Let’s Stream Defenses: Week 15 (2022 Fantasy Football) (2024)

This week was a rough one with respect to quarterback injuries. Three of last week’s starters suffered concussions, and Kyler Murray is out for the season. There’s a lot to keep track of, so here’s a rundown on all the QB situations that changed this week:

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• Cardinals QB Kyler Murray suffered a tragic torn ACL without contact last week. This is a big blow to Football as a whole. Colt McCoy will start the rest of the season for the Cardinals, and will be a pretty good matchup for the Broncos, Buccaneers and 49ers. (I’m still probably not interested in starting the Falcons against him in Week 17.)
• Steelers QB Kenny Pickett suffered a concussion on a sack early in last week’s game, and Mitch Trubisky played most of the game in relief. We don’t know if Pickett will be back this week, but given that the Steelers are as far from the playoffs hunt as they can get without actually being mathematically eliminated, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Steelers play it safe with their quarterback of the future. If Trubisky starts again, Mason Rudolph will be the backup.
• For the Ravens, Lamar Jackson, who was injured in Week 13, isn’t expected to return until Week 16. Tyler Huntley, who has been playing in Jackson’s absence, sustained a concussion in the third quarter last week, and undrafted rookie Anthony Brown was the next man up. I would be surprised to see Jackson next week, but it’s not impossible. As is usually the case with concussions, we have no idea at this point if Huntley will be back next week. The Ravens are a good fantasy target with Huntley or Brown starting, and not a target at all if Jackson returns.
• The Texans have a revolving door at quarterback. Two weeks after being benched for Kyle Allen, Davis Mills was un-benched last week, but had to share snaps with Jeff Driskel, who threw the team’s only passing touchdown. Between those three it doesn’t particularly matter who’s under center – the Texans will be a good DST matchup regardless.
• In the middle of his best game of the season, Russell Wilson suffered a concussion last week, and Brett Rypien stepped up for the Broncos. Just like Pickett and Huntley, we don’t know if Wilson will be ready to return next week. Like the Texans, the Broncos will remain a good matchup for defenses either way.
• Baker Mayfield made his first start for the Rams last week less than 48 hours after signing, and will start for the rest of the season in the absence of Matthew Stafford. While Mayfield led an impressive game-winning drive on a limited playbook, it was still only 17 points against one of the worst defenses in the league (Las Vegas). The Rams will be a good DST target, albeit one with some downside risk, going forward.
• The Falcons placed QB Marcus Mariota on IR with some combination of a knee injury and being benched, meaning 2022 third-round pick Desmond Ridder will get his chance this week, and probably for the rest of the season. The Saints will be an OK start in Ridder’s NFL debut, but we’ll need to see him play a bit before we can confidently rank the Falcons’ opponents very high.
• 49ers QB Brock Purdy was impressive in his first full start since Jimmy Garoppolo was ruled out for the season. It helps that his defense nearly shut out Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, but Purdy’s 130 QB rating was his own. Purdy is day-to-day with an oblique injury, and with the 49ers playing on Thursday that means there’s a real chance Josh Johnson (recently signed off the practice squad of the Broncos, who also need to add a QB) starts. This 49ers team is just about the best situation a quarterback can step in to, so I’m not super interested in starting the Seahawks against Johnson. Brock Purdy is the truth, and I’m definitely not starting fantasy defenses against him, at least not until his play comes back down to earth.

Fantasy Playoff Stashes

With the fantasy playoffs starting this week in some leagues, it’s less worth it to hold on to that 6th wide receiver than it used to be, so you might consider stashing a defense with good matchups in the playoffs. (Though maybe do hold on to a second QB, with how this season has been going injury-wise.) These are the teams I would consider picking up or holding for the playoffs:

• PHI – The Eagles are probably already rostered in your league, but are a great play this week (@ CHI), and in Week 17 (vs NO) and 18 (vs NYG). I would look for another option in week 16 though, when they play the Cowboys.
• SF – Like the Eagles, the 49ers are likely starting every week for the team that has them, and that will be the right decision.
• BAL – The Ravens are usable but not amazing this week against Cleveland, but probably worth holding for Week 16 (vs ATL) and definitely for Week 17 (vs PIT).
• KC – The Chiefs have a very good schedule going forward, with Houston this week, then Seattle, Denver and Las Vegas in that order.
• CAR – The Panthers, who are my #1 defense this week with only 6% rostership, could be good in Week 16 if Tom Brady doesn’t turn things around (that’s a big if), and they have a solid matchup against the Saints in Week 18.
• CLE – The browns have a nice remaining schedule: BAL (sans Lamar, probably), NO, WAS and PIT in that order.
• LAC – The Chargers also have a strong last 3 weeks of the season, against IND, LAR and DEN.
• LAR – The Rams could be worth stashing just for their Week 16 matchup against Denver.
• JAC – Similarly, the Jaguars have a tasty matchup against Houston in Week 17.

