2023 NFL DFS Week 15 Contrarian Plays: Top DraftKings & FanDuel Picks
Week 15 of the NFL season is here and with it comes an 10-game main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. This slate is loaded with top tier talent and teams such as Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry and Travis Kelce. While its certainly OK to roster players figure that figure to be popular this week, the point of this article is to find some contrarian plays with similar upside that can help differentiate you in your GPP contests this week. So, with that said, let's look at some players projected to be less than 10% rostered this week.
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Top FanDuel & DraftKings NFL DFS Week 15 Contrarian Plays
Joe Flacco, QB Cleveland Browns
Flacco has thrown over 40 pass attempts in each of his first two starts this season for the Browns and now here in Week 15 he has a home matchup against a Bears defense that certainly struggles on the defensive side of the football. Flacco may have to contend with some rain in this game and the total is only set at 37.5 but the volume of passing and matchup should set him up for another shot at a multi-touchdown performance at less than five-percent rostership.
Derrick Henry, RB Tennessee Titans
In his last five games against the Houston Texans Derrick Henry is averaging over 200 yards rushing and two touchdowns. No, that isn't a typo, Henry is averaging over 200 yards rushing per game over his last five games against the Texans. Yes, I understand that year-to-year things change but Henry is on a roll right now, totaling six rushing touchdowns over the past three weeks and now has the Texans matchup while his rostership sits at less than 10-percent? Sign me up!
Rashid Shaheed, WR New Orleans Saints
Chris Olave is not expected to play this week which means the returning Shaheed should be the WR1 for the Saints this week in their home matchup against the New York Giants. Yes, the Giants have been playing slightly better defense over the past few weeks, they are still not very good and we should figure to see Carr target Sheheed downfield on Sunday.
Logan Thomas, TE Washington Commanders
I don't really understand this one as Thomas has one of the best DvP matchups on the board in a game with one of the highest game totals. The Rams give up big performances to pass catching tight ends week-after-week which included Isaiah Likely last week against Baltimore and if this game is going to live up to the 50.5 game total expectations than you have to think Thomas will factor in somewhere.
Player News
Free agent Gabe Davis will visit the New York Giants.
Cut by the Jaguars after one season last week, Davis visited the 49ers on Monday. New York would be a reunion of sorts, as he played for Giants coach Brian Daboll in Buffalo. The G-Men already have several wideouts capable of stretching the field, but 26-year-old Davis could still be a decent role player in a strong offense. The problem, of course, is that the Giants profile as anything but, but rookie QB Jaxson Dart is comfortable throwing down the field.
Ravens S Ar’Darius Washington has been diagnosed with a torn achilles suffered during offseason training.
The fifth-year pro became a weekly starter for the first time last season, earning elite PFF marks in the process. He was a restricted free agent this spring but had yet to sign his $3.26 million tender. That’s a tough break, to put it mildly. Achilles timelines have shortened significantly in recent years, but Washington will probably still miss the entire 2025 campaign. The Ravens are protected in part by their first-round selection of fellow S Malaki Starks, but May is not the month you already want to be dipping into your depth. Going on 26, Washington’s career future is murky after he worked so hard to finally become a regular contributor last season.
Chiefs signed fourth-round WR Jalen Royals to a four-year contract.
Royals doesn’t have an obvious and open spot in the receiving corps to build short-term fantasy value with Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, and Rashee Rice operating in the opening 11-personnel package. He may or may not play his way into WR4 duties depending on how the team feels about JuJu Smith-Schuster. Royals has plenty of talent and Brown is on a one-year deal, so there is a future where Royals is more than a bit player for the Chiefs. It likely won’t happen in his first season without injuries in front of him.
Matthew Judon said he “probably” won’t return to the Falcons in 2025.
The Falcons, of course, drafted both Jalon Walker and James Pearce in the first round. In an exclusive interview with CardPlayer.com — not to be confused with our PokerNews.com James Cook scoop a few days ago — Judon said that his sack total was down because “I dropped (into coverage) on 60 percent of the plays. It’s hard to get a pick and a sack on the same play.” Judon also told Kyle Odegard that “a couple” teams had expressed interest in him but he was in no rush to sign.
Jets released P Thomas Morstead.
Austin McNamara and Kai Kroeger will compete for the Jets punter job this year. The 39-year-old former Saint was the league’s oldest punter last season. If he wants to keep punting, he can absolutely join the tryout circuit or a competition elsewhere. But this is probably a sign that the Morstead’s 16-year career is close to an end at this point.
Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said it’s “going to be a breakout year” for Jameson Williams.
Morton said he’d never “been around someone that fast,” then quickly corrected himself to note that Jhamyr Gibbs is also that fast. Williams came on strong last year with a 58/1001/7 receiving line, but offensive coordinator praise could mean even more targets are coming. It would likely come at the expense of Amon-Ra St. Brown’s production if Williams were to truly break out, though there’s plenty for St. Brown to give and still be a top-flight fantasy wideout. It’s risky to read too much into statements like this in the offseason, but the new offensive coordinator telling you he thinks it’ll be a breakout year for Williams is certainly noteworthy.