Rashee Rice is the real deal, folks 🤩

So, uh… is David Njoku a top-5 fantasy tight end with Joe Flacco at quarterback? Because he’s looking awfully close to it these past two weeks.

What’s in store:

• Zach Wilson leaves Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson hanging. A head injury for the Jets QB has their situation heading into Week 16 loaded with question marks.

• Sam Howell sent to the bench in loss to Rams. Ron Rivera says that he’ll still be the starter for the Commanders in Week 16, though.

• Faraz’s top fantasy takeaways from Week 15’s action. See what you need to know heading into the second round of the fantasy playoffs.

• Dameon Pierce hits rock bottom – for real. The Texans’ running back has completely lost his place in Houston’s offense at this point.

• Jets QB Zach Wilson exits game vs Dolphins Sunday with concussion, doesn’t return

  • Wilson exited the game early after a very forgettable performance in his time on the field against the Dolphins. They’re calling it a head injury for him, and backup Trevor Siemian provided no additional lift to a Jets offense that failed to put any points on the board. With Wilson out, both RB Breece Hall and WR Garrett Wilson had abysmal fantasy production - both players scored in the single-digits on the afternoon. Considering the vague nature of the injury for Wilson, it’s difficult to know whether or not we can anticipate Wilson taking the field next week. The potential return of Aaron Rodgers looms large over the Jets QB room, as well, making it a complete toss up as to what fantasy managers should expect from New York’s skill players in Week 16. With the Jets mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, it’s unlikely that Rodgers would return next week – but it would be a welcome development for fantasy managers looking to salvage what’s left of the fantasy seasons for their Jets skill players.

• Cardinals WR Marquise Brown re-aggravates heel injury in Week 15 loss vs 49ers, lays egg in lineups

  • It’s the same injury that held Hollywood out of practice all week leading up to the game. It begs the question of whether or not Marquise Brown should have played in this one given the fact that he left the game early after scoring exactly zero points for his fantasy managers this week, but hindsight is 20/20 and we can only turn our eyes to the matchups ahead. With Marquise Brown out, TE Trey McBride continued his target share domination in a completely negative game script against the 49ers. At this point, it doesn’t look like the connection we saw between Murray and Brown in 2022 will be reignited in any of the remaining three games on the Cardinals schedule for 2023, which will likely relegate Hollywood to the bench in the majority of leagues regardless of whether or not he’s able to make a return in Week 16. Fantasy managers can monitor this situation with relative ease this week, as his status should be relatively inconsequential for Week 16.

• Commanders QB Sam Howell benched in the late stages of Washington’s Week 15 loss to the Rams

  • HC Ron Rivera was quick to recommit to Howell as the team’s Week 16 starter after the game, but Rivera has been wrong about a lot of things this season and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him backtrack on that statement later in the week. Of course, that’s speculation at this point, but Howell undoubtedly had a disappointing performance in a game where he was thoroughly outperformed by the veteran Jacoby Brissett despite playing for three and a half quarters of the game. With just three games left in the season and the playoffs officially out of reach for the Commanders, there wouldn’t be much to gain from benching Howell in favor of Brissett - between that and the fact that Rivera named Howell as the starter for Week 16, fantasy managers should proceed into next week’s games with the assumption that Howell will, in fact, be under center for them until further notice.

Nick Mullens revives the Vikings offense

• There were a few RBs that were able to fill in for us this week… we have Zamir White have a solid performance - RB11 so far on the week with one game left… Ty Chandler with a huge week - Top-5 fantasy performance - 23 carries, 132 yards and a TD… 3 caches for 25 yards… and this is what I meant by him looking more explosive… chunk gain after chunk gain… 81% of snaps, only 43% route participation, but no other RB ran more than 3 routes - he ran 17… he did get all the 2 minute work, which is what you want to see… I wouldn’t expect Mattison to be back next week either because of that high ankle sprain… Detroit Is not a good matchup, but the volume should be there if you need a RB2. The way that the Vikings defense has been playing over the second half of the year could mean that the volume will remain in Chandler’s favor.

