We’ve made it! It’s Week 14, the last week of the regular season in most fantasy football leagues. It’s also the week where we say “bye, bye, bye” to the bye weeks, with the 49ers, Giants, Panthers and Patriots being the final four teams to take their bye. To prepare for the playoffs, the players we start need to be *NSYNC to make that final seeding or playoff push. That’s where I come in with the sleepers, and I have some replacements for those dealing with the last-week bye!
As always, I recap last week’s “Shore Thing Sleepers” and simply put, the “leftovers” or the food jokes didn’t hit. Both Tyjae Spears and Ricky Pearsall (pear puns) as well as mashed-potatoes Mason Taylor all scored under their projection, though I was “cooking” with Trevor Lawrence (+5.1) and Nick Chubb (+4)! Overall, it was a weird week, and I finished just a bit in the red, with -1.4 points under projection. But hey, the most important part is that we had fun with friends, family and football! I’ll let the disappointing result slide.
That being said, I don’t like going back-to-back weeks in the red. I will not attempt to do that again, so I have a new batch of Week 14 sleepers!
Fantasy Football Start/Sit Consideration: Week 14 Sleepers (2025)
Quarterback
Tyler Shough (New Orleans Saints)
Facing the Buccaneers might mean something special for Tyler Shough. In Week 8, the Saints benched Spencer Rattler halfway through the 3rd quarter against the Buccaneers, and Tyler Shough has taken the starting quarterback job ever since. It’s been a little up-and-down for Shough in his four starts, averaging 235 passing yards, 1.2 touchdowns, 0.7 interceptions and 13.6 fantasy points. But I like what I’ve seen from Shough, especially in two of his last three starts, where he averaged 239+ passing yards, two touchdowns and 16.4 fantasy points!
The opposite can be said for the Buccaneers’ defense since they last faced the Saints in Week 8. In their last four games, quarterbacks are averaging an outrageous 307.4 scrimmage yards (290.2 passing and 17.2 rushing), 3.2 total touchdowns, an interception and 26.8 fantasy points. Yes, you read that right: 26.8 fantasy points. Of course, Josh Allen‘s six-touchdown game against the Buccaneers does raise that average quite a bit. But when a quarterback has 270+ passing yards, multiple passing touchdowns and 19.1+ fantasy points in every game in those four weeks, I’m going to like the matchup. Oh, and what makes it even sweeter is that the Buccaneers have allowed a quarterback to have 273+ passing yards, multiple touchdowns, and 20+ fantasy points in three straight!
I don’t think you can underestimate how much I love this matchup for Tyler Shough.
Running Back
Zonovan “Bam” Knight (Arizona Cardinals)
The Cardinals’ running back room cannot stay healthy. First, James Conner suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 3. Then, not even a week later on Thursday Night Football, Trey Benson suffered a knee injury and he hasn’t played ever since. Benson’s 21-day practice window has now opened, but after logging limited practices for the first couple of days, he hasn’t participated in his last three practices. That puts him in danger of missing the rest of the season if he can’t be activated off Injured Reserve (IR). On the bright side, Emari Demercado could return for this game after missing the last two, but there’s one running back who has a hot hand and I think he should be fine with or without Demercado.
That player is Zonovan Knight, aka “Bam” Knight. Yes, Knight doesn’t even come close to averaging 100 scrimmage yards, but I will let that slide because he has his priorities straight by producing fantasy points. In each of the last three games, he’s found the end zone and scored 13.2+ fantasy points. Looking at the matchup for the week, it’s quite an interesting one! Remember when the Rams were tough against running backs? Well, in two of their last three games, they’ve allowed a running back to have 100+ scrimmage yards and find the end zone for 20+ fantasy points!
Now, with Bam Knight only averaging 58.2 scrimmage yards (32.6 rushing and 25.6 receiving), and the possibility of Emari Demercado coming back, we’re not likely to get a 100-yard game from Knight. However, I do like the possibility of extending his streak of scoring a touchdown and 13.2+ fantasy points to four games in a row. Beggars can’t be choosers, but we can always wish for more!
Jaleel McLaughlin (Denver Broncos)
Oh, it’s you. For context, last year, I could never correctly predict Jaleel McLaughlin. I’d put him in this article, and he’d score under projection. Then, he’d always go off on weeks you’d never expect him to, or when he wasn’t on my radar. But that was last year, and I’m not holding any grudges, just certain looks.
Now, the reason I actually like McLaughlin this week is that with J.K. Dobbins out, he’s solidified his spot as the Broncos’ RB2. He hasn’t done much in the last two games without Dobbins; he’s averaging six carries for 21.5 rushing yards and 0.5 rushing touchdowns, including a reception for 0.5 yards, putting his fantasy point average to 6.2. That’s acceptable, but it’s just scraping the surface of why I love him as a sleeper this week.
