RADIO
John Johnson looks at fantasy football landmines, busts, and avoids for Week 14 of 2025. Given these fantasy situations, consider benching these players.
It's crunch time now. If you're fighting for the best overall seed in your league, trying to get a first-round bye, or even doing what you can to make the playoffs at all, there are certain players you might want to be very wary of starting.
Of course, whether or not you should bench the following players will depend on your league size. In deep leagues, it might not make much sense to have these players on your bench, as they might be the only players of similar caliber you have to start.
But in leagues with 10 or fewer teams, starting players during their dud weeks can be devastating for your team's hopes of making the playoffs. So, let's break down four landmines to avoid in Week 14, depending on your league size!
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Deebo Samuel Sr., WR, vs. Vikings
If you're in a league with 14 or more teams, it might not make much sense to bench Samuel. But if you are in a 10-team league, it might be worth considering putting in another player in his place for this week's matchup, which will be a tough one against the Minnesota Vikings.
Commanders starting quarterback Jayden Daniels (elbow) practiced in full on Friday and will make his return in this game. But he could be a bit rusty due to the missed time, and the Vikings have a good defense. Samuel got off to a hot start on the season, but slowed down quite a bit before bouncing back.
APARECE Deebo Samuel 😎#MundoNFL | #RaiseHail pic.twitter.com/MKIqTsDv9n
— Mundo NFL (@MundoNFL) December 1, 2025
Despite his one big catch on a busted coverage against the Denver Broncos in Week 13, he's scored above 13 PPR fantasy points just one time in the last six games he's actually played. He may still be dealing with the effects of his heel injury that caused him to miss Week 5.
But WR Terry McLaurin is back and healthy, and he'll be Daniels' No. 1 target. Samuel's ability to break tackles with the ball in his hands doesn't tend to work as well against more disciplined tackling defenses like those headed by Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
PICK! The @Vikings defense gets the INT
MINvsLAC on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/aVdWZ5bKn8— NFL (@NFL) October 24, 2025
The Vikings have been a very tough matchup for receivers all season. McLaurin is good enough that it's hard to say he'll have a bad game -- he's one of the best WRs in the NFL. Samuel doesn't have that kind of elite talent to win against tough coverage, so in 10-team leagues, you should probably roll with another good receiver if you have one.
Darnell Mooney, WR, vs. Seahawks
Mooney's 16.4 PPR fantasy point outing in Week 12 was quite nice. It seemed like he had rebuilt the rapport he had with QB Kirk Cousins in 2024, when he was quite productive. Yet last week, he scored just 4.5 PPR fantasy points against the New York Jets.
Things won't get any easier this week. The Falcons have to face the Seattle Seahawks, who have one of the NFL's best pass defenses and are getting key pieces of their defense back from injury, like safety Julian Love and defensive end Jarran Reed.
The Seahawks will get Julian Love (four missed games) and Devon Witherspoon (five) back post-bye. Nick Emmanwori (three and most of a fourth) also missed time.
Despite the injuries in their secondary, their defense is allowing 18.6 PPG (T-6th).
Guys like Ty Okada stepped up. pic.twitter.com/kbJLP85yCO
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) October 24, 2025
Second-year head coach Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks' head man, appears to have successfully installed his defensive scheme. It's working to perfection so far, and it's about to get better. Atlanta will be without star wideout Drake London (knee), who continues to deal with a PCL sprain.
It's hard to imagine Mooney has a big game against such a fierce defense with his starting quarterback injured. Cousins is the backup to QB Michael Penix Jr. (knee), who's out for the season with a knee injury. The Falcons are in the midst of a huge collapse and another disappointing season.
Mooney also broke his collarbone on the first play of training camp, according to head coach Raheem Morris. Morris and Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson have done a poor job with the team this year. There's little reason to start Mooney this week.
Dallas Goedert, TE, vs. Chargers
Goedert had a pretty wild streak of elite tight end fantasy production, with consecutive games of 19.7, 10.9, 26.0, 4.8, and 17.8 PPR fantasy points. He was easily outproducing his team's WR1, A.J. Brown, for much of that stretch, which seemed wild.
