Fantasy Football: Week Fifteen Staff Must Start, Must Sit and Sleeper Picks
By J.T. McGrath
J.T. McGrath
START: Le’Veon Bell, RB – Pittsburgh Steelers
Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
27, 30, 41. Those are Bell’s last three respective weekly scores in ESPN standard leagues. If you go back to the days of elementary school standardized testing, you might find a question asking what the next number would be in the aforementioned sequence. That number would be 44. Now, I highly doubt Bell gets 44 points this week, but the way he’s been rolling, who knows. After all, he now gets to square off against the Falcons, who have the league’s worst run defense. If you own him and are fighting for the next playoff round, lucky you. If you have the incredible misfortune of playing AGAINST him (*ahem*), well, maybe this is the week that the Atlanta defense decides to step up. But I wouldn’t count on the latter.
SIT: Colin Kaepernick, QB – San Francisco 49ers
I apologize if you have no choice but to play Kaep this week. No really, I feel for you. But here’s the thing – not only does he rank 18th in fantasy quarterbacks this season, but he gets to face that pesky Seattle secondary again. Remember how well Kaep did two weeks ago when that happened? Here, I’ll remind you: 121 passing yards, two interceptions, and one fantasy point. Let me repeat that last part – ONE fantasy point. That particular performance was such a stinker that premature whispers began to erupt out of the Bay area, in regards to future quarterback uncertainty. Yikes. I’m not starting Kaep this week, and neither are you.
SLEEPER: Johnny Manziel, QB – Cleveland Browns
You know the name, and now you’ll have the opportunity to insert him into your lineup. But should you? In two quarterback leagues, he’s definitely a start, and I could see if you have someone like Colin Kaepernick as your second option, Manziel could warrant a gamble. The Browns are facing a Bengals’ secondary – at home – in which even Blake Bortles found success this season (247 yards, 2 TDs), so the opportunity for production is there. Johnny Football’s key allure is his dual threat capability, as he can scramble when he needs to. Plus, he did command an 80-yard scoring drive two weeks ago, against a tough Buffalo squad. He’s certainly got breakout potential, just don’t count on him as your fantasy savior.