The Week 15 slate is full of games with no BYEs left on the horizon. Two teams are likely chilling in “bye” weeks, but otherwise, many of us are scrambling for waiver wire gems and overthinking player placement in our lineups. Still taking a victory lap from a two-week removed performance by Bucky Irving, we go back to the well and hope to find situations where we can leverage our player pool. Initially, we thought we should find “diamonds in the rough” on the waiver wire. This late in the season, everyone in the playoffs has some talent across the board, so this is looking at certain spots on your starters and rethinking if you need to go back to the same lineup build you’ve had every week. Let’s dive in!
Booms: Week 15
Rico Dowdle, RB- Dallas Cowboys
Week 15 Matchup: Carolina Panthers (32nd against RBs)
Rico Dowdle was an unpolished player coming into the pros. Undrafted, he jumped in quietly behind Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. Waiting wisely, he watched as Zeke left for greener pastures only to come back older, while Pollard had his shine only to leave for the Tennessee Titans. Dowdle in the past year has almost doubled his yards after contact, and the player who was once considered bench depth (for the Cowboys and our fantasy squads) is now looking like he may just be in the starting conversation. In a November 24th matchup against the Commanders, Dowdle hit 86 yards rushing. Since the engine light kicked on in that game, he has had back-to-back 100-yard rushing games, showing that he can be the focal point of an offense without a lead now that their starting quarterback is gone. Dowdle is a player that could likely start on squads where you’re deciding between him and D’Andre Swift, and it looks as if the Panthers may be the remedy for a Cowboys team that seems to trade wins and losses all season long. What also should be mentioned is how he’s quietly bolstered his stat lines with decent receiving stats, as he’s caught 3 or more passes in 5 of his last 7. There will be some discussions to have here, given his pedigree, and wondering if this is just fools gold. There also will be players who’ve done it for longer than may seem more trustworthy.
With the Panthers, you have a very susceptible defense to the run funnel, as they’ve allowed the most fantasy points to running backs weekly. While I know it’s Saquon Barkley, just this past week, the Panthers allowed 124 rushing yards to him. The team will leak out rushing yards in favor, as they have lockdown corner play at times from Jaycee Horn. The week prior, my favorite, Bucky Irving, had 25 carries for 152 yards. This team will likely be the third straight 100-rushing-yard game the Panthers have allowed.
Rome Odunze, WR- Chicago Browns
Week 15 Matchup: Minnesota Vikings (Tied 30th against WR’s)
The Chicago Bears and Vikings have a long, storied history facing off in the NFC North, so both teams play a bit more energized against each other. While the season for the Bears has been less up than the Vikings, they do have some solid pieces that will help them compete next year and going forward. Caleb Williams has come to Chicago to help save it, but one of the less discussed reasons is the dominant capabilities Rome Odunze has shown to help Williams grow as a quarterback. Odunze, a first-round pick like Williams, came into the NFL draft as a top 3 pick for his position, and while the season has had his ups and downs, it’s trending as if he may finish the season big. The Washington alum found himself just this last week at the end of two touchdown passes from Caleb Williams, and it showcased that he may be earning some more trust from Williams.
The Vikings have a potentially elite corner in the making when it comes to Byron Murphy Jr., the 23rd overall corner in grading per Pro Football Focus, but the good news for Odunze is he isn’t regarded as the number one wide receiver at this time, so he likely won’t see very much overlap with Murphy in coverage. He will likely see more safety coverage or coverage from Stephon Gilmore, a former elite talent at the corner position, but has been relatively unceremonious in his usage this year. While he’s in the top 100 for corners in grading as well, he has only one pick on the season and a below-average amount of tackles. While Rome isn’t soaking in a large number of targets, when he is receiving them, they seem to be of importance (40 percent of his targets last week were for touchdown conversions.) While I expect Murphy to have a relatively solid night covering D.J. Moore, this should leave us in a good place to see some solid production out of Odunze.
Jaylen Waddle, WR – Miami Dolphins
Week 15 Matchup: Houston Texans (29th against WR’s)
A lot has happened in roughly a year for these Miami Dolphins. Just this past season, they saw their quarterback concussed for the fourth time on the field. For a short time, there was a discussion about if he would even return to play anymore. Now returned, the season has had some ups and downs, but it seems as if Tua Tagovailoa may finally be on the same page fully with his offense. Jaylen Waddle is as thankful as all of us to see it. Waddle seemed like an afterthought for the first 12 weeks, but it looks like the Dolphins may be finding success in a different style of offense. Whereas the team often went with explosive rushing and a breakout threat of Tyreek Hill, the team is starting to realize that they may be just as successful using the middle of the field with Jonnu Smith (also having a major increase in production over the past month), and using Jaylen Waddle for some less volatile passing routes than needing to use Hill deep at all times.