Week 15 D/ST Projections

We’re finally done with byes, and the result is a great week for streaming, with several of my top defenses available in the majority of leagues. Rostership numbers are from Yahoo. You can find me on Twitter.

Matchups

1. CAR vs PIT: Steelers QB Kenny Pickett suffered a concussion early in last week’s game against Baltimore, and Mitch Trubisky played most of the game as backup. We don’t know if Pickett will be ready to go next Sunday – I wouldn’t be surprised to see Trubisky next week. Because QB stats factor so heavily into my projections, I always have to make an assumption about who will start in cases like this. Right now my projections are based on Pickett playing. That would be the worst-case scenario for Carolina, and they still ended up at #1. If they do face Trubisky – who threw three interceptions last week – they have even more upside.
2. PHI @ CHI: While Justin Fields has 6-game rushing touchdown streak going, he hasn’t gotten it done as a passer in his last couple games against much worse defenses than the Eagles. In true hero quarterback fashion, fields takes a lot of sacks (he’s averaging more than 3 per game), and the eagles lead the league in Sacks. If you have the Eagles you probably aren’t streaming, and this is another very good matchup.
3. CLE vs BAL: Lamar Jackson is unlikely to return this week from a knee injury he sustained in Week 13. Tyler Huntley started in his place but suffered a concussion in the third quarter. Rookie Anthony Brown finished out the game. We don’t know if Huntley will be back next week, but the Browns are a great play against Huntley or Brown. If that’s your plan, keep an eye out for news about Lamar Jackson. While I don’t expect to see Jackson this week, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could return, in which case I would have no interest in starting the Browns in fantasy.
4. KC @ HOU: Davis Mills was un-benched by the Texans after two weeks of Kyle Allen, though he did share snaps with Jeff Driskel, who threw the team’s only Passing Touchdown. The Texans probably have their sights set on Alabama QB Bryce Young (or maybe Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud) in next year’s draft, but in the meantime they’re a good target for fantasy defenses, with any of the three QBs on their roster.
5. WAS vs NYG: Daniel Jones has not scored more than two touchdowns (passing + rushing) in a game, and has continued to take lots of sacks. While he doesn’t turn the ball over as much, the weak offense and high sack rate are two of the three ingredients for a great fantasy target, and for a pretty good defense like the Commanders, that’s enough to make them a solid play in fantasy.
6. SF @ SEA: Geno Smith has exceeded all expectations this season, and led an offense that’s #6 in scoring and #13 it total yards. That’s good, but not good enough to scare me away from starting the best defense in football. With Kyler Murray out for the season (the Cardinals play SF in Week 18), the 49ers are officially in the set-and-forget category for the rest of the year.
7. ARI @ DEN: The Russell Wilson-led Broncos finally showed some signs of life on offense last week, before Wilson suffered a concussion on a heroic run to set up Jerry Jeudy‘s third touchdown. I’ve had to say this too many times this week: we just don’t know if Wilson will clear concussion protocol in time for next week’s game. Despite last week’s flash of brilliance, Wilson has been absolutely awful this year, so it’s not clear that backup Brett Rypien is even a downgrade. The Broncos are a good matchup regardless of who starts at QB.
8. DEN vs ARI: With Kyler Murray out for the season with a torn ACL, Colt McCoy will start the rest of this lost Cardinals season. He took a massive six sacks in relief against the Patriots last week, and now he gets to face one of the best defenses in the league. The Cardinals will win, but a 16-6 win still allows a good fantasy day for the opposing defense.
9. GB vs LAR: Baker Mayfield led an impressive game-winning drive last week after having been on the Rams’ roster for less than 48 hours, and he will be their starter going forward. Baker Mayfield is a known quantity at this point. Like his forebearer Mitch Trubisky, he has potential for greatness, but he takes a lot of sacks and has a lot of turnover potential. The Packers are a fine play this week, but one that comes with risk, depending on which flavor of vintage Baker Mayfield we get.
10. BAL @ CLE: League villain Deshaun Watson did not impress in his second start of the season, leading the Browns to just 10 points against a good Bengals defense. I expect more of the same against a similarly good Ravens defense: not a lot of scoring, but also not a lot of upside from turnovers and sacks.

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Jacob Herlin is a featured writer at FantasyPros, providing unique insights and in-depth analysis.