The fantasy football playoffs are here!

Congrats to all those who have made their playoffs this year, for those that didn’t, what a horrendously stressful and frustrating waste of time this has all been for all of you.

With the all or nothing nature of the playoffs, start/sit decisions are now continuously more important each week. So without further ado, here are three starts and three sits for NFL week 15.

Note: As always, individual start/sit decisions will depend on your roster.

Week 15 Starts and Sits

Start – Bryce Young (Panthers)

After an incredible turnaround, Bryce Young now looks to be the future of the Carolina Panthers, and everything they’d hoped for with the first overall pick last year.

This week, Young faces a Dallas defense that has allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this year. The Cowboys have allowed the seventh-highest pass completion percentage over their last five games, and are now without one of their best pass-rushers.

Demarvion Overshown was enjoying a breakout season for Dallas and was the team’s leading blitzer (51), accounting for five sacks in the process. Those numbers make him the 15th highest blitzer in the league and second on his team in sacks, behind Micah Parsons.

That won’t be a problem for Young though, as Overshown is out for the rest of the season and possibly next season as well, after suffering a devastating knee injury on Monday night.

Young proved himself against arguably the best defense in the league last weekend, and has earned your faith in fantasy this week.

Start – Rico Dowdle (Cowboys)

On the other side of that aforementioned game in Carolina, Rico Dowdle will be looking to continue his own impressive form.

Dowdle is coming off back to back games with 100+ rushing yards and now faces the worst run defense in the league this season. In fact, over their last five games, the Panthers run defense has allowed a massive 5.7 yards/attempt.

Carolina are the favorites for this game, which is the first time they have been favorites to win a game since 2022. That is in no way because of their defense though, and Dowdle should be started everywhere this weekend.

Start – Jaleel McLaughlin – Broncos

More of a flex with upside, Jaleel McLaughlin is, more than likely, on your waiver wire this week, despite appearing to have taken over the Broncos backfield in recent weeks.

Before the team’s week 12 bye, McLaughlin was handed 14 carries which he turned into 84 yards against Cleveland.

I know, we’ve been burned by Sean Payton like this before (Audric Estime), but Estime didn’t make the most of his opportunity, McLaughlin did.

McLaughlin faces the Colts this weekend, who have allowed the fifth most rushing yards/attempt in the NFL over their last five (tied).

In terms of game script, outside of the Steelers in week four, the Colts have only beaten teams that currently have a losing record this season. The Colts’ last two wins have come with a combined points differential of just two points, and their last two losses by a combined 28.

McLaughlin can be trusted with a flex spot if you’re in need this week. But if you’re not ready to trust Payton just yet, add him to your bench and see how he gets on ahead of week 16.

Sit – Jonathan Taylor (Colts)

Speaking of the Colts, Jonathan Taylor is someone to be wary of this weekend.

Taylor has been inconsistent since his injury, with three fantasy finishes inside the top 15 at the position, and three outside the top 27.

Touchdowns have also been harder to come by. After four scores in four weeks before his injury, he’s contribute just two in six games since.

This weekend’s opponents are unlikely to offer much help there. The Broncos have only allowed two rushing touchdowns in their last seven games, both by Derrick Henry in week nine.

On top of that, Denver has allowed just three players to rush for 50+ yards in their last ten games.

Start/sit decisions will depend on your roster, but I’d expect RB3 numbers from Taylor this weekend.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling (Saints)

MVS is a far easier drop than the other two “sits” this week, but for those still playing for the upside, I think you can move on now.

I added Valdes-Scantling after the first breakout game in week 10, which paid dividends after many seemed to dismiss that game as a one off. It’s important though, to know when to take a small win and move on.

Valdes-Scantling’s deep-ball prowess was a perfect fit for Derek Carr‘s game in New Orleans, and gave him an option that had been missing since Rasheed Shaheed got injured.

But Carr has now joined Shaheed on the sidelines, leaving Jake Haener to take the reigns for the Saints. I’ve nothing against Haener, he may even turn out to be decent, but Carr was just a perfect fit for MVS.

Even with Carr, Valdes-Scantling’s production had dipped each week since week 10 and had already left him bench-worthy. His one upside play is the deep ball, and you just can’t trust that with Haener taking over.

You can keep him around on your bench if you’re curious about Haener, but my guess would be that you can cut him next week.

Sit – Dalton Kincaid (Bills)

There are a few reasons for Kincaid‘s inclusion on the “sit” list this week and none of them are to do with my personal resentment of his mediocre season, or the effect that it’s had on my fantasy teams this year.

The first being, that I tend to avoid players coming off multiple-week injuries if there’s no desperate need to play them. Knee injuries can be tricky and one that’s kept Kincaid out for four weeks isn’t something I’d be willing to overlook, especially as he is still questionable.

When I mention there being no “desperate need” to play him, I’m referring to the fact that, in a low-scoring tight-end season, Kincaid has only one TE1 finish this year.

Amari Cooper, Khalil Shakir, James Cook, Mack Hollins, Dawson Knox and the returning Keon Coleman could all possibly out-target Kincaid on his return this week.

Whilst most tight-ends are usually the big-bodied receiver on their team, Kincaid is one of four 6’4″ pass catchers on the Bills.

The final factor working against Kincaid is the most obvious one, his “questionable” tag. Whilst it’s easy to bench a player once they’re ruled out, it’s a lot harder to do that when they play in the late window. For many, the decision to start or sit Kincaid will have to be made before his game status is released, and his output this year hasn’t warranted that risk.

Hail-Mary Waiver Add – Elijah Moore (Browns)

I introduced this segment last week and wasn’t sure if it would stick. But after last week’s waiver add, Kendre Miller, put up a perfectly respectable and flex-worthy 9.2 half-ppr points, it’s back for week 15.

Elijah Moore is a perfect add for anyone needing a high-upside flex play this weekend. Moore already has the floor of playing with Jameis Winston, who ranks second in the NFL in pass attempts over his last five games.

This week though, David Njoku is expected to be sidelined with a hamstring injury. Njoku has accounted for 30 targets over his last two games, and with Cedric Tillman already ruled out, Moore will likely be in for massive workload if Njoku can’t go on Sunday.

That’s this week’s starts and sits done, let me know if you agree or disagree in the comments. I’ll be releasing the Week 15 Betting Preview ready for Sunday’s games after going 4/6 last weekend.

If you’ve gained anything from reading this, or just want to expand your fantasy football content, subscribe for email notifications or follow me on socials.

X – @camsheath_ff on

Bluesky – camsheathff.bsky.social

In-depth stats from Pro Football Reference.