In just the past 3 weeks, Waddle has produced, giving us receiving totals of 99 and 144 yards. While the talk of Waddle this year has mostly seen him as underwhelming, it seems like this offense may just run better with a more consistent force, and this type of gameplay should hold for the rest of the season.
Busts: Week 15
James Cook, RB – Buffalo Bills
Week 15 Matchup: Detroit Lions (2nd against RBs)
This seems blasphemous. I know. James Cook has earned quite the fan club in fantasy circles as an electric back who can do a little of everything. We can look at his abilities, where he can rush for touchdowns or receive a catch on the move from Josh Allen and gain 20 to 30 yards. The fact of the matter is that overall, this year, Cook’s year averages out well, but he’s only had a couple of really big games. There are too many variables in the Bills offense to make me want to hold any pieces of it other than the quarterback. Cook had a huge week two weeks back, and then just last week, he had just 20 rushing yards. Cook could have another big game or maybe even two before the end of the season, but I just don’t see it here.
This past week, we watched Josh Allen take over the game on his feet as well as in the air. What’s to say that next week, the rushing yardage is mostly propelled by the feet of Josh Allen? Then, you add in a dynamic and unable-to-die defense in Detroit, run by Dan Campbell. The team has allowed the second least points to the fantasy running back position, and if you watch any of their games, you can see it. With a swarming defense, the rusher will likely be spending a lot of his time trying to help block to help with the defensive onslaught.
Tee Higgins, WR – Cincinnati Bengals
Week 15 Matchup: Tennessee Titans (1st against WR’s)
The Tennessee Titans have mostly had a season to forget. Between trying to find their starting quarterback while climbing out of the muck of constant battles to end up mostly losing, this team has likely wanted this season to end for quite some time. That being said, the team can pat themselves on the back for the work they’ve done in their secondary. Passing defense has been one of their biggest successes this week, as they’re hanging out at number one overall for the season. With a top-10 defense as well as touchdowns allowed, this team has found its way without very much fanfare.
In comes Tee Higgins, quietly pacing through this season in hopes that this season can end so that he can get himself a new contract. Subject to much of a trade rumor, Higgins has had a relatively successful season but is mostly being propped up by touchdowns scored (having 5 in his nine games played.) In the last game, as has happened a few times in the past few weeks, Higgins was swallowed by the presence of JaMarr Chase, also looking for a contract next year and likely getting the largest one in NFL history due to his production. What this spells for me is a matchup against the toughest pass defense in the shadow of the best receiver in the league. I would rather start almost 30/35 receivers other than him.
Alvin Kamara, RB- New Orleans Saints
Week 15 Matchup: Washington Commanders (18th against RB’s)
Alvin Kamara has had a resurgent couple of years, and it feels almost wrong to kick him down. The trends just don’t speak well for him this week in a matchup where the New Orleans Saints are bringing out a quarterback who has never started at the professional level to go up against a Commanders team that has been quickly finding their stride with their high profile rookie Jayden Daniels at the helm. Kamara will likely get the work, and in droves, but is that really what we want to see here? The Commanders will be certain to stack the box against the Saints and are coming off freshly squashing the run game of the Titans with Tony Pollard. Just last week, Kamara averaged just 2.6 yards per carry, and that’s not going to get things done.
One last thing you should look at is the fact that freshly de-Dennis Allen’ed, the Saints have their somewhat buzzworthy backup back in Kendre Miller, who has quietly started his career as a third-round player mostly in the shadows but is starting to garner some opportunity. Just this last week, he was given a chance to tote in his first NFL touchdown, as well as carry ten times for a higher yard-per-carry average than Alvin. Kamara could still likely garner one or two of their touchdown plays, but it’s also entirely possible the Saints go scoreless with their backup quarterback, who has a below 50 percent completion percentage to start his career.
Photos courtesy of Icon Sportswire
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@kurt_player02 on IG & Threads, @kuwasemiller on Bluesky)