But Brown has re-emerged as the leading pass-catcher for Philadelphia, and since then, Goedert has taken a backseat to him. In the past four contests, Goedert is averaging just under 5.4 PPR fantasy points per game. That's not even worth starting consideration.
On the bad throw to DeVonta Smith that ended the drive, Jalen Hurts also missed a wide open Dallas Goedert for a TD. I’ve defended him a lot this season. But that was one of the worst halves of football I’ve seen him play. He has to start producing. pic.twitter.com/uGlyBcukAz
— Patrick (@PhillyPMC) November 28, 2025
The passing offense the Eagles currently have doesn't seem to be enough to support three good pass-catchers, and with Brown now finally getting the targets he deserves and WR DeVonta Smith mostly playing at an elite level, it's hard to see Goedert reclaiming his surprising role from earlier in the season.
Both Brown and Smith are among the NFL's best wide receivers. They deserve a ton of looks each game. And Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo has been wildly incompetent this season. He's been the subject of a firestorm of criticism for his uncreative and unproductive offense.
A matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers looms in Week 14. They're quite good at defending opposing tight ends, who average over three fewer schedule-adjusted fantasy points per game over the last five weeks than the NFL average.
Not many Eagles have a history of facing the Packers as often as Dallas Goedert does as his first game vs them was back in 2019.
He has already done the Lambeau Leap and with him leading all TE’s in TD’s will we see another?
He made one of the biggest plays in the playoffs… pic.twitter.com/vLZ85VMpqL
— Fly Eagles Fly Bets (@Fly_EaglesBets) November 8, 2025
A red-zone threat like him isn't always easy to count out, but it's reasonable to expect low passing volume. It's hard to predict touchdowns because they vary so much from week to week. But the Eagles would be better off feeding Smith and Brown quite a bit, and the tush push takes away TDs from every other player on the team.
Goedert is probably better off left on the bench for this matchup. It's tough schematically, as the Chargers run high rates of Cover 3 and Cover 4 defensive shells relative to other defensive formations, against which Goedert is less productive than he is against other shells.
Oronde Gadsden II, TE, vs. Philadelphia
Gadsden's massive breakout early in the season was also followed by a lot of poor production. He's dealt with injury issues, as he hurt his knee earlier in the season. And he just hasn't looked the same since then. He's also failed to reach double-digit PPR fantasy points in each of his last three contests.
A game against the excellent Philadelphia Eagles pass defense is upcoming. They were gashed on the ground last week by the Chicago Bears, but still have an excellent group of linebackers, cornerbacks, and safeties. And their best defensive tackle, Jalen Carter (shoulders), won't play.
Herbert to Gadsen for 41 yards!
MINvsLAC on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/3TYvSWoEh6— NFL (@NFL) October 24, 2025
Unfortunately for him, offensive line injuries have destroyed the Chargers' ability to be consistent in the passing game. He also has plenty of target competition, with wide receivers Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen, and Quentin Johnston (shoulder) all being heavily involved in the passing game.
They've had horrible pass protection, which could lead them to lean more heavily into the run game, especially with rookie RB and first-round draft pick Omarion Hampton (ankle) logging a full practice on Friday and seemingly set to return. Gadsden has an uphill battle to produce as he did earlier in the year.
Final Thoughts
There are a ton of leagues in which it makes little sense to bench Samuel. I'm not advocating that you park him there if you're in a deeper league, and he's still decently talented with a good quarterback. If any player on this list produces well this week, I expect it to be him.
But if you're in a smaller league, the upside he presents is likely nerfed by the matchup he's facing. And the other players on this list simply shouldn't be put into starting lineups outside of very deep leagues despite them having good production in some of their previous contests.
There are better players out there to start, and you can probably find better options on the waiver wire for everyone but Samuel. Grabbing someone like WR Luther Burden III to start over Mooney or TE AJ Barner to start over Goedert and Gadsden isn't the worst idea!
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