Week 15 Kings: QBs & RBs
Peyton Manning ($8,900) – Peyton Manning is coming off his worst performance of the season against the Buffalo Bills where he threw for 173 yards and 2 interceptions. If you’ve watched enough Peyton throughout his career you should know that he will bounce back this week in a big way. His week 14 match-up with the Chargers has an over/under of 50.5 with the Broncos favored by four. For a complete list of the spreads and over/under totals, check out the RotoGrinders’ NFL Vegas Odds Page.This is a great spot to utilize an underpriced Peyton Manning.
Drew Brees ($8,400) – Drew Brees is another quarterback that will be looking to bounce back from a terrible performance. Brees’ stat line (235 yards, 1 touchdown and1 interception) was better than Peyton’s, however his opponent (Carolina) was much easier. Anyhow, Brees has the best possible match-up for a quarterback on Monday night when the Saints travel to take on the Bears who rank as the worst team in the NFL at defending the pass. I love Brees and his discounted price tag.
Jay Cutler ($7,500) – Cutler is a great week 15 option, even though he will be without one of his main targets in Brandon Marshall. Cutler will spread Marshall’s targets around to the other elite offensive players on the Bear’s roster (Forte, Jeffery and Bennett). The Saints rank near the bottom of the NFL in almost every defensive statistic, which adds much appeal when considering Cutler. The Saints have allowed the third most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. Additionally, Vegas loves this game as well from a scoring perspective, posting an over/under of 53.5.
Ben Roethlisberger ($7,900) – Pittsburgh has a lot to play for, as they are currently in the AFC playoff hunt at 8-5. This game features a very nice over/under of 54 with PIT favored by 3. Atlanta ranks 25th at stopping opposing quarterbacks and they have given up the most passing yards per game so far this season. Big Ben has been great from a fantasy stand point in back to back game (30.9 and 31.2 fantasy points in the last two games).
GPP
Russell Wilson ($8,000) – Coming off a great week 14 performance, Russell Wilson will be under owned this week due to a perceived tough match-up. The 49ers are very close to letting all the wheels fall off and I think it happens this week when they travel to Seattle. Wilson is so versatile and his ability to continuously run the football makes him a huge threat for fantasy purposes. Wilson makes for a great week 15 GPP play.
Running Back
Matt Forte ($9,000) – Matt Forte has one of the highest floors at the running back position due to his league leading involvement in his team passing attack. With Brandan Marshall ruled out for the season, I think it is safe to assume an even bigger role for Matt Forte. The week 15 match-up is elite versus the Saints defense that just allowed Jonathan Stewart to run for over 150 yards and a touchdown. Forte is an elite week 15 option.
Jamaal Charles ($8,700) – Monitor the injury report on Charles, however if he is able to suit up, he becomes one of the top plays of the week at the running back position. Charles is a guy that I love to target when he faces a bad team because he seems to never disappoint. The Raiders are a very bad defensive team (28th in the NFL against RBs), and I expect the Chiefs to fully exploit this weakness.
LeSean McCoy ($6,600) – McCoy has great price tag on DK at just $6,600. McCoy had his best game of the season on Thanksgiving Day against this same team, the Dallas Cowboys (over 150 yards and a TD). This game between Philadelphia and Dallas has a very high over/under of 55 with PHI favored by 3. Taking price into consideration McCoy is one of my favorite plays of the week.
Jonathan Stewart ($5,000) – As it currently stands, the running back position does not offer much in terms of value. If DeAngelo Williams is ruled out again, Jonathan Stewart would emerge as a solid value play at the RB position. Stewart received a very healthy work load last week of 20 carries on his way to 155 yards and a touchdown versus the Saints.
GPP
Marshawn Lynch ($7,300) – As I mentioned in the Russell Wilson write-up, I think this is the spot where the wheels fall off for the 49ers. Lynch is currently listed as questionable, however if he does play, I love him for GPP tournaments solely based on this intuition.