Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: Week 15 lineup picks (and benches) from Justin Boone

Justin Boone provides a weekly look at undervalued fantasy football players to consider starting this week and potential busts you might want to leave on your bench.

For the rest of your lineup decisions, consult his Week 15 rankings.

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Starts

Brock Purdy, QB, 49ers

vs. Titans

This hasn’t been a great year for Purdy, but that’s mostly due to injuries that have kept him out of the lineup for the majority of the season. He also struggled against tougher opponents in his last two contests before the 49ers’ Week 14 bye.

Fortunately, he has one of the easiest schedules in the fantasy playoffs — starting this week with a Titans’ defense that allows the sixth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks.

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In the last two games alone, Tennessee has let Shedeur Sanders and Trevor Lawrence finish as top-five fantasy QBs. Purdy offers similar upside this week.

If you need a reminder of what he’s capable of, Purdy has finished as a top-12 fantasy QB on a per game basis each of the past two campaigns. And in his only easy matchup this season, he threw for over 300 yards with a pair of touchdowns against the Jaguars.

Other QBs to start:

• Jaxson Dart vs. Commanders – Even with fewer designed runs, Dart should have no problem delivering a big fantasy day against a Washington defense that permits the fourth-most fantasy points to QBs.

• Trevor Lawrence vs. Jets – The Jaguars are 11.5-point favorites against a Jets team that might be forced to start Brady Cook at quarterback. Jacksonville is going to control this game and score plenty. Lawrence will have a big hand in that scoring before the game gets out of reach.

Travis Etienne Jr., RB, Jaguars

vs. Jets

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Since the Jaguars’ Week 8 bye, Etienne has reestablished himself as a dominant lead back, scoring the seventh-most fantasy points per game during that span.

He’s also found the end zone at an impressive pace, with six touchdowns over his last five outings.

You can expect him to add to that total against a Jets defense that’s given up 10 TDs to seven different running backs over just the last four weeks.

Fantasy managers should start Jags players with confidence this week and that’s especially true for Etienne, who’s inside my top-12 RBs.

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Other RBs to start:

• Chase Brown vs. Ravens – Brown went over 100 scrimmage yards in six consecutive outings prior to last week, when he made up the difference by scoring two touchdowns. Now, he’ll face the Ravens for the second time this month, after putting up 112 yards and seven catches on them in Week 13.

• TreVeyon Henderson vs. Bills – Even in a split with Rhamondre Stevenson, Henderson remains the more explosive option. That should bode well for him against a Bills’ unit allowing the sixth-most fantasy points to RBs.

• Tyrone Tracy Jr. vs. Commanders – Before getting hurt and leaving earlier in his last game, Tracy had put up at least 130 scrimmage yards in back-to-back games. Meanwhile, Washington is the fifth-best matchup for fantasy backs, making Tracy an intriguing low-end RB2.

Chris Olave, WR, Saints

vs. Panthers

Olave is the WR16 in fantasy points per game this season, aided by consistent volume. The 25-year-old is averaging the seventh-most targets in the league through 14 weeks, which is no fluke.

The last time he faced the Panthers resulted in one of his best performances of the season back in Week 10. During that contest, Olave turned eight targets into five receptions, 104 yards and a score en route to a WR6 finish on the week.

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Despite only allowing the eighth-fewest fantasy points to wideouts this year, Carolina has dished out some quality stat lines to the position lately.

Olave, who is about to make another appearance on this list, can be started as a strong fantasy WR2 this week.

Other WRs to start:

• Terry McLaurin at Giants – Since returning to the lineup two weeks ago, McLaurin has racked up 10 catches, 137 yards and a touchdown on 20 targets. He should add to that total against a Giants defense that’s the fourth-easiest matchup for fantasy receivers.

• Jakobi Meyers vs. Jets – Meyers is quickly becoming a favorite target for Trevor Lawrence and is coming off his first 10-target game as a member of the Jags. He’ll take a three-game TD streak into this contest with the Jets.

• Jauan Jennings vs. Titans – Jennings has touchdowns in four of his last five games, including stat lines of 4-41-1, 6-71-1, 4-54-0, 5-41-1 and 4-39-1. The Titans are among the top-10 most generous defenses to wideouts this season, so expect Jennings to fill the box score.

Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Browns

at Bears

Fannin is the TE11 on the season, but those numbers have risen to the TE4 over the last three weeks as David Njoku battled through injuries and Shedeur Sanders took over as the starting quarterback.

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Njoku injured his knee in Week 14 and might be sidelined this Sunday, which would only reinforce Fannin as a quality fantasy option.

While we shouldn’t expect another eight-catch, 114-yard, one-touchdown performance like he had last week, Fannin is the de facto No. 1 receiver for the Browns at the moment.

In that role, the rookie is a must-start fantasy TE1 with top-five upside.

Other TEs to start:

• Mark Andrews at Bengals – The Bengals defense is giving up production to tight ends at a near historic rate. Cincy is allowing seven more fantasy points per game to the position than the second place team in that category. Andrews didn’t have the biggest day against the Bengals a couple weeks ago (4-47-0), but this remains a spot to attack for fantasy.

• Isaiah Likely at Bengals – For the first time ever, we’re highlighting two teammates in this section. Not only is Likely on a hot streak with 4-25-1 versus Pittsburgh and 5-95-0 against the Bengals in Week 13, but he also just missed out on scoring another touchdown in each of those games. Now, Likely faces a Bengals defense that just let three separate Bills tight ends post either 93 yards or a TD last week.