• Jordan Addison though - come on man… I was going up against him and he had to put up a 100 yard - 2 TD performance… caught all 6 of his targets…. Looks like we have a QB that is willing to throw the ball to Addison… Nick Mullens is good for this offense… Justin Jefferson 7 for 84 on 10 targets, TJ Hockenson 6 for 63 on 7 targets, and Addison did his thing… Mullens threw for 300 yards, things are looking ok next week in a good matchup for this passing game against Detroit at home. By the way, Jefferson was back to a full-time role - ran a route on every one of Nick Mullens’ dropbacks.

The Tee Higgins Masterclass

• Tee Higgins - another one - if you were going against him, you probably thought that was a good thing - until he dropped 2 TDs on yo ass. 4 catches for 61 yards and those 2 TDs… Ja’Marr Chase had to leave the game early, he has an AC sprain in his shoulder - there is a chance he’s back next week, but we’ll get more details on that. I’d make sure I have another option just in case he can’t play, but there is a chance he plays… by the way, that TD at the pylon for Tee Higgins - masterpiece.

• By the way, Chase Brown is starting to eat in Joe Mixon’s workload a little more - 13 touches for Mixon, 10 touches for Brown.. something to keep an eye on because it was trending for Brown to finish the game with more touches than Mixon… Brown left the game for a while and was leading in touches before he left the game. Solid matchup against Pittsburgh next week though.

Lots of fireworks in Packers/Buccaneers

• Baker Mayfield just lit it up. Mike Evans came through with a decent game, but nobody knows where this game from Chris Godwin came from. He’s been getting it done recently - 11 targets last week, and now 10 catches for 155 yards in this game - this guy was a game-time decision for this game. Now we’re going to have a bunch of people start him next week, and he’ll do nothing. Decent matchup against Jacksonville next week.

• Rachaad White just continues to get it done as one of the most reliable fantasy RBs this entire season. On the other side, one of the most non-reliable running backs - Aaron Jones - ended up getting all the work in the Packers backfield, but it didn’t amount to many fantasy points - 17 opportunities, no TDs. It was notable that even though he got almost all the opportunities, Patrick Taylor still split snaps with him almost 50/50.

• The Packers have some WRs banged up - it’s funny because I really liked Dontayvion Wicks last week against the Giants, and now he gets hurt. I’m thinking he has a high ankle sprain this week going into the matchup, but he ends up playing and catching 6 balls for 97 yards. Jayden Reed got a little banged up but he returned to the game. He came through with a solid game, found the end zone once again, but didn’t get any carries in this one.

The Texans backfield has officially been claimed by RB Devin Singletary, and every other running back in the room has been relegated to a mere afterthought at this point in the season, including Dameon Pierce. With QB C.J. Stroud and WR Nico Collins out for the game, plus veteran QB Case Keenum under center, the Texans relied heavily on the ground game to get the job done against the Titans – and even that heavy reliance on the run game, everyone’s favorite angry runner from this past offseason remained painfully out of the gameplan.

Devin Singletary was granted 31 total opportunities on the day (26 rush attempts, five targets), which he was able to turn into 170 scoreless yards from scrimmage. His best play of the day – a 34-yard overtime rushing touchdown that would have put an exclamation mark on a huge fantasy day – was negated by an offensive holding call, which would have put him over 200 yards from scrimmage on the day. When the utilization has been there for Singletary, the production has followed, and the Texans’ coaching staff has caught on to that and has adjusted RB Dameon Pierce’s snaps accordingly. Speaking of Pierce…

… Pierce played just four snaps on Sunday against the Titans, taking his lone carry for just three yards on the afternoon. This performance comes after a game in Week 14 that saw Pierce handle just four carries for nine yards against the Jets, and all of the nails seem to be in the coffin for Pierce when it comes to his prospects for the rest of the 2023 season. He’s officially fallen out of favor in the Texans’ offense, and he can safely be dropped in all fantasy leagues with his snap share hitting an astronomical low.