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John's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 15 of 2025. Are the breakout performances from Shedeur Sanders, Ryan Flournoy, Mike Gesicki legit or flukes?
Players can have breakout games at any point in any NFL season. While it might seem like we already know all the players who will be fantasy relevant for the fantasy football playoffs, we've seen players have elite stretches over the past three or even two contests, sometimes seemingly out of nowhere.
There are a huge number of factors that can influence breakouts. For example, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson hardly moved the needle at all until he got the start due to an injury to Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr. (heel) and backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett getting the start.
Sometimes, it's increased opportunities, sometimes it's a change at the QB position, sometimes it's recovering from injuries, and getting more worked into the offense. Whatever the reason, let's break down the breakouts of three players from Week 14 and give advice on how to handle them in Week 15!
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Was Shedeur Sanders' Performance Legit Or A Fluke?
Sanders was the third-string QB for the Browns for most of the season. Then, the Browns traded away their former starting QB, Joe Flacco, to the Cincinnati Bengals. In his place, rookie QB Dillon Gabriel started, but he was later ruled out with an injury.
That gave Sanders the chance to start, and the Browns recently announced that he'd be starting the rest of the season. It makes sense -- Flacco is gone, and the offense was simply putrid with Gabriel at the helm. Last week, though, Sanders absolutely detonated with a monster fantasy performance.
Sanders completed 23 of his 42 passes for 364 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, and rushed three times for 29 yards and another score, totaling nearly 34.5 PPR fantasy points. It was the highest finish among all quarterbacks aside from Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen.
.@ShedeurSanders putting up numbers in Week 14 📈
- 320 passing yards
- 4 total TDs
- 24/35 completions pic.twitter.com/DeeFlcj3VG— NFL (@NFL) December 8, 2025
Sanders' game was easily the biggest of his short career -- he hadn't exceeded 11.3 fantasy points in any game prior. It's obvious that he's Cleveland's best quarterback, but these numbers came against a 2-10 Titans team that's already been eliminated from playoff contention.
Cleveland will have a tougher challenge next week when it faces the Chicago Bears. While their defense has struggled for much of the season, they've dealt with a ton of injuries and are getting healthier. Starting Sanders in 2QB and superflex leagues at least makes a decent amount of sense, but it's risky.
It might be better to simply stash him for now, or to only start him if you're badly hurting for good QB production and need someone to fill in for one of your injured or underperforming signal-callers.
Week 15 Outlook: Add in All Leagues, Start in 2QB Leagues
Was Ryan Flournoy's Performance Legit Or A Fluke?
Flournoy caught nine of his 13 targets for 115 yards and a touchdown in a monster breakout game against the Detroit Lions. That earned him 26.5 PPR fantasy points, and he ended up as the top-scoring Dallas pass-catcher in the game, easily outdoing WRs CeeDee Lamb (concussion) and George Pickens.
Lamb was pulled from the game early after smacking his head into the turf and picking up a concussion, but Pickens had no such excuse for his poor performance. Pickens has a way of lazily jogging his routes at times, leading to pass break-ups and sometimes interceptions.
GEORGE PICKENS CATCH OF THE YEAR. UNREAL EFFORT. pic.twitter.com/U9jq5MNyWs
— NFL Memes (@NFL_Memes) December 5, 2025
His bad habits came back to bite the team, and resulted in him having just five catches for 37 yards on nine targets. The main drivers of Flournoy's production, though, were an awful Lions secondary and the Lamb injury. Lamb looked to be having a career day before he got injured.
If Lamb isn't able to play in Week 15, Flournoy immediately becomes an intriguing start. It's likely that Pickens will have a bounce-back game, as he's been electric in the games Lamb missed this season, but Flournoy finally looks like a legit WR3 option. The Cowboys have lacked that for a long time.
They've also lacked a legit WR2 option, which they have right now. It's clear that this passing offense and quarterback Dak Prescott can support multiple starting fantasy wide receivers. That warrants picking up in 12-team PPR leagues, and he's a solid start if Lamb can't play as well.
Week 15 Outlook: Add in 12+ Team PPR Leagues, Start if Lamb Can't Play
Was Mike Gesicki's Performance Legit Or A Fluke?
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase wasn't the most productive receiver for his team in Week 14. That was WR Tee Higgins (concussion), who finished the game despite later reporting concussion symptoms. Surprisingly, though, Chase also wasn't even the second-most productive pass-catcher.
That was tight end Mike Gesicki, who caught all six of his targets for 86 yards in the loss to the Buffalo Bills. Gesicki tends to have his best games when Higgins can't play, so it's a bit surprising that he was so productive in Week 14.
It is so funny that the Bengals abandon all pretense and have Mike Gesicki as the true WR and Andrei Iosivas as the Y TE.
Don't read into position labels. Look at actual roles. pic.twitter.com/a8BfupJOia
— Max Toscano (@maxtoscano1) December 8, 2025
Gesicki's role is quite strange -- he's pretty obviously the third-best pass-catcher on the team, but he isn't a particularly good blocker. Because Bengals WR3 Andrei Iosivas is hardly involved in the offense, and often isn't very productive even when he is, a healthy Gesicki ends up getting more looks.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is arguably the best pure passer in the league. In previous seasons, Gesicki played lights out in games that Higgins couldn't play in. Higgins already missed one week due to a concussion, and suffered possibly two more in his first game back. It seems reasonable that he could miss more games this time around.
That would make Gesicki startable in Week 15, at least. Higgins is very unlikely to play in that game, as players tend to miss at least one game with concussions. The tight end position is so devoid of good options on the waiver wire that it makes Gesicki a good pickup, and not a bad start in 12-Team leagues or on any of your rosters where you don't have a top option at the position.
Week 15 Outlook: Add in 12-Team Leagues, Start in 12-Team Leagues
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the Who Should I Start tool:
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 15 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Shedeur Sanders, Ryan Flournoy, and Mike Gesicki, but not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 11. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 11 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 15 Player Decisions. Need a replacement? Today's focus is on specific players -- Shedeur Sanders, Ryan Flournoy, and Mike Gesicki. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 15.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed, our Who Should I Start? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 15 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 15 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 15 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Need a replacement? Below are some popular Week 15 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Shedeur Sanders, Ryan Flournoy, and Mike Gesicki compared to others:
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