Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Week 15 Fantasy Football RB Waiver Wire Rankings

Every week, we examine players that may be available on your league's waiver wire that could help your team in the short and/or long term.

For a player to be listed, he must be owned in 50 percent (or less) of Yahoo! leagues. The goal is to provide recommendations of players that have a greater chance of being available on your league's waiver wire. Of course, your league's size and settings could significantly impact whether these players (or better options) are available in your particular league(s).

With that said, here are some running back waiver-wire options to consider heading into Week 15 (Yahoo! % rostered in parenthesis):

[Note: Players listed below are sorted by our preference to add.]

1. Jeff Wilson Jr., San Francisco 49ers (19%)

Even though Tevin Coleman and Jerick McKinnon were active, the duo of Raheem Mostert and Wilson handled all of the non-FB running back touches against the Washington Football Team. After the game, coach Kyle Shanahan said of the duo that "we've gotten all our backs back and we've been trying to go with Jeff Wilson and Raheem as our one-two." Wilson finished the game with 12 touches for 44 yards and a touchdown.

Mostert aggravated his ankle injury during the game and the team is expected to know more about the status of his injury on Wednesday. If Mostert is unable to go in Week 15 against the Dallas Cowboys, Wilson immediately moves into the RB2 mix.

The Cowboys have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season. Only the Houston Texans (5.36) and Las Vegas Raiders (4.99) have allowed more yards per carry to opposing running backs than the Cowboys (4.98) this season.

2. DeAndre Washington, Miami Dolphins (24%)

3. Lynn Bowden, Miami Dolphins (3%)

Washington led Miami's injury-depleted backfield in Week 14 with 13 carries for 35 yards and two catches for 17 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs. The production wasn't what fantasy managers had hoped to see if they plug-and-played Washington against his former team as a flex option last week.

That said, if Myles Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed and Matt Breida are unable to go in Week 15, Washington could see another 15-plus touches against the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Depending on the status of DeVante Parker and Jakeem Grant, Bowden could have another prominent role in the passing game in Week 15. With both leaving early in Week 14, Bowden had seven catches for 82 yards on nine targets and added a two-yard carry.

4. Phillip Lindsay, Denver Broncos (44%)

Lindsay had exactly 35 catches in each of his first two NFL seasons, but this year he has four catches (on 11 targets) through 10 games. In fact, the Broncos rank bottom three in the NFL in running back receptions (37) and targets (55).

Not only has he not been involved as a receiver this season, but he's been inefficient as a runner recently. Over this past three games, Lindsay has failed to exceed 2.2 YPC. During that stretch, he has 34 carries for 70 rushing yards (2.06 YPC).

So, why is he listed on this list?

Lindsay has double-digit touches in three of four games and at least nine in all four games with an average of 13 per week. Although Melvin Gordon's DUI hearing was moved to January (read: no suspension this season), he "dinged his shoulder a bit" in Sunday's game and was a "non-participant" in the team's estimated practice report for Tuesday. If for whatever reason Gordon is inactive or limited, Lindsay could see north of 15 touches.

5. Gus Edwards, Baltimore Ravens (33%)

Edwards had seven carries for 49 yards and two touchdowns and added a four-yard reception against the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football. While J.K. Dobbins has moved into the clear RB1 role for the team, Mark Ingram had zero touches on MNF.

No team has an easier remaining strength of schedule than the Ravens as their remaining opponents have a combined 8-30-1 record (.218). Favored by nearly two touchdowns over the Jacksonville Jaguars this week, the Ravens have an implied total over 30 points and game script could lead to even more carries for the rotational running back.

+ More Fantasy Football Waiver-Wire Advice Heading Into Week 15

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