Sit/Start 2023 Week 15: Reviewing All Fantasy Relevant Players In Every Single Game

Game Info

Kickoff: Sunday, December 16th, at 1:00 PM ET

Location: Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN

Betting Odds: TEN -2.5  O/U 37.5  Total via PFF.com

Network: CBS

Writer: Matt Prendergast (@amazingmattyp on X/Twitter)

Houston Texans

Quarterbacks

C. J. Stroud (Start, QB2) OR Davis Mills (Nope)

So this has been just a great couple of weeks for the Houston Texans, a team that went from ‘the most fun story in the league’ to ‘everything is broken’ with a startling suddenness that frankly should have caused more instances of whiplash. We start here, at the tip-top of the We Aren’t Allowed to Have Nice Things pyramid, with eventual Offensive Rookie of the Year winner CJ Stroud currently in concussion protocol. I’ll try to update this if time allows once there’s more info, but let’s go with this: before he left the game on Sunday, CJ was having his worst performance of the year going 10 for 23 for 91 yards and nothing else, and it wasn’t close. The Jets have a good defense, so that’s a factor, but it also kicks in that Stroud is currently down his three best weapons. If he clears and plays, I still like him, but on the low end of the 15-20 point QB2 spectrum – he’s special, but not quite ‘now John Metchie is going to the Pro Bowl’ special. And if Stroud is out, I can’t recommend ANYBODY on this team involved in the receiving game as their primary contribution. This is my way of politely noting that ‘Davis Mills is your starter’ makes strong men weep and question their life choices.

Running Backs

Devin Singletary (Start, Flex), Dameon Pierce (Sit) 

The Miami Dolphins showed last week that running backs with speed, elite body control, and quick-adjustment move sets can have a healthy bit of success against the Titans’ run defense, with the Mostert/Achane duo contributing heavily to a 158-yard Miami performance. Thankfully for the Titans, the Texans don’t have a guy that has those things. I like Devin Singletary, and thankfully DeMeco Ryans returned him to his rightful spot as the majority shareholder of carries on this team, but he is and always has been a very meat-and-potatoes guy. He grinds hard and puts up a fight, but he’s not an Achane. Assuming the Texans feed him most again this week – and I suppose that’s not even a guarantee – the volume alone (particularly if Stroud is out) might put him on the outskirts of RB2 territory, but let’s play it safe and call him a strong flex play. I don’t know why Dameon Pierce is even getting any shares right now – there’s something just wrong with him this year, but it’s not helping him, or the squad, or the eyes of the world, to have him trying to work through it on the field. Yes, the Texans RBs are met by defenders in the backfield more than any other team in the league this year – but only one of these guys has any capacity to fight through it.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Healthy Options: Noah Brown (Start, WR3 – with Stroud, Sit – with Davis), Robert Woods/Xavier Hutchinson/John Metchie (Sit), Brevin Jordan (Start, TE2)

Broken, But There’s Always Hope:  Nico Collins (WR2 – with Stroud, WR3 – with Mills and all the wishes the genie gave you), Dalton Schultz (Start, TE2) 

I’ll revisit a statement I made above: If Davis Mills starts this game instead of CJ Stroud, due to concussion, I’m not considering anyone from this receiving room on this team for my playoff fantasy roster – with one caveat: if Nico Collins gets a go-ahead – I can’t find anything new regarding his calf (as of Wed afternoon), I think you have to find a place for him, though lower your expectations if it’s future Glamour Shots franchise owner Davis Mills. Collins is having a great year, and you have to trust his skill regardless of the quarterback, I would love it a lot more if we didn’t have to have that discussion. Noah Brown was absolutely involved last week before CJ went out, but a combo platter of great coverage and his own shaky hands prevented him from contributing anything with zero catches on five targets. With Stroud, I think they work through that some, and Brown is worth a go; without him, I think he’s just another guy this week. Whichever TE ends up out there – whether Dalton Schultz makes it back this week, or it’s another Brevin Jordan go, either should fit into an increased target share with the dwindling availability of the leading WRs, and that goes with either quarterback behind center. As for John Metchie, Xavier Hutchinson, and Robert Woods…well, none of them see consistent production (or targets – though Metchie did see five last week, but he only caught one), nor should be on a fantasy roster at this point in the season.

