Fantasy Football Week 15 Matchup Meanings: Which RBs, WRs & TEs are set for success?
Fantasy football analyst Sal Vetri breaks down the top matchups at the three money positions — running back, wide receiver and tight end — every week.
Best RB Matchups
Clyde Edwards-Helaire at NE
Isiah Pacheco missed Week 14 and is trending to miss Week 15. Edwards-Helaire led the Chiefs backfield in Week 14, playing 48% of the snaps and earning 15 opportunities. It was encouraging to see him be efficient averaging over five yards per touch, and his role was much better than the numbers indicate.
Jerick McKinnon played 45% of the snaps but the majority of his snaps were in the two-minute offense at the end of each half. It’s unlikely Kansas City has the ball in both two-minute situations while trailing again. The Chiefs are big favorites in their final four games. This starts next week as Kansas City is a 9.5-point favorite against the Patriots. Expect CEH to see the majority of the snaps in this game.
D’Andre Swift at SEA
Last week we warned you that Swift was in the sketchy spot of the week. He had to face a top-five Cowboys defense and there was a chance he was losing work to Kenneth Gainwell based on his Week 13 usage. Swift ended up scoring just 3.9 points in Week 14 against Dallas.
But his outlook is better this week.
Swift has played just 47% of the snaps in the past two games. He’s lost work in these games due to them being blowouts. Gainwell's workload has increased in these contests as he’s been used as the passing-down back once the game is out of reach. But this week the Eagles are just four-point favorites against the Seahawks. The game should remain close and, in closer games, Swift averages 64% of the snaps and over 13 fantasy points. Expect Swift to bounce back against the Seahawks who allow the ninth-most production to RBs this season.
Rachaad White at GB
White has the best role in football the past two games. He’s averaging 85% of the Bucs snaps and 26 opportunities per game during this time. He’s taken advantage of two strong matchups against the Colts and Panthers, earning 100+ yards in both spots. Believe it or not, his Week 15 matchup will be his best one yet.
White will take on the Packers this week. Green Bay allows the second-most production to opposing RBs this season. Tampa Bay comes into this game as road underdogs, which opens up the potential for more receiving game work for White. He ranks third in RB receiving usage this season and is a top-10 option in Week 15.
Ty Chandler at CIN
Alexander Mattison left in Week 14 with an ankle injury. Early suggestions are that this could be a high-ankle sprain. This would require Mattison to miss a few weeks. If this were to happen, Ty Chandler would take over the backfield like he did in Week 14 when he earned a season-high 15 touches.
Now, Chandler didn’t play well in relief of Mattison, but we can’t put all the blame on him. The Vikings offense had their worst game of the season and it was highlighted by QB Joshua Dobbs being benched. Chandler has shown that he’s an explosive and efficient back many times in the past. We recently saw this in Week 11 when he totaled 110 yards on just 14 touches against Denver.
Chandler will face the Bengals this week. Cincinnati allows the seventh-most production to RBs. Start Chandler if Mattison is ruled out.
Best WR Matchups
Jayden Reed vs. TB
He’s taken charge as Jordan Love’s No. 1 option, especially with Christian Watson out with a hamstring injury. We saw this in Week 14 as Reed earned a team-high 10 targets and 12 touches. With Watson off the field, Reed leads the Packer receivers in yards per route run against Cover 3 defenses. This is important because the Bucs run the seventh-highest rate of Cover 3 this season.
Expect Reed to be the Packers' primary target against a Bucs defense that allows the second-most production to opposing receivers this season. The last time we saw them in action they were giving up a career-high 172 yards to Drake London. Expect Love to take advantage of this poor Tampa secondary and for Reed to benefit from this.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba vs. PHI
He caught just four balls for 25 yards last week against the 49ers. We discussed the downside of JSN’s matchup on the Friday Binge, Stream and Skip episode of The Yahoo Fantasy Football Show. San Francisco plays a higher rate of zone coverage which Smith-Njigba has found less success against this season.
JSN finds more success against man coverage. We saw this in Week 13 against Dallas, which runs the third-highest rate of man coverage in the league. JSN was able to earn 11 targets in this game. This week he takes on the Eagles, who run man coverage at a top-10 rate. Philadelphia also allows the most production to opposing receivers this season. JSN is trending in the right direction as he’s averaging 27% of the Seahawks' targets the past two games. He’s worth starting in Week 15.
Noah Brown at TEN
He dropped a big ole’ zero in Week 14. Brown earned 19% of the Texans' targets but failed to bring any of them in. But he has a lot of things going his way in Week 15. For starters, the Texans will face the Titans who allow the most production to outside receivers this season. Brown was playing a lot of his snaps in the slot last week but expect this to change in Week 15 because of the Texans WR injuries.
Nico Collins left with a calf injury last week and his status for Week 15 is currently unknown. The last time Collins was out, we saw Noah Brown control the intermediate and deep parts of the field. He averaged 162 yards in the two games with Collins out, and now Tank Dell is done for the season as well. Expect Brown to earn more usage as he’s now the most productive remaining receiver on this team. In deeper leagues, you should also target Xavier Hutchinson and Robert Woods as players to add.
Best TE Matchups
Isaiah Likely at JAX
He had his best performance of the year in Week 14. Likely earned 16.8 points on seven targets against the Chargers. He’s now run 87% of the routes and earned 16% of the targets the past two games without Mark Andrews
Likely struggled earlier this year with Andrews out and this seemed to put a bad taste in my fantasy players' mouths. But all you had to do was look back to 2022 to see his potential upside. He was the No. 1 player in the 2022 preseason and had a solid regular season. Likely averaged 8.3 targets in three games where he saw at least 45% of the snaps last season.
His recent production should only continue this week. The Ravens take on the Jaguars. Jacksonville allows the seventh-most production to opposing TEs. It just gave up 91 yards and two TDs to David Njoku. You can pick up and play Likely this week if he's available (he's rostered in 60% of leagues).
Pat Freiermuth at IND
He’s coming off a poor game of just three catches for 18 yards. But if you watched this game, you know this wasn’t Freiermuth’s fault. Mitchell Trubisky had a rough first three quarters in Week 14, and it affected the results of all of his pass-catchers. The good news is Freiermuth earned a solid seven targets from Trubisky.
This week Freiermuth takes on a Colts defense that leads the NFL in zone coverage. Indy runs zone on 84% of their defensive plays. This is important because one good way to beat a zone is through a talented tight end in the short areas of the field. This is where Freiermuth comes in. He ran 83% of the Steelers routes in Week 14, his most since returning from injury. You can start him this week.
