Booms and Busts - Fantasy Football Starts and Sits for Week 15 Lineups Include Rico Dowdle, Khalil Shakir, Russell Wilson

Finally! The fantasy playoffs are here! If you’re reading this article, congratulations on making the dance. Now that you’re in, anything can happen and the previous 14 weeks don’t matter at all. Everything comes down to these final three weeks.

Throughout the season, I’ve tried to be as transparent as I can be with my results in this article and would like to extend that transparency in another way. I play a lot of fantasy football. I’m in almost 70 leagues between redraft and dynasty. It’s my true passion. Out of my 23 redraft leagues, I made the playoffs in 12 and locked up a first-round bye in four, including my home league. I share this with you not in a braggadocious way, but more so because I wanted to give you a peek behind the curtains as to how I’ve done so far this year. Believe it or not, I take this article very seriously and put my hard-earned money on the line with these boom/bust calls every week in my lineups. I don’t recommend doing anything here that I wouldn’t do myself, so for the next three weeks, we are gonna live or die together. Now, let’s start building the road toward some fantasy football titles.

Make sure you’re following RotoBaller on X and check out RotoBaller.com for all your fantasy football needs. Let’s get into our boom/bust picks for Week 15 of the 2024 NFL season.

• 2025 fantasy football rankings (redraft)
• Dynasty fantasy football rankings
• 2025 NFL rookie fantasy football rankings
• Best ball fantasy football rankings
• Quarterback fantasy football rankings
• Running back fantasy football rankings
• Wide receiver fantasy football rankings
• Tight end fantasy football rankings

Week 15 Fantasy Football Booms

Justin Herbert - QB, Los Angeles Chargers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Following a string of five straight QB1 finishes, Herbert has finished outside the top 18 each of the last two weeks. That should end Sunday as he gets to face a Tampa Bay defense that is without its starting two safeties and allows the most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, per Fantasy Football Today.

Even if Ladd McConkey is unable to return, this is still a great matchup for Herbert as Tampa Bay has also allowed the third most passing yards per game this year. Gamers in need of a signal-caller should confidently fire up Herbert as he should return another QB1 finish this week.

Rico Dowdle - RB, Dallas Cowboys at Carolina Panthers

Dowdle has come on strong over the last three weeks, posting finishes of RB19, RB6, and RB16.

Rico Dowdle picks up 27 yards!

📺: #CINvsDAL on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus & ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/jB6DA4IBQ2

— NFL (@NFL) December 10, 2024

Part of that is because Mike McCarthy finally committed to using Dowdle as a feature back, and he has averaged 22 touches per game in the last three weeks. That is the kind of volume fantasy owners want to see from their running backs. Dallas now takes on a Carolina Panthers defense that ranks dead last in defensive rushing DVOA, per FTN Fantasy, and allows over 170 rushing yards per game.

This is another great spot to deploy Dowdle. It’s a plus matchup, and this should be a competitive contest, which means he won’t be scripted out of the game. Gamers can consider Dowdle a very safe RB2 play with an upside for more.

Khalil Shakir - WR, Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions

Shakir is coming off a strong performance against the Los Angeles Rams where he went for 5-106-1 and finished Week 14 as the WR10.

CAN'T CATCH KHALIL.

📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/xThEm2UMXD

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 8, 2024

The third-year receiver has a golden opportunity in front of him to build on last week’s outing. Buffalo takes on a Lions defense that struggles to guard opposing pass-catchers and allows the fourth-most PPR points per game to receivers.

This is a great spot to start Shakir as Detroit also boasts a very strong run defense, which could force Josh Allen to air it out to win this game. Gamers should fire up Shakir as a solid WR3 or flex play.

Kyle Pitts - TE, Atlanta Falcons at Las Vegas Raiders

Alright, I get it. Pitts is a sore topic in some circles. It’s been disappointment after disappointment since his rookie year. However, this is a good spot for gamers to deploy the fourth-year tight end.

Las Vegas ranks 28th in DVOA against opposing tight ends, allows the second-most receiving yards per game to tight ends, and allows the fourth-most PPR points per game to the position. If there was ever a spot for a Kyle Pitts ceiling game, this would be it.

He’s always going to be a risky option due to his overall lack of involvement in Atlanta’s offense. But if you’ve been streaming the position and need a tight end this week, Pitts is about as good an option that’s out there.

Week 15 Fantasy Football Busts

Russell Wilson - QB, Pittsburgh Steelers at Philadelphia Eagles

Wilson has enjoyed a bit of a career resurgence this year with the Steelers. However, he gets a tough draw this week as Pittsburgh takes on the Philadelphia Eagles and their stout defense. Philadelphia ranks fifth in defensive passing DVOA and allows the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.

George Pickens’ status remains up in the air, and he may miss another week of action. That would also cap Wilson’s upside.

Wilson has had some quality outings since taking over as the starter. He’s been a great streaming option at times this year, but this is not the week to roll with him as your starter. Gamers would be wise to look elsewhere for a signal-caller in Week 15.

Mark Andrews - TE, Baltimore Ravens at New York Giants

The Ravens are 15-point road favorites this week against the hapless Giants. Baltimore should have its way with New York, secure a relatively easy win, and receive little resistance from this Giants team.

However, one area that New York has been particularly strong in this year has been defending opposing tight ends. The Giants allow the second-fewest PPR points per game to tight ends, and they allow the fifth-fewest receiving yards per game to the position.

Seeing that New York has one of the league’s worst run defenses, it’s likely Baltimore will lean on Derrick Henry and the ground game to pick up the victory. Combine that with Andrews' decreased snaps this year, and it means he will once again be relying on good touchdown luck.

While Andrews still has an upside thanks to his history with Lamar Jackson, the downside is greater than any other year of Andrews’ career. That downside could ultimately be the difference between a spot in the semifinals or an early exit from the fantasy playoffs. Look elsewhere for a streamer this week.

DeVonta Smith - WR, Philadelphia Eagles vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

After missing several games with a hamstring injury, Smith returned last week against the Carolina Panthers and scored his fifth touchdown of the year.

Jalen Hurts ➡️ DeVonta Smith

TOUCHDOWN ‼️pic.twitter.com/MI2Ofb7ko4

— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) December 8, 2024

Unfortunately, he only caught four total passes for 37 yards in addition to that touchdown and finished the week as just the WR29. Philadelphia now welcomes the Pittsburgh Steelers to town, and it’s not a great setup for Smith.

Pittsburgh allows the eighth-fewest PPR points per game to receivers and ranks seventh in defensive passing DVOA. More specifically, Pittsburgh has been very good this year at limiting opponents' WR2s. The Steelers rank fourth in defensive DVOA against WR2s, so this is another reason to consider fading Smith.

We also have the squeaky wheel narrative working for Smith’s teammate A.J. Brown this week, and we could see the limited passing opportunities in this run-first offense go Brown's way instead.

Smith is a good player, but the nature of Philadelphia’s offense combined with playing alongside Brown caps his weekly upside. Pair all of that with a bad matchup, and there isn’t much to get excited about with Smith this week. Gamers should only start him unless they have no other alternatives.

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