“Thursday Night Football” is back to kick off another week of fantasy football. Week 15 brings an exciting, offensive game between the Chiefs and Chargers in Los Angeles (8:20 p.m. ET, Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video). As always, you want to make the right decisions at the start, sit in their decisions – especially in fantasy football knockouts – by deploying players who can give you the lead. nice on Sunday or avoid players bound to bust during the crucial time.
Aside from star Rashawn Slate’s left save, the Chargers should have all their power around midfielder Justin Herbert. Rerun Austin Ekeler (ankle), wide range Mike Williams (heel), tight finish Jared Cook (quad) was a bit weak, but all are expected to play. Also, wide receiver Keenan Allen will be back after missing Week 13 against the Giants on the reserve/COVID roster.
ADD TNF: Update Ekeler
The Chiefs will have all of their principals and peripherals around quarterback Patrick Mahomes. From the backyard to the receiving corps, they attract more players. One of those who won’t go is wide-ranging recipient Josh Gordon, who came to the rescue of Chris Jones on the reserve/COVID list, a major breakthrough for Herbert.
Here’s a full breakdown of TNF’s ’em sitting’ start, including a few DFS lineup suggestions for FanDuel and DraftKings:
WEEK 15 EFFECTS: Sleepers | Selling body | Start with ’em, sit’ em
Head: Who will start or sit in fantasy football on Thursday night
Start: QB Patrick Mahomes
Believe it or not, Mahomes has only finished in the top 12 twice in the past seven games, and both have come at the expense of reeling Raid players. In his first meeting with the Chargers in Week 3, he threw for 260 yards and three TDs, and his two interceptions were cleared by the 45 yard dash.
Mahomes has become a slightly different kind of QB to remove his impatience and force things downhill. He is relying more on running – his teammates and his own. That said, Chargers foul will force him to put the ball up more here and play back for some favorable shots from long distance. He should hit 250 yards and two TDs as his floor with a good shot pushing towards the ceiling 300 yards, three TDs.
WEEK 15 STANDARD RATINGS:
Midfielder | Run back | Wide receiver | Tight ending | VND / ST | Kicker
Start: RBs Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams | Sitting: RB Derrick Gore
Edwards-Helaire had only 42 yards of scrims against the Raiders last week, but he made them count with two short TDs. He dashed for exactly 100 yards and TD on the first charge. He’s going to get a lot more work here completely healthy, but let’s not forget about Williams, who has been RB2 in the last two weeks with his additional CEH received, who surprisingly didn’t get much love in that capacity.
Williams should be involved in the passing situations and the Captains should be in a short spot a few times to help CEH. However, you can’t go with Gore, despite his rather long TD during his time against Vegas.
Start: WR Tireek Hill | Sitting: WRs Mecole Hardman and Byron Pringle
Hill caught five of seven targets in 56 yards in Week 3, putting him well beyond even the WR3. He barely got there with four catches in 76 yards against the Raiders last week. His final WR1 finishes were in Week 8 before the Raiders and Week 10 before the Giants. The Chargers present a tough match against Michael Davis, Chris Harris Jr. and Asante Samuel Jr.
That said, Hill could break out at any moment, and Kansas City’s rushed success could produce some deep hits for him in second and third and short. Hill is long overdue for a big game, and Mahomes will be calling him around to open the door. The captain can also take the ball from his hand on the open field so he can do something with his quickness after catching it. Since it’s already the standard without Gordon, you can’t trust Hardman or Pringle to do whatever you need.
WEEK 15 USE DFS: DraftKings | FanDuel | Yahoo!
Start: TE Travis Kelce
Kelce once struggled with the way the Charger covered him. Not this year. In Week 3, he caught seven of 11 targets at 104 yards. The Chargers’ poor defense is tied to their midfield play. Kelce may be showing some signs of wear and tear, but he will dig deep to start here when his team needs him most to return to the dominant track.
WEEK 15 PPR RANKING:
Midfielder | Run back | Wide receiver | Tight ending | VND / ST | Kicker
Sitting: Head of Department D / ST
Kansas City has dominated the Broncos and Raiders at home. This is not home and the Charger is a more dangerous division offense of the two. You can do much better with a streamer this week.
Start: K Harrison Butker
He is still a striker for Harrison Butt in this position. Lock and load and prepare for a potential long game winning goal.
MORE WEEK 15 DFS: The best stack | Best value | Squad Builder
Chargers: Who will start or sit in fantasy football on Thursday night
Start: QB Justin Herbert
Herbert has been a tough QB1 for the past four weeks, finishing sixth in every game. He’s currently lighting it up consistently with multiple TDs and also raising stats when he’s running. The boy tore the Chiefs’ net by 284 yards and 4 points in Week 3 and looked like a “league winner” in the fantasy playoffs with Texas’ hot streak next.
Start: RB Austin Ekeler | Sitting: RBs Justin Jackson and Joshua Kelley
Ekeler should play after his latest ankle injury. He may see one or two fewer carry-ups than usual, but the Chargers tend to be calculated by his taps to call them in ideal locations. Ekeler has been very consistent, with six RB1 shots and five RB2 shots, living up to his exact value in fantasy drafts. Because of his condition, you can’t count on LA’s two backup defenders at all.
Start: WR Keenan Allen
Allen rolled with Herbert until he couldn’t fight the Giants because of COVID. The rest is probably good for an older player warming up to be a key target all over the pitch with high volume, and he’s even scored well again.
Start: WR Mike Williams | Sitting: WR Jalen Guyton
Williams has played superbly for most of the season, even if there was a bit of a blur in the second half. He’s a no-brainer playing WR3 backwards after Allen’s WR1/2 state every week. Guyton has had two pivotal weeks in a row as a dynamic No. 3, first with Allen and then without him. He’s a more mid-range dart thrower if you’re desperate and a good DFS spinner, but he shouldn’t be much of a concern about starting most tournaments.
Start: TE Jared Cook
Cook’s low-level TE1 value takes into account the TD score. The captains struggled to control the tight end of the season, although they were fine towards the end with their supporters and safety. If you know Cook is booming or bankrupt based on that – like so many tight endings – he’s a viable option unless you have an elite TE.
Sitting: D/ST . Charger
The Chargers had two strong straight weeks against the Bengals and Giants. Here, they cooled off against Mahomes and the Chiefs, who cleaned up the revenue mess and pressure from their mid-season slump.
Start: K Dustin Hopkins
The other “D Hop” has been pretty good as K1 this season. With multiple teams, he scores as many points as Tyler Bass of the Bills.
Chiefs vs. Chargers: One-game FanDuel
- MVP (1.5X): QB Justin Herbert $16,500
- AnyFLEX: TE Travis Kelce $12,500
- AnyFLEX: WR Keenan Allen $12,000
- AnyFLEX: RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire $11,000
- AnyFLEX: TE Jared Cook $7,500
The Chiefs’ running game needs to be used here in some way, and it also has to be a big restorative game for Kelce. Herbert and Allen make a nice stack, and Cook can pay off in TD.
Chiefs vs. Chargers: DraftKings Showdown lineup
- Captain (1.5X): QB Justin Herbert 16,200 USD
- FLEX: RB Austin Ekeler $10,200
- FLEX: TE Travis Kelce $8,600
- FLEX: RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire $7,000
- FLEX: WR Jalen Guyton $4,800
- FLEX: RB Darrel Williams $3,200
Same thinking here except for doubling the Chiefs’ backruns, getting Ekeler in there and shooting Guyton that was heating up even though Allen and Williams were both playing. Herbert, Kelce and CEH are also our core players.