Tennessee Titans

Quarterback

Will Levis (Sit)

Since taking over the reins from Ryan Tannehill in Week 8, Will Levis has brought fantasy true-believers exactly two games wherein he hit over the fifteen-point threshold – his first week against the Falcons, and last week against Miami (and even there, it was ‘barely’ with 16.58 in a Sleeper full PPR format). The Texans should provide him with opportunity – they are 26th in the league in passing yards allowed for the year – Levis hasn’t shown the consistency I would lean on as you enter the playoffs (or are fighting for a way in). Since his impressive debut against the Falcons when he lit them up for 4 scores, he’s only scored four more since.  He’s a new QB, and from a Tennessee team perspective, he’s got a lot of fire so far, but not nearly enough seasoning, and in a week where the Titans should run as much as possible to control the clock against an incredibly banged up Texans squad, I wouldn’t put my faith in Levis for reaching a championship. He sure gets excited though!

Running Backs

Derrick Henry (Start, RB2), Tyjae Spears (Start, Flex) 

So, I really haven’t watched a whole ton of Tennessee Titans football this year, at least not closely, so after doing some catch-up viewing, I suppose I have this question: has Derrick Henry been moving like a 54-year-old man all year? I mean, visually, his movement looks like he just got pulled off a retirement cruise he’s been on for a year.  Conversely, does his ‘Old Man Coming Through’ stature affect my fantasy considerations for him this week? You know it does not. Henry has scored two touchdowns each the past three weeks, and though last week that was about all he did, it was enough tot to make him the 11th-ranked fantasy RB, after two weeks in the top ten (and 76, and 102-yard performances to go along with the scoring those two weeks). Look, we can see the tank starting to work off fumes, but we’re not there yet.  He’s good to go another week, though the Texans are relatively successful on running yards (6th in the league in total yards allowed), they do let a lot of rushing touchdowns in (inversely, they are sixth-worst, with 15 allowed). I do think Henry will continue to lose a share or two to Tyjae Spears, however, as ‘why wouldn’t they save some tread on the King?’. Spears has consecutive weeks of RB2 numbers (12.8 against the Colts, 17.8 against the Dolphins) and has moved into third place on the team in target share with 54, behind Nuk and Chigziem Okonkwo. While I don’t fully trust him in an RB2 spot yet – and the Titans are still figuring out how to use him consistently – Spears should be in your lineup in some fashion with what looks like a good week ahead.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

DeAndre Hopkins (Start, WR2), Treylon Burks (Sit), Nick Westbrook-Ikhine/Chris Moore (Sit), Chicoziem Okonkwo (Start, TE2)

While I’m still not positive why ‘I want a championship’-mode DeAndre Hopkins ended up here, he remains the most impressive athlete on this offense. Of the aforementioned eight total passing touchdowns afforded the Titans’ fandom since the dawning of the Will Levis’ Era, Hopkins has brought in six of them. He’s coming off back-to-back twelve-target games, both of which featured scores, and a fair bit of yards (124 against the Dolphins, 75 against the Colts). Though I’m not big on Levis in general for this game, I am big on Hopkins, as the Texans’ defense should allow him room to work, and also because Nuk is the only consistent threat out there catching balls outside of Spears.  Treylon Burks, Chris Moore, and the law offices of Nick Westbrook-Ikhine just don’t see enough looks to be considered for a roster, let alone playing for your team in these championship weeks. Burks had one catch on three targets last week in his first game since early November, Westbrook-Ikhine has caught more than two balls in a game twice all year and has never broken fifty yards receiving, and I honestly forgot Chris Moore was still in the league (he did have a 49 yard catch a month ago though!). More power to Hopkins. Chiciziem Okonkwo, who has a FANTASTIC name, is second on the Titans in targets for the year at 60 and is on a three-game run of scoring at least eight points – as there will be some opportunity against Houston for the receivers to work this week, he’s a safe and solid, though still lower-end and not particularly glamourous, start at Tight End this week.