Fantasy Football Handcuff Report: Week 15

Week 15 usually represents the second round of the season long fantasy football playoffs. It’s also a great time to be submitting DFS lineups as well. Here’s a few quick hits that can help you get the most fantasy production from the RB position.

There’s still a lot of time between now and Sunday, but Raiders RB Josh Jacobs , who didn’t play in Week 14 due to a shoulder injury, looks like he has a chance to play against the Jaguars in Week 15. The Jags have been getting smoked by RBs lately, giving up the most fantasy points per game (FPPG) and the most rushing yards, by far, to the position, over the past four weeks. Watch his progress, but if he plays use him in season long and DFS lineups as well.

Steelers RB James Conner actually was a full participant at practice mid-week. He doesn’t have a great matchup against a Bills run defense that has improved over the course of the season. They’ve been especially effective of late, giving up the fourth fewest FPPG over the past four weeks. Maybe volume will help Conner’s fantasy production. The Steelers have run the ball at the second highest rate (58.66 percent) in football over the past three weeks. You may find yourself having to use him in season long leagues, but he probably should be avoided in DFS.

Is 49ers RB Raheem Mostert for real? Based on his snap counts over the past two weeks, and his 7.43 YPC, and three TDs over the past three weeks, the answer seems to be yes. He has a pretty good matchup against the Falcons who are giving up 4.38 YPC over the past four weeks. There are still many mouths to feed in the 49ers backfield, including Matt Breida , Tevin Coleman and even Kyle Juszczyk and that understandably might make you nervous about starting him with so much on the line in season long leaguesin Week 15. However,the 49ers love to run the ball and Mostert has been active in the red zone of late. He appears to have the most fantasy value from among the RBs in the 49ers backfield.

Avoid the Kansas City Chiefs’ backfield if at all possible. LeSean McCoy led the backfield in carries with 11 this past week, but this remains a full blown running back by committee. If Damien Williams is able to play this week you could potentially have four RBs touching the ball at some point against the Broncos.

Fire up Titans RB Derrick Henry with confidence again this week, whether you start him in season long playoff matchups or if you include him in DFS lineups. He’s averaging 150 rushing yards per game over the past four weeks and during the same time frame the Texans, (his opponent this week), have given up 4.88 YPC during that time span.

Chris Carson is another RB who should be started in all formats this week. He takes on the Panthers, who’ve given up an average of 139 rushing yards per game over the past four weeks, and 5.95 YPC during that time frame as well.

On the other hand:

The 49ers have yielded the lowest FPPG average over the past four weeks. Falcons RB Devonta Freeman is going to have a tough time running against San Francisco’s defense.

Bengals RB Joe Mixon ran for 146 yards and added another 40 receiving yards last week against the Browns. Things won’t be as easy for him in Week 15 against aPatriots’ run D that has given up an average of just 70 rushing yards per game to RBs over the past four weeks.