Week 15 fantasy football rankings, projections, sleepers (2024)

I haven’t been this excited for a movie in a while, so to say I can’t wait to see Spider-Man: No Way Home is the understatement of the year. This might be second only to DuckTales. So, before the Week 15 fantasy football rankings, projections and sleepers, we’ll celebrate with the best Marvel superheroes. I had done an MCU (movie-only) superhero list last year, but this list is my true favorites based just on the characters in all formats (cartoon, movie, comics — not that I’ve read many — etc.).

Best Marvel Superheroes

Honorable Mention/Just Missed: Doctor Strange and Ant-Man — cooler and popular because of the movies… Colossus — maybe just for the arcade game… Cable — the X-Men cartoon introduced me, and he has a pretty cool backstory… Cyclops — his special in Marvel vs Capcom 2 is one of the best

Top 15 Marvel Heroes

15. Punisher — Netflix series was pretty good. Definition of vigilante.
14. Hawkeye — Really enjoying the Disney+ series, but even before that, one of the cooler “I could be him if I tried hard enough” superheroes, and the superior version to DC’s Green Arrow, as Death Battle broke down here.
13. Daredevil — The best streaming show for superheroes to date. Ignore the awful Ben Affleck movie, and the comics ramp him up to another level too.
12. Blade — Can’t not picture Wesley Snipes, especially that techno fight scene from the first movie.
11. Nightcrawler — Be honest, you know you love playing at him in games.
10. Black Panther — Even before the movies, was an underrated superhero with a bit of Wolverine and a tad of Captain America mixed.
9. Captain America — Speaking of… don’t think much explanation is needed here.
8. Thor — One of the key Avengers in all forms, and his character has good character growth (battles lost, hard lessons learned) with plenty of fun mixed in.
7. Ghost Rider — Another “ignore what we were given” (aka, Nicholas Cage’s insane version), possibly the most badass of them all with a tragic backstory.
6. Hulk — I mean… do you need an explanation? and even though he doesn’t beat Broly (sorry: spoiler), his Death Battle shows you just how insanely powerful Hulk is even by comic superhero standards.
5. Iron Man — Another “I could see this happening” if I had the money, brains… looks… Iron-Man definitely saw a boost from the movies, as he was a B-level character before them. Shows and comics have stepped it up since the movies as well though, making Tony Stark one of the superhero icons.
4. Deadpool — Breaking the fourth wall! Deadpool is arguably the most fun superhero ever, but don’t let that understate his powers/abilities.
3. Wolverine — From the 90s cartoon, to video games, to the X-Men movies and Logan, Wolverine might be the first superhero mentioned by any 90s kid… and I dressed up as him for Halloween (beard and hair included) one time.
2. Gambit — Yes, the Cajun ranks this high for me. Again, the cartoon helps, he’s supremely underrated — in MvC2, Gambit is a pretty great pick (plus, you get to hear, “Kinetic Card,” a bunch), and the relationship with Rogue was always interesting. We need a movie!
1. Spider-Man — Even though he’s often a teen, Spider-Man is the most relatable and fun character. From being out of his depth at times, to trying to live a life in both worlds (superhero and family/love), always trying to do the impossible (save everyone, even villains) and more… who didn’t think about letting a spider bite them just… in… case…? (Oh, and I definitely rocked the Spidey-Gambit-Cyclops trio in MvC2 a good amount… and AND… his Playstation video games might be the best solo superhero game ever!)

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🚨 REMINDER 🚨
Updated every day except Saturday all the way up to kickoff, Sunday
Sleepers are upside, often riskier, picks. Don’t bench players ranked higher… unless you’re shooting for upside

2021 Week 15 Fantasy Football Sleepers

READ THIS! Sleepers are tough to find and don’t carry as much weight by this point. So instead, I’m going to post a couple possible BENCH and START INSTEAD options. As with sleepers, these will not mimic my rankings 100%. This is chasing upside and often carries more risk, but based on APA matchups, you can “go for broke” if needed.

