Fantasy Football Week 15 Recap: 34 Things You Need To Know

Certainly, the worst part about fantasy football is that the playoffs become a one-slate do-or-die affair that is at the mercy of variance and luck. Did you happen to be on the other side of career games from Kyle Pitts, Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, or Amon-Ra St. Brown? Well, better luck next year! These small sample size affairs can undo all the work from the previous 14 weeks of roster-building.

But for those who persevered or managed to make it through one of the land mines mentioned above, we are still grinding with you. Let’s break down Week 15 and look to the second week of the fantasy playoffs.

Before we get to the Week 15 Monday Night Football game with the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers, let’s look at the good, the bad, and the injured from a wild Week 15 in the NFL.

Stud Players

Which players put up the best performances in Week 15?

Trevor Lawrence gave fantasy managers who trusted in him the performance of his life on Sunday. He threw for 330 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for 51 yards and another score as the Jaguars smacked the Jets in Week 15. Lawrence had 15 more fantasy points than any other quarterback heading into Monday Night Football, and he has led the Jaguars to a 10-4 record.

Bo Nix stared down the teeth of a nasty Green Bay defense and came away with more than 300 yards passing and four touchdowns to four different receivers as the Denver Broncos defeated the Packers at home. It was a very welcome sight for Nix managers as he hadn’t reached 20 fantasy points in any game since October 26

Brock Purdy reached 295 passing yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for another 44 yards with no turnovers against Tennessee. Purdy was a popular streamer in Week 15, and he did not disappoint. This was far and away the best game of his season, and it appears he has shaken off all the injury rust.

Travis Etienne was inefficient rushing the ball, being bottled up for 32 yards on 12 rush attempts. But Trevor Lawrence found him for three receptions for 73 yards, and all three went for touchdowns. You would think that the Jets would have caught on after the first two, but apparently not. This was Etienne’s best game of the season by about 10 points.

James Cook actually beat out Etienne by 0.10 points in half-PPR scoring. Cook had 107 rushing yards and two scores and added another touchdown through the air. He now has at least 20 touches in four straight games and remains one of the league’s last workhorse running backs

TreVeyon Henderson broke open two long touchdown runs to finish the day with 148 rushing yards and two scores, while also adding 13 receiving yards. Henderson out-carried Rhamondre Stevenson 14-6 in this game, so hopefully the reins have been turned completely over.

Amon-Ra St. Brown always has great games, but Sunday’s contest against the Rams was especially awesome. He set season-highs in targets (18), receptions (13), and receiving yards (164) while also catching two touchdowns in the Lions’ close loss to the LA Rams.

Puka Nacua reached 181 receiving yards on just nine receptions this week and poured in over 23 fantasy points without even catching a touchdown. He actually left the game against Detroit for a period of time, but came back to finish because he is one of the toughest SOBs in the league. In a league-winning season, he gave a week-winning performance.

Nico Collins opened the game against the Cardinals with a 57-yard touchdown and added another score later to finish with 85 yards and two scores. He was another in a long list of elite fantasy football wide receivers that did what we needed them to do in Week 15.

Trey McBride cemented his place atop all tight end rankings for the season with another 12 catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns. He was the entire Cardinals’ offense, and it was like the Texans were fine to let him get his production while they absolutely shut down everyone else.

Dallas Goedert built on his solid week in Week 14 and contributed seven catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns against the Las Vegas Raiders. Goedert has had these incredible ups and downs this season, but it appears right now he is on a heater and totally clicking with Jalen Hurts.

Dud Players

Which players disappointed fantasy managers the most in Week 15?

Joe Burrow told the media that he was one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL in this game, and he was right. There likely won’t be many Joe Burrow managers advancing after his team put up zero points and Burrow threw 225 yards and two interceptions.

Sam Darnold finished with an empty 271 yards passing on Sunday, as the Seahawks beat the Colts by kicking six field goals for an 18-16 win. Darnold had three passing touchdowns in Week 14, so he hopes to get back on track in Week 16 against the Rams on Thursday night, which could help decide the division.

Quinshon Judkins touched the ball 15 times on Sunday, but that resulted in just 17 yards as he rushed for 21 but caught negative four yards. It looks like we might have some Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde coming from Shedeur Sanders, so as the Browns’ offense goes, so likely will Judkins go as well.

Breece Hall had back-to-back great games at the end of November, but now has two duds to start December. In Week 15, Hall finished with 4.7 fantasy points with just 23 rushing yards and 14 receiving yards. His next two opponents (Saints and Patriots) are also tough run defenses.

Ladd McConkey busted for fantasy managers, catching just two passes for 20 yards on the road. In what has become a concerning trend, McConkey now has three or fewer fantasy points in three of his last four games. He has been under 40 yards in all four games.

