Week 15 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Options at QB, RB, WR and TE: Joe Flacco, D'Onta Foreman, Zay Jones, Tyler Conklin and More

Discussing some week 15 waiver wire options at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end.

Week 14 of the NFL season is almost in the books, which means it’s time to start lining up your waiver wire players for week 15.

Let’s discuss the top options at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end, only looking at players with an own percentage of 50 or below.

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Quarterback Options

There’s several quarterbacks that are probably on your waiver wire. There aren’t a lot of great names, but given all the injuries to the QB position this year, you might need to roll with one of these guys.

Atlanta Falcons’ Desmond Ridder, Cincinnati Bengals’ Jake Browning, New England Patriots’ Bailey Zappe, Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mitchell Trubisky, Cleveland Browns’ Joe Flacco, New York Jets’ Zach Wilson, Seattle Seahawks’ Drew Lock, Indianapolis Colts’ Minshew and New Orleans Saints’ Carr all fall under the 50% own threshold I set.

Ridder was 26-of-40 for 347 yards, a touchdown and an interception in week 14. He also rushed for a touchdown.

Browning was great for a second straight week, completing 18-of-24 passes for 275 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He too rushed for a touchdown.

Zappe and Trubisky battled on Thursday night. Zappe threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns while completing 19-of-28 attempts - he also threw a pick. Trubisky was 22-of-35 for 190 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while also rushing for a score.

Flacco continues to play well for the Browns. This week, he was 26-of-45 for 311 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He was named the team’s starter for the rest of the season.

Wilson’s wild season continued with a 301-yard, two-touchdown masterpiece in week 14. He completed 27-of-36 passes in the team’s win.

Lock started for the injured Geno Smith and was pretty solid. He completed 22-of-31 passes for 269 yards, two touchdowns and two picks.

Minshew had another solid outing for the Colts, completing 26 of his 39 passes for 240 yards. He tossed one touchdown and one interception.

Carr continues to suit up every week despite being banged up. He was 18-of-26 for 119 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

If you are looking into adding one of these guys, you are hopefully looking for a backup for the rest of the season. If you need a starter for week 15, then I’m sure your fantasy season has been maddening. Let’s take a look at each players strength of schedule the rest of the way and then determine the best fantasy options.

Flacco has the easiest schedule the rest of the way on paper, with Wilson right behind him. None of the other QBs on this list have nearly as favorable a remaining schedule.

Flacco is now my favorite guy in this group of QBs. The more he settles in, the better he should play, and the easy schedule is just a bonus.

I’m also a fan of what Minshew has been doing, and would take a chance on him second. After that, I’d take Browning, and then Carr.

Wilson, Ridder and Zappe are all pretty close in my book, but given his rushing ability, I’d take a gamble on Ridder next. I’d give Wilson the slight edge over Zappe because he’s got more starting experience this season.

Lock and Trubisky were both filling in for quarterbacks this week, and would only make sense to add if the starters were to miss more games. I like Lock more than Trubisky if choosing between the two.

Running Back Options

Bengals’ Chase Brown and Dallas Cowboys’ Rico Dowdle are probably the biggest waiver wire running backs going into week 15. Kansas City Chiefs’ Jerick McKinnon, Chicago Bears’ D’Onta Foreman and Minnesota Vikings’ Ty Chandler are some other options. 

Brown rushed eight times for 25 yards and added 80 receiving yards and a touchdown on three catches in week 14. He played 18 offensive snaps.

Dowdle went for 46 rushing yards and a score on 12 attempts this week. He added a 6-yard reception. He was on the field for 23 snaps.

McKinnon helped fill in for the injured Isiah Pacheco. McKinnon rushed four times for 19 yards and a score, while catching all three of his targets for 18 yards. He played 30 snaps, while Clyde Edwards-Helaire was at 32.

Foreman was the Bears’ leader in the backfield, rushing 11 times for 50 yards and adding 22 yards on two catches and three targets. He played 39 snaps, 19 more than any other back on the team.

Chandler is back on the RB waiver wire list after an injury to starter Alexander Mattison. Chandler tallied 35 rushing yards on 12 attempts and added 7 receiving yards on three catches and targets.

Strength of schedule doesn’t matter as much with RBs, mostly because a few of these guys are fill-ins for a week or two.

The hype with Brown is hard to not follow, but I’d take a No. 1 back first any day of the week, and that’s Foreman. I’d take Brown next, followed by Dowdle.

McKinnon and Chandler could get bumped higher up depending on the injury outlooks for Pacheco and Mattison. Chandler is the better fantasy option if these guys are thrust into larger roles.

Wide Receiver Options

Dallas Cowboys’ Michael Gallup, Los Angeles Rams’ Demarcus Robinson, Detroit Lions’ Josh Reynolds, Cleveland Browns’ David Bell, Los Angeles Chargers’ Quentin Johnston, New England Patriots’ JuJu Smith-Schuster and Jacksonville Jaguars’ Zay Jones are a few of the waiver wire options at the wide receiver position.

Gallup had 48 yards and a touchdown on three grabs and five targets in the Cowboys’ big win this week. Robinson was involved a bunch in the Rams’ overtime loss, catching 3-of-10 targets for 46 yards and a score. Reynolds also caught a touchdown, finishing with three catches on four targets for 44 yards in the Lions’ loss.

Bell only caught one pass this week, but it was a 41-yard touchdown. He was targeted three times.

Johnston performed the best in his young career, hauling in 3-of-4 targets for 91 yards in the Chargers’ loss. Smith-Schuster took advantage of an expanded role by hauling in 4-of-6 targets for 90 yards on Thursday night.

Jones got a whopping 14 targets this week. He only caught five passes for 29 yards, but with Christian Kirk out for several weeks, he needs to be mentioned at least.

There’s some really intriguing names on this list, especially after several of these guys caught touchdowns in week 14.

Jones seems like the most likely to be involved in his team’s offense going forward, so I’d take him first. Smith-Schuster is probably next up in that category, so I’d take a chance on him next. 

Gallup and Johnston are the next two guys for me, and I think I’d take them in that order with their team’s current state of receivers and quarterbacks in mind. 

Reynolds is my next choice in the Lions’ offense. Robinson gets the slight edge over Bell.

Tight End Options

Patriots’ Hunter Henry and Rams’ Davis Allen are two waiver wire options at tight end. New York Jets’ Tyler Conklin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Cade Otton and Tennessee Titans’ Chigoziem Okonkwo give us some more options.

Henry made his three catches count on Thursday, turning two into touchdowns. He finished with 40 receiving yards. Allen filled in for the injured Tyler Higbee and went for 50 yards on four catches and five targets. 

Conklin caught 4-of-6 targets for 57 yards in the Jets’ win. Otton had just 16 yards on two catches and five targets, but did score a touchdown. Okonkwo hasn’t played yet this week, but has at least three catches and 45 receiving yards the past two weeks.

With Okonkwo still to play, I’m most comfortable taking Conklin going into week 15. He’s turned in some solid outings with Wilson at quarterback, and that seems likely to continue for a bit.

I’d take a gamble on Okonkwo next, followed by Henry, Otton and finally Allen. 

#waiver-wire