QUARTERBACK

MAYBE BENCH: Lamar Jackson, BAL — Obviously, Jackson isn’t even guaranteed to play, but given the risk if he does, you might be better off with a streamer. The Packers pass defense has been a bit inconsistent this year but still can limit opponents, and Jackson was already struggling in the passing game since Week 9 — if he’s not running (ankle), the risk is great for a poor outing.

RUNNING BACK

MAYBE BENCH: Eagles RBs — The Footballs are actually solid against the run with no running back topping 71 rushing yards this year. Added to that, Miles Sanders could have Jordan Howard back in the mix along with Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell. Even if the Eagles inactivated one (I love using that word in that way), it’s still a committee without enough volume to offset the matchup concern.

POSSIBLY START: Chase Edmonds, ARI — This is obvious if James Conner is out, but even if Conner plays, you can start both Cardinals running backs. It’s the Lions. It’s the same team that made both Broncos running backs RB1s in Week 14. The Cardinals could replicate the Broncos’ success.

HAIL MARY START: Dolphins RB(s) — Again, it’s the Jets (Sanders and Gainwell had 15.7 and 17.2 points, respectively, against them in Week 13). Similar to Conner, if Myles Gaskin plays, you know he’s a must-start. The Hail Mary part is starting a second option, such as Salvon Ahmed or Malcolm Brown or Duke Johnson, and two of those could be big dart throws if Gaskin is out.

WIDE RECEIVER

MAYBE BENCH: Michael Pittman, IND — The Patriots have allowed just 11 double-digit wideout scores, only two of which topped 15.9 points, and just one since Week 8. Sure, the Titans are in that stretch, but D.J. Moore had 7/3/32, Jarvis Landry 5/4/26, Russell Gage 8/5/49 and Stefon Diggs 7/4/51, so it’s not as though the big names have done much either since Keenan Allen’s 11/6/77/1 outing (Week 8).

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POSSIBLY START: Chase Claypool, PIT — The toe seems likely to be an issue the rest of the season, and Claypool didn’t hit until late this past Thursday night. However, he has the extra rest and gets a drool-worthy matchup with the Titans. Even as poor as the Jaguars have been, Marvin Jones had 10.0 and Laquon Treadwell 8.8 points in a shutout. Claypool has Top 20 upside again this week.

HAIL MARY START: Darnell Mooney, CHI — Back to those Vikings, which also goes back to Claypool, a part of the Steelers’ trio who all scored at least 10.8 points. Amon-Ra St. Brown had 19.8 against the Vikings, and they have allowed six teams to have a duo reach double digits, and three of those had a trio do it.

TIGHT END

MAYBE BENCH: T.J. Hockenson, DET — Remember a few years ago when you would start a no-name tight end just because he was facing the Cardinals? Not anymore. Only one tight end has topped 6.6 against the Cardinals this year — George Kittle, 19.1 in Week 9. Sure, they haven’t faced a tight-end gauntlet, but the Cardinals defense is a worrisome matchup this year.

POSSIBLY START: Zach Ertz, ARI — On the other side of the ball, the Lions are one of the best matchups for tight ends. While they are mid-pack with 10.6 FPPG allowed, the names include Robert Tonyan, C.J. Uzomah, Austin Hooper, Cole Kmet, Jimmy Graham and Albert Okwuegbunam scoring 9.0+ in their meetings with the Lions.

HAIL MARY START: Hunter Henry, NE — Henry is normally a touchdown chase, especially with Jonnu Smith active. While the Colts haven’t given up a tight end touchdown since Week 9, they did give up one to Geoff Swaim and Ryan Griffin in Weeks 8-9, and Dawson Knox had 10/6/80/0 and Rob Gronkowski 10/7/123/0 in the following weeks. It’s a Hail Mary, but it’s in play.

Week 15 Fantasy Football Projections

🚨 HEADS UP 🚨
These differ some from my rankings, and my ranks are the exact order I’d start players. Just like preseason projections and rankings, I’ll play some with more upside even though a bit behind in projected points.
Also, based on 4-point TDs for QB, 6-point rest, and Half-PPR

Quarterback Projections

Running Back Projections

Wide Receiver Projections

Tight End Projections