NFL Week 15 Betting: Fantasy football league winners

“‘Tis the season” is said a lot this time of year, but there are still 14 days until Christmas. The fantasy football playoffs, however, have already started.

Whether they started last week or begin this week, owners are looking for sneaky waiver wire pickups or matchups that they can take advantage of to secure a title. Here are three underrated superstars and three sleepers who could potentially win leagues themselves. (All scoring mentioned is based on PPR.)

Lineup Locks

Baker Mayfield, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Even after losing his best target in Chris Godwin, Baker Mayfield has managed to carve out a great fantasy season, scoring 19.9 points on average. After a 19-point game last week against the Raiders, Mayfield has a tough challenge to start the playoffs with the Los Angeles Chargers, who allow 16.4 points on average to opposing QBs.

After that, however, Mayfield finishes the season with the Cowboys, Panthers and Saints (if leagues go into Week 18). The Cowboys and Panthers are both in the bottom ten teams in terms of how they fare against quarterbacks in fantasy, ranking fifth and seventh, respectively. The Saints are tougher in terms of averages, but Mayfield had 25.9 points against them earlier this season.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances to end the year, Mayfield should be a mainstay in plenty of championship-winning lineups to end the year.

James Conner, RB, Arizona Cardinals

Outside of three lackluster performances, James Conner is on his way to what is potentially the best fantasy season of his career. He has averaged 14.9 points this year and is getting hot at the right time with 22.2 points last week against Seattle.

Conner begins the fantasy playoffs with the Patriots this week, who are the ninth-worst team against the run in fantasy. After that, Conner goes against the Panthers, who are the worst in the league, allowing 23.3 points on average, then finishing with the Rams and 49ers, both of which Conner had double-digit points against earlier this season.

Out of all the top running backs, Conner’s schedule propels him up to the top to end the year and easily makes him a lock for owners that have Conner.

Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets

Coming in as the 12th-best wide receiver this season is normally a sign of a great receiver, but based on the expectations fantasy experts had for Garrett Wilson, it feels like a letdown. From Weeks 5 to 9, Wilson had his best stretch of the year, scoring more than 13 points in each matchup.

Since then, it’s been tough sledding for Wilson, but an 18.4-point performance this past week against Miami feels promising. What’s even more promising is his matchup this week being the Jaguars, who have been one of the worst teams in the league against wide receivers, allowing 22.2 points on average.

He then faces the Rams, the fifth-worst team against fantasy wideouts, followed by the Bills who he had 24.7 points against last time and then the Dolphins again. This stretch at the end of Wilson’s schedule could propel him into a top-ten finish at the position and fantasy owners to a championship.

Sleepers

Bo Nix, QB, Denver Broncos

At both regular football and fantasy levels, Bo Nix has impressed fans across the country. He ranks as the 14th-best QB in fantasy, averaging 17.5 points per game.

Nix starts the playoffs with the Colts, who are middle of the pack against quarterbacks, followed by the Chargers, who Nix scored 20 points against last time. His schedule then concludes with the Bengals who have one of the worst defenses in the league and the third-worst against quarterbacks, then concluding with Kansas City, who Nix hung with.

Nix hasn’t been much of a rushing factor since Week 9, but if his arm can continue to stay hot and tap back into his scrambling, he’ll promote himself from a lot of benches to starting quarterback of a championship team.

Braelon Allen/Isaiah Davis, RB, New York Jets

Around this time of year, there’s always a sneaky waiver wire guy that can win leagues, but here’s two for the price of one. Breece Hall didn’t play against the Dolphins this past week and wasn’t a participant in practice yesterday, meaning Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis will carry the workload.

Last week against Miami, both running backs had over 10 points, with Davis having his second straight game with a touchdown. Allen saw more of the receiving work out of the duo and his explosiveness was put on display earlier in the year with a 19.6-point performance in Week 2 when Hall missed time.

What makes picking either one of these two up is their schedule to end the year. They face the Jaguars this week, the second-worst team in the league against the run, followed by the Rams who allow 17.7 points on average.

They both then play the Bills on what could be fantasy championship week, a team whose run game has been their defense’s kryptonite so far this year, with the final game on their schedule being the Dolphins. As long as Breece Hall is sidelined, these two will split snaps and either one or both of them will be sneaky pickups to win leagues.

Jordan Addison, WR, Minnesota Vikings

While he deserves some slack for playing across from one of the best wide receivers in the league, Jordan Addison has been the definition of boom or bust this year. He only has one instance this year of stringing together back-to-back solid performances.

This past week, he boomed in the biggest way possible, scoring three touchdowns for 39.3 points. Addison is getting hot at the right time and he starts the playoffs with the Bears, which is normally a tough matchup, but he cooked them for 30 points last time. He then plays the Seahawks who allowed 66 yards and a touchdown to Davante Adams just two weeks ago.

Championship week is when Addison is set to face the Packers, who Addison scored 22.9 points against earlier this year. If his past successes continue and he uses last week’s performance as a firestarter, he will go from a game-time decision to a potential playoff MVP.

Dylan Sechrist is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email dks5749@psu.edu.