Fantasy Football: NFL Week 15 QB Rankings

Happy Week 15!

Fourteen weeks of football are in the books. Madness. Bye weeks are over, but injuries have unfortunately continued to take a toll on offenses around the league. Focusing on the longterm view is usually the right move in most walks of life, but it’s also important in fantasy football land to not be afraid to attack each week as its own mini one-game season.

What follows are my Week 15 QB rankings. Note that these are not season-long lists or projections; I’m purely ranking based on who I believe will score more fantasy points this week with a focus on 1) What the QB has achieved in recent weeks, 2) Injuries or workload changes that could impact their production, and 3) This week’s matchup.

1. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QB PATRICK MAHOMES AT NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (KC -4.5, 50)

Mahomes threw a trio of interceptions in Week 14 and took a 30-yard sack that ultimately resulted in good enough field position for the Dolphins to find the end zone on their next drive.

Ultimately, it didn’t matter. The best QB alive threw for 393 yards and a pair of scores against potentially the league’s finest pair of outside corners in Xavien Howard and Byron Jones.

The 2020 NFL MVP race has come down to Mahomes and Rodgers. However, the 2020 fantasy QB MVP race certainly seems to be already wrapped up. All Mahomes has done this season is become one of just seven signal-callers in NFL history to average at least 25 fantasy points per game (min. 6 games):

2019 Lamar Jackson (27.7 fantasy points per game)
2011 Aaron Rodgers (26.5)
2018 Mahomes (26.1)
2010 Michael Vick (25.9)
2014 Peyton Manning (25.8)
2020 Mahomes (25.3)
2020 Kyler Murray (25.1)

The Saints boast the league’s third-best defense in EPA/play since their Week 7 bye. Still, the continued absence of Drew Brees (ribs/lung, IR) could lead to a troubling inability to keep pace with Mahomes and company. Continue to fire up the best player in the game as the No. 1 fantasy asset at the position.

2. GREEN BAY PACKERS QB AARON RODGERS VS. CAROLINA PANTHERS (GB -9.5, 51)

Rodgers has thrown multiple TDs in all but one game this season. He’s been particularly dynamic when throwing downfield (20-plus yards):

PFF passing grade: 99.9 (tied for No. 1 among 40 qualified QBs)
Big-time throws: 28 (No. 1)
Passing yards: 1,117 (No. 1)
Pass TDs: 10 (tied for No. 3)
Yards per attempt: 16.2 (No. 8)
Adjusted completion rate: 44.9% (No. 18)

The 2020 version of Rodgers has been his most-productive self since 2011. Fire up Rodgers as the second-best option among all QBs; he’s been a matchup-proof QB1 virtually all season.