Sits

Jacoby Brissett, QB, Cardinals

at Texans

Brissett has been a regular in the start section of this column and for good reason. The veteran passer has finished as a top-12 fantasy QB in all eight games he’s started for the Cardinals.

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I regret to inform you that trend is about to end against a Texans defense that’s been tormenting opposing quarterbacks.

Houston is allowing the fewest passing TDs and fifth-fewest passing yards, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that they are the most difficult matchup for fantasy QBs.

This isn’t the spot to risk your fantasy season. Sit Brissett this week and if you advance, you’ll be able to start him against the Falcons and Bengals the next two weeks.

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Other QBs to sit:

• Justin Herbert at Chiefs – The matchup isn’t great on the road in Kansas City, but Herbert hasn’t topped 15 fantasy points in four straight games and hasn’t finished higher than QB17 during that span. A decimated offensive line combined with a hand injury of his own are too much to overcome.

• Bo Nix vs. Packers – Nix has been an up-and-down fantasy performer this season and the Packers are the ninth-most challenging defense to face for quarterbacks.

Tony Pollard, RB, Titans

at 49ers

Pollard’s 161 yards and two touchdowns against the Browns came out of nowhere last week. He hadn’t reached double-digit fantasy points in any of his previous seven outings.

I would be extremely cautious about chasing that huge performance, now that he’s heading on the road to San Francisco where the Titans will be 12.5-point underdogs. When Tennessee trails, that tends to result in an uptick in usage for Tyjae Spears.

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The 49ers' defense might be a shell of its former self after being hit hard by injuries this season, but they’re still holding their own against rushing attacks.

So good luck if you’re starting Pollard in hopes he can pick up where he left off last week. He’s far more likely to return to being an underwhelming fantasy RB3.

Other RBs to sit:

• Kareem Hunt vs. Chargers – Hunt remains a low-ceiling TD-or-bust fantasy RB3, who could give up more work to teammate Isiah Pacheco at any moment.

• David Montgomery at Rams – Montgomery has taken even more of a backseat to Jahmyr Gibbs lately, but sometimes saves his fantasy day with a touchdown. That’ll be tough to do against a Rams defense that’s allowing the third-fewest fantasy points to RBs, including just two rushing TDs to the position this year.

• Bam Knight at Texans – Houston is a bad matchup for everyone on the Cardinals offense, especially Knight, who’s been held under 35 scrimmage yards in his last three games against tougher opponents (Seahawks, Jaguars, Rams).

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Khalil Shakir, WR, Bills

at Patriots

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Shakir is a fantasy WR3 who occasionally pops up with a bigger stat line. The result is a player who’s more of a seat-filler, rather than someone who’s going to help you win a fantasy championship.

The 25-year-old is a quality real-life starter for the Bills, but he’s just the WR46 in fantasy points per game this season.

The matchup with the Patriots is particularly concerning, since Shakir hasn’t topped 45 yards in any of his six games against New England. He also has yet to catch a touchdown when facing them.

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Consider Shakir a WR4/flex option this week and do your best to find a better starting option in the first round of the fantasy playoffs.

Other WRs to sit:

• Courtland Sutton vs. Packers – Sutton has been held to 62 yards or less in five consecutive outings and really only makes his mark in fantasy when he finds the end zone. The Packers are a negative matchup for fantasy wideouts, which moves Sutton down into the WR3 range this week.

• Alec Pierce at Seahawks – The loss of Daniel Jones is bad news for Pierce, since it will result in lower pass volume and his potential replacements are all less likely to have success throwing the ball down the field. Pierce also has to contend with the Seahawks defense that’s the fourth-most difficult opponent for fantasy WRs.

• Xavier Worthy vs. Chargers – Worthy has only posted double-digit fantasy points once this year and it hasn’t happened in any of his last nine appearances. I doubt it occurs this week against a Chargers defense that’s the second-worst matchup for fantasy WRs.

Dallas Goedert, TE, Eagles

vs. Raiders

Choosing tight ends for the Sit section is always my least favorite part of this column, since the position is already thin and a single touchdown can vault a player inside the top-12 any given week.

So, if you have a tight end you feel strongly about, trust your gut and play them this week.

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Goedert is coming off one of his best games of the season, with eight catches for 78 yards. However, those types of performances tend to be few and far between for him.

The 30-year-old has been held under 45 yards in 10 of his 12 appearances this year and had finished under 27 yards in three straight prior to last week.

Meanwhile, the Raiders have been sneaky good against tight ends this year. Vegas has only allowed two TEs to eclipse the 50-yard mark and has only given up three touchdowns to the position.

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Goedert is a riskier TE2 streamer this week and will need a TD to deliver in fantasy.

Other TEs to sit:

• Mike Gesicki vs. Ravens– Gesicki is another tight end coming off a big game who fantasy managers should think twice about starting this week. The Ravens are the seventh-hardest matchup for fantasy tight ends. Even if Tee Higgins fails to clear concussion protocol, this is a dangerous spot to play Gesicki.

• Oronde Gadsden II at Chiefs – The rookie hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 8 and has only amassed 27, 41, 13, and seven yards over his last four outings. He’s well off the fantasy streamer radar.