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Heroes & Zeroes (Week 15)

December 18, 2025

Week 15 delivered the full fantasy playoff experience: brutal letdowns, season-ending zeros, and a few performances that flat-out crushed championship dreams. While some managers were left staring at box scores in disbelief, others were saved by unexpected heroes who came out of nowhere when it mattered most. That’s the beauty and the heartbreak of playoff football. Buckle up, because Week 16 is ready to do it all over again.

Heroes

QB – Trevor Lawrence (44.3pts / 20.8% start)

For the lucky managers that started TLaw, he most likely saved their seasons. He delivered the best game of his professional career with a monster performance of 330yds / 5TDs through the air with an additional 51yds / 1TD on the ground against the Jets this week. A tough matchup against Denver awaits, who will be brave enough to start TLaw again?

 – HM: Bo Nix (29.08pts / 48.5% start), Kirk Cousins (26.92pts / 1.5% start)

RB – Tyrone Tracy (24.7pts / 30.3% start)

Tracy had 18 touches for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns on Sunday against the Commanders. This was his highest mark of the season by 6.8 points. A game with this output could not have come at a better time for the owners that started him in their playoff matchup this week. Tracy has a middling matchup against a Vikings D that has only surrendered 13 rushing TDs this season coming up next.

– HM: TreVeyon Henderson (30.1pts / 58.1% start), D’Andre Swift (22.6pts / 60.4% start)

WR – Courtland Sutton (24.3pts / 58.0% start)

Bo Nix threw for 302yds and 4TDs, those throws had to go to someone and we see both of his top WRs highlighted this week. Courtland Sutton just edges out his teammate Troy Franklin by 3.5 points. Sutton hauled in 7/10 targets for 110 yards and a score. He has established himself as the Number 1 target in the Broncos passing game in the last three weeks after their bye. An interesting matchup against the Jaguars lies in wait.

– HM: ARSB (41.4pts / 94.4% start / leading WR by 13.5), DJ Moore (22.9pts / 21.5% start), Troy Franklin (20.8pts / 14.3% start)

TE – Kyle Pitts (45.6pts / 56.8% start)

The day has finally come. 4 years…74 games… Kyle Pitts believers are finally justified. In his 75^th career game, Pitts posted a career best in receptions, yards, and touchdowns with a 11/166/3 line. Launching him into the 3^rd rank for TEs this year. In Week 16, Pitts has a very favorable matchup against the Cardinals. Can he match his career day?

– HM: Trey McBride (37.4pts / 99.9% start / I know, not unexpected but he outscored the next closest TE by 11.8 pts which is worth noting), Darren Waller (25.6pts / 10.6% start)

K – Jayson Myers (24.0pts / 73.1% start)

Anytime a kicker is the 21^st highest scorer of the week, it is worth mentioning. Myers went 6/6 (a franchise record) on Sunday, scoring all 18 of Seattle’s points, including the game winning field goal with 18 seconds left. His field goals covered a whopping 263 yards. He is seven made field goals away from tying the NFL single season record with three games left.

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Zeroes

Joe Burrow CIN 7.5

We held onto Burrow all year for this? A potentially juicy inter-divisional high scoring matchup that usually brings fireworks, the Bengals fell flat. Burrow threw for 225 yards with no touchdowns while accruing two interceptions. Just two weeks ago the Bengals put up 32 points on the Ravens. With Burrow projected to score well into the twenties he is our most disappointing QB this week.

Patrick Mahomes KC 15 

Although Mahomes put up a modest 15 points, his knee injury knocks him out for the rest of the season. His skill players like Kelce and Rice also have their values crater for the rest of the season as well.

Jahmyr Gibbs DET – 7.8

Talk about a Yoyo of a year. In Gibbs’s last ten games here are the number of touchdowns he has scored: 1,0,2,0,2,0,3,0,3,0. He has likely single-handedly won or lost you your games the past few months. Started in 98.7% of ESPN leagues last week, he might not have had the least points on your roster, but expectations were much higher for the anticipated shootout with the Rams.

Quinshon Judkins CLE – 3.2 

This offense was seemingly revived after putting up 29 points against the Titans last week. Judkins and the Browns didn’t take the next step on a cold day in Chicago this week. Judkins turned 12 rushes into 21 yards and 3 catches into negative 4 receiving yards. That’s not going to get it done. It’s hard to trust an offense run by a rookie Sanders in his first games in the league.

George Pickens DAL – 4.8

Pickens is enjoying a breakout year which has led him to be the WR4 on the year, averaging 15.1 points a game. Pickens had 11 straight games with double digit points. He has earned our trust. Unfortunately, this was followed by two games with under 40 yards of receiving. This came at the worst possible time, during the first and second week of fantasy playoffs.

Justin Jefferson MIN – 3.2

Is JJettas really a zero this week when he has been averaging just 4.4 points in the past 5 games? Yes. Yes, he is a zero. Expectations have been changed, the goal posts have been moved in. But on a day when the Vikings put up 34 points and 327 yards of offense, JJ had a paltry 2 catches for 22 yards. When do we start to see cryptic Instagram posts?

Brock Bowers 5.8

Bower Outage this past week? Bowers ended up TE21 for the week with 6 catches for only 28 yards. Even with a pass happy game script, the Eagles smothered any offense the Raiders were trying to put out. Hopefully Geno Smith is back managing the helm next week against a tough Texans Defense.

Honorable Mention: Kaleb Johnson RB PIT- 0.4

By now everyone has already dropped Kaleb. He is still somehow rostered in 18.1% of ESPN leagues. Drafted ahead of both Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell in most leagues, this rookie was expected to take the reigns as the lead back in the Steelers offense. From botched kickoffs, to not touching the ball in half the games down the stretch, his season has been a disaster. He is likely to end the year with under ten fantasy points. Am I venting about a seemingly valueless player? Yes.  Did I draft him in every league and get severely burned by him? Yes.  ZERO

*All scores and start percentage courtesy of ESPN Fantasy

Cam, Fantasy Writer

Week 15 Heroes

Greg, Fantasy Writer

Week 15 Zeroes