falcons as you can see from his line above. With the Falcons in the hunt for the NFC South division, you can bet that Jones will do whatever possible to play this coming week against the Saints. So how do things shake out with Douglas? If Jones doesn’t play, then view Douglas as a WR2, and with Jones in the lineup, Douglas drops to WR3/flex status. So still a useful player in that scenario.
- Calvin Johnson, WR – DET: 5 catches, 72 yards, 0 TDs
Analysis: There’s no way around it – Megatron has been one of the biggest first round busts this year. He was injured for a large part of the season (including two games in which he played as a decoy), and except for four “Megatron-like” games scattered throughout the season, he has disappointed. Obviously he remains a weekly must-start, but looking to the future, where does Megatron rank among WRs for next year? I think you can make a logical case that he falls to the bottom half of the top ten WRs. This would most likely make him a second round pick. Megatron will turn 30 years old during the 2015 season, so his best is behind him. Again, this doesn’t mean that he won’t be a hugely impactful player. But, his days as the top WR and automatic first round pick are over.
Rapid Fire Pickups
Each week we’ll throw out potential free agent pickups from each position for deeper leagues, in each case 1) someone who has NOT been referenced above, and 2) a player available in most leagues.
QB: Robert Griffin III, WAS (not for the weak of heart, but nice matchup against the Eagles and likely available in your league)
RB: Joseph Randle, DAL (will start if DeMarco Murray is out)
RB: Pierre Thomas, NO
WR: Marquess Wilson, CHI
WR: Robert Woods, BUF
TE: Scott Chandler, BUF
Last Writeup of the Season
As most leagues end in week 16, this will be the last writeup for the 2014 season. However, we will have rankings next week for those of you whose seasons run through week 17. I want to thank each of you for reading my weekly column and for all the questions that you sent through via email and twitter. Best of luck in your matchups, and look for more content during the offseason.
Week 16 Rankings
Quarterbacks
1. Drew Brees
2. Aaron Rodgers
3. Tom Brady
4. Andrew Luck
5. Matt Ryan
6. Matthew Stafford
7. Ben Roethlisberger
8. Peyton Manning
9. Tony Romo
10. Russell Wilson
11. Mark Sanchez
12. Jay Cutler
13. Philip Rivers
14. Ryan Tannehill
15. Joe Flacco
16. Cam Newton
17. Robert Griffin III
18. Kyle Orton
19. Colin Kaepernick
20. Andy Dalton
Running Backs
1. Le\'Veon Bell
2. Eddie Lacy
3. Jamaal Charles
4. DeMarco Murray
5. C.J. Anderson
6. Arian Foster
7. Marshawn Lynch
8. Joique Bell
9. Mark Ingram
10. Jeremy Hill
11. Matt Forte
12. Justin Forsett
13. LeSean McCoy
14. Lamar Miller
15. Alfred Morris
16. Latavius Murray
17. Daniel Herron
18. Tre Mason
19. Fred Jackson
20. Steven Jackson
21. Isaiah Crowell
22. Andre Williams
23. Giovani Bernard
24. Chris Ivory
25. LeGarrette Blount
26. Joseph Randle
27. Toby Gerhart
28. Carlos Hyde
29. Doug Martin
30. Kerwynn Williams
31. Terrence West
32. Darren Sproles
33. Ryan Mathews
34. Pierre Thomas
35. Matt Asiata
Wide Receivers
1. Antonio Brown
2. Demaryius Thomas
3. Jordy Nelson
4. Dez Bryant
5. Calvin Johnson
6. Odell Beckham Jr.
7. Alshon Jeffery
8. T.Y. Hilton
9. A.J. Green
10. Jeremy Maclin
11. Randall Cobb
12. Julian Edelman
13. Emmanuel Sanders
14. Mike Evans
15. DeAndre Hopkins
16. Julio Jones
17. Kelvin Benjamin
18. DeSean Jackson
19. Golden Tate
20. Josh Gordon
21. Mike Wallace
22. Brandon LaFell
23. Roddy White
24. Jordan Matthews
25. Vincent Jakson
26. Kenny Stills
27. Steve Smith
28. Sammy Watkins
29. Marques Colston
30. Torrey Smith
31. Jarvis Landry
32. Andre Johnson
33. Eric Decker
34. Anquan Boldin
35. Pierre Garcon
Tight Ends
1. Rob Gronkowski
2. Jimmy Graham
3. Julius Thomas
4. Greg Olsen
5. Antonio Gates
6. Martellus Bennett
7. Travis Kelce
8. Jason Witten
9. Delanie Walker
10. Coby Fleener
11. Larry Donnell
12. Dwayne Allen
13. Heath Miller
14. Kyle Rudolph
15. Jordan Reed