Fantasy Football Outlook: Sam Howell, Jordan Love, Najee Harris, Jerry Jeudy

Every week we’ll bring you The Primer, a deep dive into every fantasy-relevant player from every NFL game of the week. You can find the full weekly Primer here. Below we dive into a few notable players ahead of this weekend’s games.

Fantasy Football Outlook

Najee Harris: Harris is the RB33 in fantasy points per game, averaging 16.3 touches and 72 total yards since Week 9. Since that week, he has crushed Jaylen Warren in red zone usage with 15 opportunities inside the 20 versus Warren’s nine. Harris ranks 27th in opportunity share and 22nd in weighted opportunities. Among 59 qualifying backs, Harris ranks 26th in missed tackles forced per attempt and 23rd in yards after contact per attempt. Pittsburgh should lean on their ground game this week against a porous Indy run defense. Since Week 9, they have allowed the sixth-most rushing yards and the 11th-highest yards after contact per attempt while also having the second-lowest stuff rate. Week 15 Positional Value: RB2/3

Jerry Jeudy: Let’s call it what it is. Jeudy has had a terrible season. He is the WR61 in fantasy points per game with one touchdown this season. Jeudy has had an 18.0% target share with 1.56 YPRR and a 27.5% first-read share. He hasn’t surpassed 60 receiving yards in a game since Week 7. I say all this, but this could be Jeudy’s best week of the season in Week 15. Since Week 9, Detroit has utilized single-high at the sixth-highest rate (63.2%). Against single-high, Jeudy has a 20.4% target share, a 37.3% air-yard share, 2.14 YPRR, and a team-leading 30.9% first-read share. Slot receivers have gashed Detroit. Since Week 9, the Lions have allowed the 12th-most PPR points per target and the eighth-highest passer rating when targeted to opposing slot receivers. Jeudy will run about 63% of his routes against Brian Branch (68.2% catch rate and 101.1 passer rating). Week 15 Positional Value: WR4/5 with WR2/3 upside

Jordan Love: Love was erratic in Week 14, and that’s being kind. While I was not a fan of his performance last week, we can’t just pretend like the strides he made in previous weeks shouldn’t be factored in. If he goes out this week and stinks it up again, then we might need to reverse course when looking at Week 16. Since Week 9, Love has ranked eighth in yards per attempt, sixth in passer rating, fifth in CPOE, and 13th in fantasy points per dropback. He should shred a Tampa Bay secondary that can’t stop anyone. Since Week 9, the Bucs have allowed the fourth-highest yards per attempt, the most passing yards per game, and the seventh-highest CPOE and passing touchdowns. Week 15 Positional Value: QB1

Sam Howell: Howell is the QB7 in fantasy who’s still leading the NFL in passing attempts while ranking third in air yards. Among 42 qualifying quarterbacks, he ranks 25th in passer rating, 11th in CPOE, 24th in yards per attempt, and 11th in highly accurate throw rate. He has finished as a QB1 in 69.2% of his starts this season. Los Angeles was morphing into a pass funnel, but they have corrected some in that regard. Since Week 9, the Rams have ranked 15th in passer rating while allowing the 10th-most passing touchdowns, but they have also kept passing attacks at bay with the ninth-lowest CPOE and the 11th-lowest yards per attempt allowed. Howell will see a ton of volume this week as usual and could “volume his way” to another QB1 week. Week 15 Positional Value: QB1