Hopefully, everybody is enjoying the holiday season! But it’s Week 15, there’s a more important season happening and it starts this week. Of course, I’m talking about playoff season, baby! This is what we live for, and now we’ve only got three weeks (or four weeks for you sickos) to secure that championship!
As always, I recap the previous week’s “Shore Thing Sleepers,” and this time, the wackiness took total control and I could not conquer it. Only one player scored over projection: quarterback Tyler Shough, who had no passing touchdowns, but 55 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, resulting in 7.2 points over projection! The wacky part was that he combined for 37 rushing yards and no rushing touchdowns in his three previous starts. I won’t mention the rest, because it was bad, scoring 13.5 points under projection.
This week, we have to calm the nerves and control the wackiness! Let’s get going with Week 15 fantasy football playoff sleepers!
Fantasy Football Start/Sit Consideration: Week 15 Sleepers (2025)
Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers (Pittsburgh Steelers)
I know Philip Rivers came out of retirement, but I want to talk about a different 40+-year-old quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. On Sunday, Rodgers snapped his three-game streak (in which he completed the game) of being held to 203 passing yards or fewer, one touchdown and 12.1 fantasy points. In fact, he found the fountain of youth! On Sunday, he went for 284 passing yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. Yes, a rushing touchdown in the year 2025 by Aaron Rodgers.
Now, there was some concern with me at first, because D.K. Metcalf had to stay overnight in a Baltimore hospital and if Rodgers did not have his WR1, that would be a big problem for me. As of publication, it sounds like Metcalf will play, but we’ll get a clearer picture as the week goes on. Now, this is where it gets interesting; the Steelers face the Dolphins on Monday Night, a team that has allowed a 16.4+ fantasy point quarterback in four of the last five games. Truly, there was a chance it would go for five straight weeks if Tyrod Taylor didn’t get injured in the first quarter, forcing the Jets to go to Brady Cook.
I, of course, looked closer at the Dolphins’ matchups in Weeks 9-13. Two quarterbacks did score 20+ fantasy points, but that was Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen; we expect that from them. But the Dolphins also let both Marcus Mariota and Tyler Shough score at least 16.4 fantasy points, and that’s more within Rodgers’ range. In those four games against the Dolphins, quarterbacks have averaged 240.5 passing yards, 2.2 passing touchdowns, 0.7 interceptions and 19.6 fantasy points. As long as he’s got DK Metcalf, I like back-to-back weeks of Aaron Rodgers going off.
Running Back
Kareem Hunt (Kansas City Chiefs)
Do you want consistency? Look no further than Kareem Hunt! Now, his production hasn’t been as high as we saw in the three games without Isiah Pacheco, when we saw Hunt have 49+ rushing yards, a rushing touchdown and 12.5+ fantasy points. Then, Pacheco returned, but Hunt is still having an impact, as he’s gone back-to-back games with more than 30 rushing yards and nine fantasy points. We’ve been treated to a weekly average of 56.6 rushing yards, a total touchdown and 13.8 fantasy points from Hunt in that six-game span.
That makes the matchup even more interesting. This season, the Chargers have allowed the 18th-most rushing yards to the running back position, indicating the team is right around league average. Well, the Chargers have also allowed 12 rushing touchdowns to the position, which tied for sixth-most, and that’s not all! Taking a closer look never hurt anybody, right? If you take a closer look at the last three games, you will see that the Chargers have allowed three different running backs to have 15+ carries, 73+ rushing yards and a rushing touchdown for 13.4+ fantasy points. Now, Kareem Hunt has been averaging 13 carries in his last two games, but I can easily see Hunt getting 15+ carries this week and, at the very minimum, scoring a rushing touchdown, as he usually does.
Kimani Vidal (Los Angeles Chargers)
Let’s stick with the Chargers-Chiefs game! Omarion Hampton came back, but that didn’t stop Kimani Vidal from showing off on Monday Night Football. As they eased Hampton in after returning from injury, Vidal had 104 scrimmage yards and 11.4 fantasy points. Vidal had 69% of the snaps and Hampton had 31%, and I can easily see that flipping coming into this week as the rookie will have a week post-injury under his belt, but that’s okay!
Why is that okay? Because the Chiefs have been generous to RB2s lately! Hear me out on this: the Chiefs have allowed four rushing touchdowns in the last five weeks, but they’ve faced James Cook, RJ Harvey, Jonathan Taylor, Javonte Williams and Woody Marks… none of them have a rushing touchdown. Yes, Ty Johnson, Jaleel McLaughlin, Malik Davis and Dare Ogunbowale are the running backs who have scored a rushing touchdown in that span. Now, you can argue that Marks would’ve scored that rushing touchdown had he not been forced to leave the game for a play, but that’s beside the point.
