The Battle of the Oregon first-round signal-callers did not disappoint. The Broncos pulled away early, but the Chargers made a game of it in a contest that was entertaining for all. There were minimal offensive standouts, but fantasy managers with Gus Edwards on their roster walked away happy.
Both quarterbacks were solid, and Ladd McConkey, Audric Estime and Javonte Williams all had serviceable days relative to expectations. On the IDP side of things, Daiyan Henley and Brandon Jones were the standouts, with Joey Bosa, Bud Dupree, Dondrea Tillman and Drew Sanders adding to their sack ledgers. Looking ahead to this weekend, we will take a look at five players fantasy managers should do their best to plug into their lineups and five others who are better left on benches despite promising upside. Let’s dig in.
- Waiver Wire Advice
- Weekly Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football Start/Sit Advice
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Fantasy Football IDP Start/Sit Week 16
Start em
Christian Harris was solid in his 2024 debut, tallying four solo tackles and four assists on 82% of the snaps. With Azeez Al-Shaair suspended, Harris will play a central role for the rest of the fantasy playoffs and needs to be rostered and started in all competitive leagues.
He was on 0% of Yahoo rosters before this week’s waiver wire run and is on just 1% of rosters now. Harris has proven LB2 upside and can be counted as an LB3 with LB2 upside for Week 16, thanks to a plus-matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday afternoon. Start Harris wherever possible.
Lavonte David was excellent in Week 15, racking up eight solo tackles, four assists, 1.5 sacks and one tackle for loss. David has caught fire for the Bucs and is safe to count as an LB1 option again for semi-finals week. He has a plus-matchup on tap against the Dallas Cowboys and has been on a heater over his last three. Start him as a top-10 option everywhere.
Geno Stone was excellent in Week 15, racking up one solo tackle, four assists, one interception, one pass defended and one touchdown. Stone has been a disappointment on the season as a whole but is starting to heat up at the right time for fantasy managers.
Stone has an interception in each of his last two games, including this past week’s pick-six. He is set to square off against Dorian Thompson-Robinson in a tasty Week 16 matchup. Stone has DB2 value due to the matchup and his recent play, but is better utilized as a DB3, if possible. Start Stone everywhere as a plus DB2/DB3 option.
Jaden Hicks was excellent in Week 15, filling in for the injured Chamarri Conner, racking up three solo tackles, one tackle for loss, one interception and one pass defended. Hicks does not have the tackle upside Conner offers but should still be a serviceable option for those with a Conner-sized hole in their lineup.
Like Conner, Hicks has CB and S eligibility and is playing a high-leverage slot role. Tap Hicks where needed as a DB3/DB4 option for Week 16, thanks to a plus-matchup against the Houston Texans.
Zach Sieler has been on a heater for the Dolphins in recent weeks, checking into Week 16 as the DL5 in fantasy points per game since Week 11. He was excellent in Week 15, tallying one solo tackle, one assist, 1.5 sacks and one tackle for loss on 90% of the snaps.
Sieler plays all over the defensive line, so his role remains safe despite the return of Bradley Chubb. Sieler is up to 7.5 sacks on the season, with 5.5 coming across his last five contests — a stretch where he had a sack in four out of five games. Sieler is a DL2/DL3 option for semi-finals week despite the tough on-paper matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Start him everywhere.
Sit em
Jack Campbell was excellent in Week 15, tallying eight solo tackles, three assists and one pass defended. Campbell has been a sporadic producer this season but did have a six-week run where he proved very valuable as a bye-week filler.
However, with everything on the line and Campbell having one of his worst fantasy outputs of the season against the Bears just a few weeks ago, the suggestion here is to keep him benched where possible in favor of someone with more upside. Look elsewhere for your Week 16 LB3.
Cameron Jordan showed up in Week 15, reeling off three solo tackles, three assists, two sacks and two tackles for loss in a throwback performance. The future Hall of Famer (120.5 career sacks) is more of an impact run defender than a sack artist at this point of his career.
For proof, look no further than the fact that last week’s two sacks were just his second and third of the season. Jordan still has some more to give on the field, as we saw against Washington, but he should not be sniffing fantasy lineups for Week 16 despite the strong production. Look elsewhere for your Week 16 DL3/DL4.
DeAngelo Malone showed up in Week 15, reeling off two solo tackles, two sacks and two tackles for loss. The Falcons have been waiting for Malone to show enough to be an option on something other than special teams and finally gave him a role again, albeit a small one in Week 15. He played the second-most snaps of his season with 21% of the snaps, after being held to eight snaps or fewer since Week 9 when he played 30% of the defensive snaps.
Malone finally showed enough to earn an expanded role but is nowhere close to being an option for semi-finals week. Playing on 21% of the snaps, even expanded based on his Week 15 success, leaves us in prohibitive risk territory with the playoffs here. Even those in 20-team IDP leagues will want to look elsewhere for their Week 16 DL3/DL4.
Isaiah Pola-Mao was solid in Week 15, racking up six solo tackles and three assists. Pola-Mao has flashed at times this season but should not be on fantasy radars for Week 16 despite his strong production against the Atlanta Falcons. Despite being a starter since Week 3, Pola-Mao has registered just two spike weeks all season. Look elsewhere for your Week 16 DB3/DB4.
Bryan Cook showed up in Week 15, tallying three solo tackles, one tackle for loss, one interception and one pass defended in the pick-fest against Jameis Winston. Cook has not shown much this season, recording just three fantasy outputs of note, with this being his first since Week 5.
Suffice it to say that Cook should not be a fantasy consideration in any realm or league size despite the Winston-fueled Week 15 production. Look elsewhere for Week 16 despite the plus-matchup against the Houston Texans.
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | TuneIn
Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his profile and follow him @FantasyContext.
