While the postseason goes on in Fantasy World, there will be no playoffs for Patrick Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs.
The future hall of famer went down with a season-ending knee injury. The Chiefs will play out the string with the barely-functional Gardner Minshew. No fantasy maven in his or her right mind will do the same.
The hottest quarterback right now is Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence, who had his career-best day last week against the feeble Jets. But you’re at least a week too late to claim him on waivers. But here are some guys you might be able to claim this week:
C.J. Stroud (Texans) — The former rookie of the year looked like his old self with three TD passes last week. This week’s foe (Raiders) is very weak, but next week’s (Chargers) is not.
Tyler Shough (Saints) — The Louisville rookie is getting more comfortable as a starter, having run for two scores in Week 14. Has the weak defenses of Jets and Titans the next two weeks.
Marcus Mariota (Commanders) — The former Heisman Trophy winner has six TD passes in his last four starts replacing Jayden Daniels. But he has to face tough Philly defense this week.
J.J. McCarthy (Vikings) — He’s up and he’s down, but the Vikings’ rookie is valuable as a running threat with three TDs this season. Can add to that total against Giants and Lions.
Kirk Cousins (Falcons) — You like that? The former Viking had 373 yards and three TDs last week in Tampa Bay. He could approach that number this week against Cardinals.
Philip Rivers (Colts) — If you like your desperation QBs well seasoned, this fortysomething played OK last week. But his next two opponents (49ers, Jaguars) will be tough.
Sitting stars
New Orleans’ defense is playing well lately, and Jets RB Breece Hall is not . … Cleveland rookie RB Quinshon Judkins looks like he’s already running out of gas, so don’t count on him against Buffalo. … Same goes for banged-up Denver rookie RB R.J. Harvey versus Jacksonville. … Two top tight ends are being sunk by their surroundings, so be wary of starting the Raiders’ Brock Bowers against Houston or Chiefs’ Travis Kelce versus the Titans. … And two top QBs are likely to underwhelm against strong defenses in Week 16: Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson against New England and Dallas’ Dak Prescott versus the Chargers.
Matchup game
The Giants’ poor run defense should make both Vikings RBs, Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason, decent starting options. … Miami RB De’Von Achane will run through Cincinnati. … Seattle will be hard-pressed to slow Rams RB Kyren Williams, who has eight TDs in his last seven games. … Tennessee RB Tony Pollard will continue his late-season revival against the dispirited Chiefs. … Two hot receivers that will stay that way are the Bears’ D.J. Moore against Green Bay and Philly’s A.J. Brown against Washington. … And two no-names who could post strong numbers this week are Saints WR Devaughn Vele versus the Jets and Detroit WR Isaac TeSlaa versus Pittsburgh.
Injury watch
Other than the Mahomes departure, the biggest exit last week was Rams wideout Davante Adams, who is having a banner season but is now week to week with a hamstring injury. … Chicago WR Rome Odunze was still not available last week, and Packers WR Christian Watson is iffy because of a shoulder injury.… Noteables listed as questionable to start the week include six running backs (Houston’s Woody Marks, Saints’ Alvin Kamara and Devin Neal, Washington’s Chris Rodriguez, Cleveland‘s Dylan Sampson, Arizona’s Bam Knight) and four wide receivers (Atlanta’s Drake London, Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins, Arizona’s Marvin Harrison Jr., San Fran’s Ricky Pearsall).
Deepest sleeper
Houston running back Jawhar Jordan made some history Sunday in his first game off the practice squad. After Marks went down with a foot injury against Arizona, Jordan rushed 15 times for 101 yards. The 2024 draft pick out of Louisville became the first player to top the century mark in his NFL debut since San Francisco’s Elijah Mitchell in 2021. Jordan could see a lot of action this week against lowly Las Vegas.
The Thursday/Saturday picks
Rams at Seahawks (+1½)
Pick: Rams by 3
Packers at Bears (+1½)
Pick: Packers by 3
Eagles at Commanders (+6½)
Pick: Eagles by 11
You can hear Kevin Cusick on Thursdays on Bob Sansevere’s “BS Show” podcast on iTunes. You can follow Kevin on X– @theloopnow. He can be reached at kcusick@pioneerpress.com.
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