NFL Week 15 Fantasy Football Recap: Carolina Panthers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

• Najee Harris: 24 carries, 86 yards, 1 touchdown

• D.J. Moore: 5 receptions, 73 yards, 1 touchdown

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Add Chuba Hubbard: The sophomore running back handled his largest role of the season for the Panthers.

He gained only 10 yards on four carries but caught three passes for 57 yards.
D’Onta Foreman was ineffective, gaining nine yards on 10 carries with no targets.
Foreman hasn’t had a game averaging more than five yards per carry since Week 7. This was his fourth game in six weeks at 3.5 yards per carry or less.
Hubbard has typically played the majority of passing downs, but this was his first time playing 100% of those snaps. He also played a decent amount in short-yardage situations, as he has all season.
Most notably, he played the majority of snaps on early downs, which should mean more carries going forward.
Carolina has average matchups the next two weeks, but in general, it’s good to have the top running back on any team rostered even if it’s to prevent someone else from picking him up.

Pat Freiermuth’s role continues to decline: Freiermuth was held without a catch for the first time in his NFL career.

He not only didn’t catch a pass, but he was also held without a target — even including plays called back by penalty.
This was the third straight week Freiermuth played a reduced role on first and second downs in 11 personnel.
He played 15 of a possible 33 snaps from that personnel grouping on those downs this week. Zach Gentry played 15, while Connor Heyward handled three.
Freiermuth should remain in fantasy starting lineups over whatever is available on the waiver wire. He should get back to seeing targets next week. His ceiling isn’t as high as it was earlier in the season, but it’s still higher than most other tight ends.

Miles Boykin gets more involved: Boykin has spent most of the season at the bottom of the Steelers’ depth chart, but he’s started to see more playing time.

He mostly played in running situations, but his role meant less playing time for both Steven Sims and Gunner Olszewski.
This mostly indicates the Steelers haven’t been happy with their wide receivers outside of the top two on the depth chart.
It is even more likely now than ever before that Calvin Austin III will be the Steelers’ third wide receiver next season.
Austin had suffered a foot injury. He attempted to return to action in October, but a setback landed him on injured reserve for the rest of the season.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.