RADIO
Week 15 Riser: Jordan Addison, WR - MIN
Ok, now this is the Jordan Addison many fantasy managers hoped to see in 2024. Following a promising rookie campaign in which he finished as the overall WR21 in fantasy scoring, Addison’s second pro season got off to a rough start as he battled injuries and ineffectiveness over the first half of the year.
Addison posted just one weekly top 25 fantasy score at the WR position across the first eight weeks of the season. However, as he’s gotten healthy — and perhaps more comfortable with Vikings QB Sam Darnold — the second-year wideout has now posted WR25-or-better scores in four of the past six weeks.
Managers heading into the fantasy football playoffs with Addison should feel pretty confident. He draws a Week 15 matchup against a Bears secondary that he torched for 8/162/1 less than a month ago.
Week 15 Riser: Chuba Hubbard, RB - CAR
Sadly, fellow teammate Jonathon Brooks was lost for the season with an ACL tear, and the backfield belongs solely to Chuba again.
Any volume concerns are now a distant memory for those counting on Hubbard over the next three weeks. In addition to his solidified workload with Brooks now out of the picture, Carolina’s schedule gets noticeably easier down the stretch.
After drawing brutal matchups that included Kansas City and Philadelphia over the past month, Hubbard and this rejuvenated Panthers offense will square off against the Cowboys, Cardinals, and Bucs over the next three weeks.
Week 15 Riser: Matthew Stafford, QB - LAR
Stafford should put Puka Nacua at the top of his Christmas list this year. Since Nacua returned to the Rams lineup in Week 8, Stafford has finished as a top-10 fantasy QB four times, while averaging 19.8 fantasy points. The veteran signal-caller has now tossed two or more TD passes in four straight games.
Although the immobile Stafford relies solely on passing statistics for his fantasy output, his weekly outlook will remain rock solid as long as Nacua and Cooper Kupp are healthy and in the L.A. lineup. Managers who have Stafford on their roster can consider him a fringe QB1 for the fantasy playoffs, as the Rams battle for a spot in the real-life version.
Week 15 Riser: Patrick Taylor, RB - SF
Every year, there seems to be a late-season injury to a prominent running back that creates a “must-add” situation for those lucky enough to have some FAAB cash still on hand. Once again, we’ve had some high-profile injuries at the position down the homestretch.
The Niners’ season of injury woes continued, as they’ve lost running backs Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason, as well as their replacement, Isaac Guerendo, in just the last two weeks.
Guerendo suffered what’s being labeled a “foot sprain” in his impressive Week 14 performance against the Bears. With the Niners on a short week and set to face the Rams on Thursday Night Football — and Guerendo’s status still up in the air — Patrick Taylor Jr. would be the next man up in the San Fran backfield.
Week 15 Faller: Travis Etienne, RB - JAC
Any hopes of a late-season surge from Travis Etienne Jr. were soundly dashed last week. Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby was the clear lead dog in the Jacksonville backfield. In his second game back from an ankle injury, Bigsby out-touched Etienne 19-8 last week against the Titans.
It looks as though the roles for the two backs are becoming more clearly defined, with Bigsby serving as the primary ball carrier and Etienne being deployed as a third-down/pass-catching back. In Week 14, Bigsby led the team in carries with 18 while Etienne toted the rock just four times. His reduced involvement on a bad, Mac Jones-led offense sends Etienne’s already-shaky fantasy value spiraling down the drain.
Week 15 Faller: Bucky Irving, RB - TB
Koffler has been all over Bucky Irving’s rise over the past month, so it pains me to write up the rookie as a Faller this week. Irving’s placement here has nothing to do with his talent, but everything to do with the fact that he’s battling a back injury that limited him to just four carries and forced him to leave the Bucs’ Week 14 game early.
Fantasy managers hoping to ride the electric rookie to a league title will need to monitor Irving’s status ahead of a brutal Week 15 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Tampa Bay coaching staff hasn’t needed much help to deploy multiple running backs this season and an injury — or an injury concern — could be enough of a reason for the Bucs to scale down Irving’s involvement over the next few weeks.
Week 15 Faller: D'Andre Swift, RB - CHI
With all of the troubles in Chicago, the recent struggles of D’Andre Swift have sort of been backpage news. Make no mistake, Swift’s decline has been very noticeable to his fantasy managers, who have every right to be worried about the Bears back with the fantasy playoffs looming.
Swift has now gone three straight games without topping 40 rushing yards or scoring a touchdown. Despite the absence of Roschon Johnson last week, Swift managed just 40 total yards on 15 touches against the Niners.
Playing behind one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines, Swift is averaging a paltry 2.82 yards per carry over Chicago’s last three games and his mark of 3.8 yards per attempt this season is a career low. His Week 15 matchup against the Vikings is a daunting one, as Minnesota has allowed the league’s fourth-fewest rushing yards to the RB position this season.
Week 15 Riser: Sincere McCormick, RB - LV
Las Vegas has also been down multiple backs for multiple weeks, as Alexander Mattison and Zamir White have battled injuries. Veteran Ameer Abdullah has gotten some run for the Silver and Black, but it has been rookie Sincere McCormick who has turned heads with his impressive play.
McCormick is averaging 5.5 yards per carry across his three appearances this season and has amassed 142 rushing yards over Vegas’ last two games. The Raiders should use these last few games of 2024 to get an extended look at their potential running back of the future.
Week 15 Faller: Deebo Samuel Sr, WR - SF
The extremely strange journey that’s been the 49ers season was touched on in the Risers section of this article when discussing the running back position. Things have been no less in flux at the wide receiver position, as the team has dealt with a holdout and season-ending injury to Brandon Aiyuk, as well as the preseason shooting of first-round pick Ricky Pearsall.
Despite having every opportunity to shine in an injury-ravaged Niners offense, veteran star Deebo Samuel has been on a milk carton for the past month. The dynamic receiver hasn’t topped 25 receiving yards or produced a double-digit fantasy performance since Week 10, as Jauan Jennings has ascended to the true alpha role in the San Fran receiving corps.
