So you weren’t facing Travis Kelce and survived your first-round playoff matchup.
Or, you could’ve started the likes of Tom Brady, Ja’Marr Chase, Joe Mixon and Dawson Knox — who totaled a combined 27 fantasy points — and lived to tell about it.
Perhaps you were simply above the mess that was Week 15 and were one of the fortunate few top seeds who had an opening-week bye.
And maybe you had ridden a now-injured Leonard Fournette, Chris Godwin or a slumping Dak Prescott or Saquon Barkley this far and now are in need of some bench or waiver-wire plug-in help for this week’s semifinals. Or, unfortunately with the untimely COVID-19 surge, there’s almost certain to be the need for additional roster and lineup alterations on the fly.
You’ve come to the right place.
This week’s TT&T looks at 10 of the surprise fantasy standouts from Week 15 and which of these upstart, Johnny-come-latelys you should — or shouldn’t — trust during the championship chase over the next couple weeks.
Here goes, kicking off with those Week 15 surprises that you should …
Get them into your lineups
Atlanta Falcons WR Russell Gage
Week 15: 11 targets-8 receptions-91 yards-TD for 23.1 total fantasy points (sixth among wide receivers through Monday in point-per-reception scoring).
Looking ahead: Gage has been anything but a one-week wonder. Since Week 12, Gage ranks fourth among wide receivers with 29 receptions and 347 yards, is tied for sixth with 36 targets and trails only Cooper Kupp, Hunter Renfrow and Justin Jefferson with 75.7 total fantasy points during that span. In short — in case you hadn’t noticed during the Falcons’ largely anonymous 6-8 season so far — Gage has stepped in for the departed Julio Jones and the on-leave Calvin Ridley as Matt Ryan’s go-to wideout and is producing WR1 numbers on a consistent basis. The Falcons do face the Buffalo Bills (fantasy’s toughest matchup for opposing fantasy wide receivers) in Week 17, but they do get the two-win Detroit Lions at home this coming weekend.
New Orleans Saints defense
Week 15: Four sacks, one interception and fumble recovery in Sunday night’s shocking shutout win over the hosting Tampa Bay Buccaneers for 8.0 total fantasy points (tied for fifth among team D/STs in Huddle Performance scoring).
Looking ahead: Barring a rash of return scores, we fully realize a fantasy defense most likely isn’t going to be the impetus for a fantasy league title, but the New Orleans D closes the regular season with the second-most favorable Week 16-18 slate (Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers, Falcons), with the first two of those three also at home, so definitely look to grab the defense that just blanked Brady and the league’s highest-scoring offense.
Detroit Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
Week 15: 11 targets-8 receptions-90 yards-1 TD for 23.5 total fantasy points (fifth among wideouts through Monday)
Looking ahead: After averaging 4.7 targets and 3.5 receptions over his first 11 games, this Lions rookie has had at least 11 targets and eight receptions in each of his last three contests. And since Week 13, St. Brown is second only to Jefferson (70.8) with 63.6 total PPR points, reeling in 26-of-35 targets for 249 yards and a pair of scores. Only Godwin and Jefferson have more targets (39), and only Godwin has more receptions (31) at the position during that span. With tight end T.J. Hockenson having missed the last two games and shelved for the season due to thumb surgery, St. Brown is the unquestioned No. 1 target in the Motor City and deserves a spot in fantasy lineups for any team manager uncertain about one’s starting wideouts.
Solid plug-in options
Buffalo Bills WR Gabriel Davis
Week 15: 7 targets-5 receptions-85 yards-2 TDs for 25.5 total fantasy points (third among WRs).
Looking ahead: Davis got his second start of the season Sunday vs. the Carolina Panthers in place of the injured and inactive Emmanuel Sanders and played a season-high 90 percent of the offensive snaps. Among the Bills, only Cole Beasley (8) received more targets than Davis in the game, and the latter’s two touchdown receptions stretched his game streak with a TD to three. He has four total scoring grabs over that span. Sanders could be back any week, and in Week 16 the Bills do face the New England Patriots, the third-toughest fantasy matchup for opposing wide receivers. With the Pats likely to focus on taking away the Bills’ top pass-catching threat in WR Stefon Diggs, Davis should see some extra-favorable matchups again after already accounting for Buffalo’s lone TD in a 14-10 home loss to New England in cold and brutally blustery conditions in Week 13.
Miami Dolphins RB Duke Johnson
Week 15: 22 carries-107 yards-2 TDs; 1 target-1 reception-20 yards-1 TD (first among running backs through Monday with 25.70 fantasy points (PPR scoring)
Looking ahead: Long viewed as a underutilized asset by some, Johnson garnered one of the rare bell-cow workloads of his seven-year tenure Sunday, posting career highs in rushes (22), rushing yards (107), total touches (23) and total yards (127). But keep in mind this was with regular starter Myles Gaskin just coming off the COVID-19 list, and it was against the New York Jets, the most forgivable fantasy defense for opposing running backs in the league. So even if Johnson suddenly is the new lead back in Miami, fate would have it that no less than the top two toughest fantasy RB defenses await the next two weeks in the Saints and Tennessee Titans.
