Week 15 Fantasy Football Takeaways: Josh Allen, Mike Evans, and More
Peter Overzet reacts to everything we saw in Week 15's Sunday games, from Josh Allen's continued dominance to WRs who dominated the slate, from rookies to vets.
The first round of the fantasy football playoffs is coming to a close, and Pete is here with his Week 15 fantasy football takeaways from the Sunday main slate to catch us up:
Premium
Go FantasyLife+
Your league is unique. Your advice should be too. Get personalized tools, rankings, and projections tailored to your fantasy football league settings.
It's time for Pete's Pick 6—a weekly recap column where I round up all of the best (and sometimes worst, if I'm feeling prickly) fantasy action from Sunday's games and spotlight the biggest winners and losers.
Let's dig in …
The Bills Are Pure Entertainment
Can we just take a second right now to appreciate this Bills team and what they mean for fantasy? We all collectively spend a lot of time complaining about low-scoring affairs, TNF duds, never-ending commercials, stoppage of play, etc.
But this 2023 Bills team is pure, raw, uncut football goodness. They were designed in a lab to produce high-octane, wildly entertaining football.
Last week they gave us the game of the year vs. the Rams and then said "Hold my (own?) beer" and did it again vs. the Lions on Sunday.
The two teams combined for 90 total points, 1080 total yards, and 12 total TDs. Josh Allen put up another gaudy fantasy line (430 total yards, 4 TDs), but was somehow upstaged by Jared Goff in the fake points department (507 total yards, 5 TDs).
Over the past two weeks on the road, Allen has led the Bills to 90 points, 10 TDs, no INTs, and 400+ total yards in each game. The fantasy numbers are just as ridiculous.
Allen is your MVP (his leading pass receiver yesterday was Ty friggin' Johnson for goodness sake) and if there is a football god, the Bills will be in the Super Bowl.
We might not deserve it, but we need it.
Respect your elders (Davante Adams & Mike Evans)
There is plenty of data that suggests veteran players tail off at the end of the season due to the wear and tear accumulated across multiple months of grueling football action.
But you wouldn't know it looking at what Adams and Evans did yesterday:
- Adams: 9-198-2
- Evans: 9-159-2
The most insane thing about the Adams stat line is that he did it w̶i̶t̶h̶ A̶a̶r̶o̶n̶ R̶o̶d̶g̶e̶r̶s̶ a̶s̶ h̶i̶s̶ Q̶B̶ all in the second half. Seriously, he had 0 receptions in the first half.
As for Evans, did you really think he was going to let his 1,000-yard receiving streak come to an end without a fight? This dude is an absolute machine. 31 years old, coming off a brutal hamstring injury. Barely practicing … and yet he balls out week after week.
The 2014 WR class is one of the best ever, but Adams and Evans are the creme de la creme.
The rookie playoff hammer
Marvin Harrison flopped in Week 15. Malik Nabers had his first usable game in weeks (10-82-1). We'll see what Rome Odunze does tomorrow … but as of right now, Brian Thomas is the one rookie WR you can trust in the fantasy playoffs.
On Sunday, he kept pace with the big boy vets with a monster 10-105-2 line of his own vs. the Jets.
I'm not even sure this should be a controversial take, but I completely agree with Ian:
Nabers with better QB play would give him a run for his money, but all anyone can do is play the hand they were dealt.
It's not just the rookies he's outclassing either. There are only five other WRs in the entire league with more receiving yards.
How early is too early to take BTJ in 2025 drafts? He won't exit the third round in any of my rooms (and even that might be conservative).
Does the road to the SB still go through KC?
The Chiefs always find a way to win. It might not be pretty, it might not be fun … but they find a way.
At some point, though, we have to wonder how long they can keep getting away with it.
Because not only do the Bills and Ravens look unstoppable right now, but Patrick Mahomes is week-to-week with a high ankle sprain suffered in yesterday's game vs. the Browns.
He obviously has plenty of time to recover before the meaningful games start, but it really does feel like this team is running out of 2024 magic.
Of course, I'm sure I would have said the same thing last year around this time.
Who am I kidding, of course it still runs through KC.
McBride Scores A TD Challenge (Impossible)
I'm not even mad. I'm laughing. It's absolutely hilarious that Trey McBride can't score a touchdown.
It's taken me 3.5 hours just to write this blurb because I can't stop cackling.
A pudgy offensive lineman on the Lions named Dan Skipper (ya, he gets the offensive player "bold" what are you going to do about it?) has more receiving TDs than McBride.
McBride now has 89 receptions without a TD. It's literally the most catches in a season without a receiving TD in NFL history.
It's not for lack of trying, either. They even attempted a make-a-wish shovel pass to him at the one-yard line that failed.
The Cardinals play the Panthers next week–a team that gives up the biggest fantasy boost to opposing TEs in the entire league.
I know what you're thinking … do not even think about getting your hopes up.
The squeaky wheel gets the ball
A.J. Brown was clearly frustrated last week, but then the national media spun his discontent as some kind of issue between him and Jalen Hurts.
Whether it was intentional to feed him extra targets or not, that's exactly what happened in the Eagles impressive 27-13 win over the Steelers on Sunday.
Brown paced the team with 8-110-1, although DeVonta Smith (11-109-1) actually ended up with the better fantasy outing.
The real story here, though, is the complete dud from Saquon Barkley (19-65; 2-9). The Steelers have a stiff run defense, but I have a feeling that is not much comfort to Barkley managers who weren't fortunate enough to earn the bye.
Want the latest updates around the NFL and their fantasy football implications delivered directly to your inbox, every single day? Subscribe to the free Fantasy Life Newsletter below!
Premium
Go FantasyLife+
Your league is unique. Your advice should be too. Get personalized tools, rankings, and projections tailored to your fantasy football league settings.