That is a lot of RB2s that have scored a rushing touchdown, not to mention that the Chiefs have allowed a 6.5+ PPR running back duo in four of their last five games. You can also set your hopes even higher, as the Chiefs have allowed an eight-plus-point RB duo in three of their last five games. Either way, Kimani Vidal should be more than fine this week.
Wide Receiver
Ricky Pearsall (San Francisco 49ers)
Can we please get the pre-injury Ricky Pearsall back? Pre-injury, Pearsall averaged four receptions on six targets with 77 yards for 11.7 fantasy points in two games with Brock Purdy starting. Post-injury, he’s combined for five receptions on 10 targets for 20 yards and 7.2 fantasy points with Purdy starting. That’s not cutting it and hopefully he used his bye week well and recovered, because I’m expecting big things from you, Pearsall!
I’ll cut straight to the chase, though; the Titans have allowed a wide receiver to get 76+ receiving yards and a touchdown in four straight games. Now, you would think that makes more sense for Jauan Jennings, who has gone back-to-back games with 39+ receiving yards and a touchdown, but he hasn’t surpassed 41 receiving yards in any of those games, or 55+ receiving yards in any of Purdy’s starts. Meanwhile, pre-injury, Pearsall had back-to-back games with 46+ receiving yards in Purdy’s starts. Now, also get this: while Pearsall has been touchdown-less this season, in the three games where he scored a touchdown last season, he had 69+ receiving yards.
If the Titans are allowing the wide receivers to have a big day with 76+ receiving yards and scoring a touchdown, I think this will fit perfectly for Ricky Pearsall to return to form and score his first touchdown this season. Here’s to hoping that he is back to his pre-injury ways!
Jalen Coker (Carolina Panthers)
Now’s our time to shine, “Cokeheads!” Jalen Coker has things clicking lately, because after not having more than 36 receiving yards or 6.6 fantasy points in his first four games, he’s now gone three straight games with three or more receptions, four or more targets, 32+ receiving yards and 6.2+ fantasy points. Don’t forget, the last time we saw him play, he scored his first touchdown of the season against the Rams! With Coker averaging 10.9 fantasy points in his last three games, he’s already an intriguing option.
But let’s get to the matchup. Yes, Coker disappointed in his previous outing against the Saints, where he had three receptions on four targets for 21 yards. That was the last time he scored under 5.5 fantasy points this season. Coker is now coming off a bye week and is already riding a somewhat hot streak of three games. Since facing the Panthers, the Saints have also struggled some, allowing a wide receiver duo to score seven or more fantasy points in two of their last three games. I’d bet on Jalen Coker to extend his lukewarm streak, at least, and if the Panthers play like the Super Bowl Champions that they look like in some weeks, the wideout should be rewarded.
Tight End
Isaiah Likely (Baltimore Ravens)
You know the “Likely 80” meme that floats around? For Isaiah Likely, it’s more “likely 8.0 more fantasy points” that he’s missed out on in two straight games. He finished Thanksgiving with five receptions for 95 yards on six targets, but it could’ve been way more if he hadn’t fumbled near the goal line and the ball rolled out of the end zone for a touchback. Then, last week, he finished with four receptions for 25 yards and a touchdown, but you guessed it, he would’ve gotten way more if the referees could agree on what a catch is. Because let’s be honest here, if you haven’t seen the replay, I’m pretty sure 95% of people would agree that he caught a possible game-winning touchdown, which would have been his second of the day.
Likely has now gone back-to-back games with at least four receptions, 25 yard and 12.5 fantasy points, outscoring his teammate Mark Andrews in both. That’s already great, but then we can throw out there that they face the Bengals, who are historically bad against the tight end position. It was already pretty bad to begin with, but if you need an example of how much worse it’s gotten, I’ve got you.
In Week 9 against the Patriots, both tight ends Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper got 3+ receptions, 39+ receiving yards and 6.9+ fantasy points. Oh, and that’s just the beginning. We already watched the Ravens TEs dominate the Patriots in the Week 10 Thanksgiving game, in which both Likely and Mark Andrews had 4+ receptions, 47+ yards and 8.7+ fantasy points. I know, you’re thinking, “no way can it get any worse than that” but it did. Last week, the Bills had Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid both get 4+ receptions, 41+ yards, and 14.1+ fantasy points.
Yes, you read that correctly. That’s three straight games of a tight end duo having at least three receptions, 39 yards and 6.9+ fantasy points a piece. All Isaiah Likely needs is a little bit more luck to go his way, and you’ll see a lot of fantasy points scored from him. But you know what they say, “third time’s the charm.”
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: Denny Medley – USA TODAY Sports*
