RADIO
RotoBaller's fantasy football risers, fallers, sleepers, and busts heading into Week 15 of 2024. He identifies players at RB, WR, TE with rising fantasy values.
As Adam says, Week 14 of the 2024 season is in the books. That means another week of cold, hard data to analyze. We’ll try not to overreact but instead, use logic and reasoning as the foundation for our decision-making in the weeks ahead.
I'm Joe Nicely and I'll be pinch-hitting for the great Adam Koffler in this week's edition of Risers and Fallers. With many leagues heading into the fantasy football playoffs, this is a critical time to evaluate which players are moving in the right -- and wrong -- direction for the season's homestretch.
Without wasting any time, let's dig right into the Week 15 Risers and Fallers. There are lots of injury-based movers this week, a few of which will require monitoring as we move deeper into the week.
Editor's Note: Identify fantasy football draft busts, overvalued ADPs, and key players to avoid so you can draft with confidence this season.
Week 15 Fantasy Football Risers
Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings
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.
Jordan Addison over his last 4 Games
- 400 yards
- 5 TDs
- 2 100+ Yards gamesELITE. pic.twitter.com/zRRP3SuIij
— Cam (@42Cyc) December 9, 2024
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. Since Week 9, Addison trails only Puka Nacua and Ja'Marr Chase in fantasy points scored at the position.
Managers heading into the fantasy football playoffs with Addison should feel confident. He draws a Week 15 matchup against a Bears secondary that he torched for 8/162/1 less than a month ago.
Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers
Anytime a talented, young player like Jonathon Brooks suffers an ACL tear, it's a huge bummer, but Chuba Hubbard's managers have to be breathing a sigh of relief ahead of the fantasy football playoffs. Before his season-ending injury last week against the Eagles, Brooks logged a season-high 22.9% snap share in Week 13, which resulted in Hubbard's lowest snap-share rate since Week 8 and his second-lowest fantasy output of the season.
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.
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
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.
Patrick Taylor Jr. (San Francisco 49ers) and Sincere McCormick (Las Vegas Raiders)
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.
#49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that RB Isaac Guerendo has a foot sprain and will be evaluated over the next few days. Sounds like a relatively mild one, but with a short week, it’ll be a challenge.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 9, 2024
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.
Other Risers: Rachaad White, Jaylen Waddle, Kendre Miller, Isaiah Davis, Jauan Jennings, Zach Charbonnet, Jalen McMillan
Week 15 Fantasy Football Fallers
Travis Etienne Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars
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.
Deebo Samuel Sr., San Francisco 49ers
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.
Deebo Samuel explains why he’s struggling. pic.twitter.com/nwjPtxZop6
— Grant Cohn (@grantcohn) December 10, 2024
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.
Bucky Irving, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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.
D'Andre Swift, Chicago Bears
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.
D’Andre Swift just had his 9th game under 4 yards per carry for the Bears.
Ryan Poles infatuation with explosive players who have poor cognitive traits strikes again. pic.twitter.com/l7IarvJih1
— AngeloFF (@angelo_fantasy) December 9, 2024
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.
Other Fallers: Braelon Allen, C.J. Stroud, Alvin Kamara, Brock Bowers, DK Metcalf, Juwan Johnson
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