All you need to do is look at the past two games against the Raiders. You’ll see that the Raiders have gone back-to-back games allowing a running back duo to have 47+ scrimmage yards and a touchdown, scoring at least 11.4 fantasy points. The RB2s averaged 68 scrimmage yards, a total touchdown and 13.8 fantasy points in that two-game span. Yet the more eye-popping factoid of this is that three of the four running backs have scored 16+ fantasy points.
The Broncos running backs might’ve struggled against the Raiders in Week 10, with none scoring double-digit fantasy points, but the bigger struggle is now! As you can see, the Raiders are clearly currently struggling against the running back position, so you have to take advantage of it while you can and hope Jaleel McLaughlin can too!
Wide Receiver
Troy Franklin (Denver Broncos)
I think we were all shocked when Troy Franklin recorded only two receptions on three targets for 21 yards against the Washington Commanders on Sunday Night. Yes, it’s concerning that his teammate, Pat Bryant, saw the most targets and had more snaps than Franklin last week. But I think it’s an overreaction to say Franklin will repeat performances in back-to-back weeks. Personally, I don’t know how you can go away from the “Oregon chemistry” that Troy Franklin and Bo Nix have. In Weeks 7-11, Franklin averaged 4.4 receptions on nine targets for 51.8 yards, 0.8 touchdowns and 14.3 fantasy points. A very respectable streak, followed by a season-low three targets on Sunday?
Yeah, I’m expecting a bounce-back week from Franklin. First off, let’s not forget that Franklin had five receptions for 40 yards and a touchdown on nine targets against this Raiders team in Week 10. Second, in two of the last three games since the Raiders faced the Broncos, they’ve allowed a wide receiver duo with 3+ targets to each score a touchdown and 11.3+ fantasy points. Heck, a WR trio has even scored at least seven fantasy points in that span!
Even if the snap count and target share are still an issue after this game, Troy Franklin should at least be able to take advantage of the matchup. I’d be more worried come fantasy football playoff time, not this Sunday.
Quentin Johnston (Los Angeles Chargers)
We don’t know who Quentin Johnston‘s quarterback will be until it gets closer to Monday Night Football, but we do know it’ll be either Justin Herbert, with a surgically repaired non-throwing hand, or Trey Lance. Now, on paper, this matchup isn’t looking good for Johnston. For someone known for his touchdowns, it’s tough to say he has the potential to score against the Eagles, who have allowed only six receiving touchdowns from the position, tied for second-fewest on the season. Johnston has also seen his fantasy production dip when Herbert can’t throw the ball or when offensive lineman Joe Alt has been out. This season, in Alt-less games, Johnston is averaging only 2.8 receptions on 5.2 targets for 27 yards, 0.4 touchdowns and eight fantasy points. I know, yuck. That’s not the intriguing part and it wasn’t meant to be.
Now, the part that intrigues me is what the Eagles’ defense has done in the last three games. In three straight games, the non-WR1 has been targeted 5+ times against the Eagles and although they’ve been out-targeted by the WR1s, they’ve outscored them, with 7.6+ fantasy points in those games. In fact, two of those three wide receivers were able to score a touchdown and 19.7+ fantasy points! Now, I do think that 19.7 fantasy points is too tall a ceiling for Quentin Johnston in this game, but even with the quarterback question, I have a feeling he’ll extend that 7.6+ fantasy point stretch to four straight games.
Tight End
Darren Waller (Miami Dolphins)
Darren Waller… the rapper? Yes, the formerly retired tight end and rapper is averaging three receptions on 3.7 targets for 41 yards, a touchdown and 13.1 fantasy points in his complete games this season. In Week 13, it was the first game this season where Waller didn’t score a touchdown, but he had 47 receiving yards, which led the team. Yes, I’m “freaking out” about 47 receiving yards, big whoop. The number isn’t humongous, but the fact that he led the team in receiving yards last week was what I was truly freaking out about.
The reason he is my top sleeper at the tight end position is that the Jets’ defense can try all they want to draw up a scheme covering tight ends, but it’s not working. Remember when I said he averages 41 receiving yards this season? Yeah, the Jets have allowed that to a tight end in five of their last seven games, and the TEs are averaging 9.8 fantasy points from it. The bad news is that none of those tight ends have scored a touchdown… but if Darren Waller was able to lead his team in receiving yards with 47 and score no touchdowns last week, still keeping himself afloat, I think he’ll be able to do it again this week. Now, that’s the reason why he’s the one.
Thanks for reading this week’s “Shore Thing Sleepers.” If you’re looking for more fantasy content like this or need help with the last-minute fantasy football start/sit decisions for your roster, you can find me on Facebook at “Fantasy Sports Start or Sit’Em Questions,” Twitter/X @FSSOSEQ or on BlueSky!
*Photo Credit: Rich Storry – USA TODAY Sports*