Detroit Lions RB Craig Reynolds
Week 15: 26 rushes-112 yards; 1 target-1 reception-5 yards for a total of 12.7 fantasy points (14th among running backs)
Looking ahead: With D’Andre Swift (shoulder) and Jamaal Williams (COVID-19 list) out the last two weeks, the unheralded Reynolds has not only emerged as the Lions’ lead back but has looked impressive in doing so, rushing for 195 yards on 37 carries and catching all three of his targets for 35 yards. Only league rushing leader Jonathan Taylor (170) has rushed for more yards than Reynolds in Week 15. The Lions’ immediate schedule is tasty as Detroit draws a pair of bottom-eight fantasy RB defenses (the Falcons and Seattle Seahawks) the next two weeks. So as long as Reynolds remains in the mix with Williams now activated and the slim chance Swift returns to a two-won team, he’s a plug-and-play RB2/flex option.
Buffalo Bills RB Devin Singletary
Week 15: 22 rushes-86 yards-1 TD; 1 reception-10 yards for 16.6 total fantasy points (sixth among running backs)
Looking ahead: Amazingly, this marked Singletary’s high in rushing attempts and matched his best outing in terms of total touches in 42 career games. And it came in a contest where fellow RB Zack Moss was a healthy scratch and Matt Breida only logged only one rushing attempt, giving Singletary a 95.8 percent share of the backfield touches. Prior to this contest, no Bills running back had had more than 16 touches in a game, so perhaps this was an indication of the direction Buffalo wants to go as it entered a critical season-ending, four-game stretch with the AFC East title and the AFC’s No. 1 seed still within reach. The remaining itinerary is favorable as well with the Bills set to face the second-easiest Week 16-18 slate of opposing fantasy RB defenses. The key, though, will be the Bills sticking with Singletary as the lead back and getting him 15-plus opportunities.
Simply one-week wonders
New England Patriots TE Hunter Henry
Week 15: 8 targets-6 receptions-77 yards-2 TDs for 25.7 total fantasy points (third among tight ends)
Looking ahead: This was Henry’s best fantasy outing in more than two seasons and marked only his fourth contest with 13-plus PPR points on the season and first since Week 10. The trouble is, Henry remains too reliant on TDs. He led all tight ends with nine receiving scores on the season through Monday’s games but ranked 19th in targets (58), 16th in receptions (41), and 16th in receiving yards (471). To further illustrate the point, New England rookie QB Mac Jones has thrown 18 TD passes on the season, and half of them have been caught by Henry. You may have struck fantasy gold with the Pats tight end in Week 15, but his other numbers indicate that you’re going to miss often more than you hit when streaming Henry.
Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton
Week 15: 38 attempts-18 completions-156 yards-1 TD-1 interception; 15 rushes-71 yards-1 TD for a total of 24.9 fantasy points (fifth among QBs on the week).
Looking ahead: This was Cam’s second-best fantasy day since re-signing with the Panthers prior to Week 10, and his 15 rushing attempts and 71 rushing yards marked season highs. Newton, though, is still only completing 54.9 percent of his passes and hasn’t reached 190 aerial yards in any of his five outings and four starts this season. Carolina’s remaining schedule isn’t formidable from a fantasy standpoint as the Bucs (Week 16 & 18) and Saints (Week 17) both rank among the bottom third in most fantasy points allowed to opposing QBs, but Newton is too over-reliant on his 32-year-old legs to be counted on anything more than an emergency QB1 starter or spot QB2 streamer.
Pittsburgh Steelers defense
Week 15: 4 sacks-3 fumble recoveries-1 interception for 12 total fantasy points (second among team D/STs on the week).
Looking ahead: The Steelers D certainly has brand recognition, especially with Defensive Player of the Year front-runner T.J. Watt headlining the unit. But “Steel City D” is more name than game this season, permitting the fourth-most yards (367.5) and 11th-most points (23.9) per game while ranking in a tie for 19th among fantasy defenses with an average of 5.4 fantasy points per outing. So don’t be fooled by the Steelers’ big game Sunday. It was against the turnover-prone Titans, who trail only the Jets (26) with 25 giveaways on the season. Much tougher matchups await the next two weeks in the fantasy playoffs as Pittsburgh faces the Chiefs, who have turned things around of late after a turnover-laden start, and the Cleveland Browns, who currently rank as the fifth-worst matchup for fantasy D/STs. Look elsewhere for a defensive team streamer.