Tetairoa McMillan couldn’t get on the same page with Bryce Young on Sunday and caught just two passes for 25 yards. It was a disappointing result after scoring four touchdowns in the last three games. Last time out against the Saints, he managed five receptions for 60 yards, but Week 15 was a bust.

Justin Jefferson has officially hit rock bottom. In a second game where McCarthy performed well, and the Vikings played a terrible defense (Dallas), Jefferson was still awful. Jefferson is above 50 yards receiving in just one of his last seven games, and he hasn’t scored since Week 9. For a player who was once one of the most explosive deep threats in fantasy football, it’s been difficult to watch games like Sunday, where he finishes with two catches for 22 yards.

Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely both completely busted against a Cincinnati Bengals defense that was far and away the worst against tight ends this season. Andrews caught two passes for 18 yards, while Isaiah Likely was shut out completely in this game and was not even targeted.

Ben Sinnott was a popular pickup to replace Zach Ertz for Week 15, but he caught just one pass for 36 yards. With Marcus Mariota under center against a weak Giants defense, he was not asked to throw much, leaving Sinnott and other Washington pass-catchers wanting more.

Thud Players

Which players can we drop from our rosters after Week 15?

Philip Rivers showed his family and kids he coaches that he “wasn’t scared,” but now anyone who picked him up just to see if unc’s still got it can safely drop him. Rivers finished with 120 passing yards on 27 attempts. He did throw a touchdown and an interception, but his favorite play of the day was a check-down to Ameer Abdullah. Rivers or Riley Leonard might be up next, but there is no need for us to wait around to find out.

Kareem Hunt saw his carries decrease for the fourth straight week, and he grabbed the ball just six times in this game against the Chargers. Isaih Pacheco was up to 11 in this game, so it appears Hunt has lost his role unless the Chiefs get down near the goal line. But with Patrick Mahomes now out, those trips might be much less frequent.

Ashton Jeanty has had 15 weeks to show us something, but it’s time to move on now. He just turned in his seventh performance of the season under 10 fantasy points. He rushed nine times for 35 yards and had seven receiving yards. In the fantasy playoffs, we need players who are going to have a better than 50% chance of even reaching 10 fantasy points.

Cole Kmet has been officially replaced by Colston Loveland in the tight end pecking order. We should have seen this coming after the 2025 draft, but it took this long for it to finally materialize. Kmet finished a game where the Bears scored 31 points with two catches for 28 yards.

Bad Blood Players

Which players’ injuries are worth monitoring after Week 15?

Patrick Mahomes has torn his ACL right as the Kansas City Chiefs were eliminated from the 2025 NFL playoffs. Despite a rushing touchdown, it was another disappointing performance from the former MVP, with just 189 passing yards and an interception, plus no touchdowns. Garnder Minshew now takes over for Kansas City, and there is a chance Mahomes is not ready for the start of 2026.

Davante Adams left Sunday’s game after suffering what appeared to be a clear hamstring injury. Coach Sean McVay said it “didn’t look good,” but added that we shouldn’t rule out Adams from games yet. With a Thursday game up next, this would be a minor miracle if he played, but we will have to watch early injury reports. He still had nine targets and 71 yards before departing.

Christian Watson was just starting to break out again when he suffered a chest injury on Sunday against Denver. He actually went to the hospital but was released to go home. Watson had five targets, but players like Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden would need to step up if Watson must miss time for another injury.

Rome Odunze burned a lot of fantasy football managers on Sunday when he reaggravated a foot injury and was ruled out right as rosters locked for Week 15. Considering the injury to Luther Burden that also happened this week, it might be just D.J. Moore (who scored twice this week) and Olamide Zaccheus as reliable wide receivers or Caleb Williams.

Luther Burden was having a marvelous game with six catches for 84 yards before he suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter. His seven targets and six catches were season-highs for Burden, and now we wait for the result of the tests this week to see if he can immediately go back to a potential top option.

Bam Knight rushed one time for negative two yards and then suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss the rest of the game. With the Cardinals’ season essentially over and Michael Carter and Emari Demercado available, we may not see a lot of Bam Knight over the rest of the season.

Woody Marks was injured in the same game as Knight and had to leave with his own ankle injury. He carried the ball seven times for 30 yards and scored a touchdown before leaving, so he didn’t totally let fantasy managers down. With the Raiders coming up next, I wouldn’t be surprised if Marks gets some rest ahead of the playoff run.

Devin Neal was on his way to a nice game with 32 total yards and a touchdown before he suffered a hamstring injury that forced him out of the game against Carolina. He had been playing a workhorse role for Alvin Kamara, who is out injured, but now that is in jeopardy.

Javonte Williams left the Sunday Night Football game against Minnesota three different times with injuries, but he still was able to pile up 91 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. He had more rushing attempts than all other Cowboys combined and appeared to be fine in the second half of the game. It will just be worth monitoring if something comes up on the injury report this week.