Week 15 NFL DFS: Strategy & Picks for DraftKings & FanDuel

Welcome into our Week 15 NFL DFS Strategy and Picks article for DraftKings and FanDuel. In this article, I will highlight my favorite plays, values and stacks for the Week 15 NFL DFS slate. If you’re interested in signing up for my access to my Premium DFS lineups and betting cards you can do so by clicking here. By signing up, you will also be granted access to our premium DFS and betting forums. Note that your membership includes ALL sports! Now, let’s get to the plays…

Quarterback 

Top Projected Owned: Kyler Murray, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow

My Conviction Plays: Kyler Murray, Lamar Jackson, Tua Tagovailoa, Bryce Young, Jared Goff, Josh Allen, Bo Nix

As we head into the later parts of the season, I enjoy these DFS slates more and more. Not only is it our last few full NFL Sunday’s, but I believe those of us in the trenches get rewarded more for being on top of injury situations and team motivation. 

We have a pretty clear and concise ownership pool at QB this week – and I’m expecting these to be the three most popular stacks. Tua could creep into the conversation as well, but I didn’t end up including him in the top section. 

I’m probably going to end up lower on Joe Burrow here. I think there’s a chance this stack comes in very high-owned in small-field and there are other spots that I love that I think can outscore Burrow even if he goes nuts. My hope here would be that he 1. Fails or 2. The ball gets spread around more evenly and not another alpha Ja’Marr Chase game. 

I love the Kyler play even at high ownership, and I’m interested in the expensive QBs – Lamar Jackson and both sides of the DET/BUF game. 

DET/BUF is fairly obvious, this is a massive total game and we have seen Josh Allen completely take over as recently as last week. A win here would likely solidify his MVP campaign and his price tag / lack of sure stacking options can keep his ownership in check. 

Lamar made comments to the media after their last game, and the Ravens are MASSIVE favorites here. It’s very likely that we see low passing volume from him, but if the Ravens score a ton of points quickly he will likely be heavily involved in that. I will likely have Lamar on one of my main teams, and Henry on one of the others. 

Bryce Young is my favorite cheap play, and could work as a natural hedge off Chuba Hubbard. 

If I end up with more than two or three teams I will likely use Bo Nix on the next one. It’s a great match-up vs Indianapolis and he has enough upside with his legs that he can completely break a slate if he goes off. This is a huge game for play-off purposes and they will likely count on him to do it all down the stretch of the season. 

Running Back 

Top Projected Owned: Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdle, Chase Brown, James Conner, Brian Robinson

My Conviction Plays: Chuba Hubbard, Brian Robinson, Joe Mixon, Derrick Henry, DET RBs, Jaylen Warren

I’m pretty in line with the chalky plays at RB this week. Both Chuba Hubbard and Brian Robinson Jr are in the mid-$6K range on DraftKings and are my favorite options. Rico Dowdle is also in a good match-up as well, with how soft Carolina’s run-defense has been all season. Given that I like some of the expensive stacks this week, I may play into the chalk at RB or try to save money here as much as I can while getting up to Lamar, Josh Allen or Detroit stacks. 

I do like both Derrick Henry and Joe Mixon as spend-up options. Henry, for me, will be used as a Lamar hedge but it’s very clear he could have a nuclear DeHember game here against this Giants defense that’s banged up and fallen off a cliff. 

Jaylen Warren is probably my favorite cheap options, while we could see Rachaad White spike in ownership depending on Sunday AM reporting on Bucky Irving. Warren saw over 20% of the Steelers targets last week with George Pickens out – and they are underdogs here which should increase passing volume as a whole. 

Wide Receiver 

Top Projected Owned:Ja’Marr Chase, Brian Thomass Jr, Tee Higgins, Elijah Moore, Cortland Sutton, Adam Thielen, Ladd McConkey

My Conviction Plays: Nico Collins, Ja’Marr Chase, Zay Flowers, MIA WRs, Elijah Moore, Khalil Shakir, Adam Thielen. Amon-Ra St. Brown

All of the high-owned options this week are strong spots. Chase/Higgins are in a great match-up and Chase has been absolutely smashing on pace for the triple crown. Cleveland is down both David Njoku and Cedric Tillman which should give heavy concentration to Jeudy/Moore in a pass-heavy game-script. Adam Thielen has smashed since coming back from injury while both Ladd McConkey and Courtland Sutton have been fantastic all season. Their floors have remained high while they have also flashed a ceiling in recent weeks. 

Obviously if I’m stacking the DET/BUF game I want to include St. Brown. Khalil Shakir is my preferred Bills pass catcher given his slot usage and the fact that that’s where the Lions have been most vulnerable this season. 

Nico Collins is likely going to continue to smash, and I like him as a one-off again. Spending more in the mid-tier will allow you to get up to him. Stroud really hasn’t flashed that slate-breaking ceiling this season so using Collins without him is my preferred method. 

I will likely use Flowers on my Lamar team, even though I’m counting on a big day for him rushing. We have seen Lamar go completely nuclear at times, and Flowers can carry him along in the passing department with some deep balls. 

Tight End

Top Projected Owned: Trey McBride, Stone Smartt, Brenton Strange

My Conviction Plays: Trey McBride, Travis Kelce, Brenton Strange

This is actually a decent TE slate, with multiple strong value options presenting us with the chance to spend-up to be contrarian or simply build two-TE teams. Last week, I said that I would be playing Trey McBride until he inevitably scores his first receiving touchdown of the season and that remains the case. He dropped a ball in the end zone at the end of last week, and there’s just no way this continues much longer. He has the most catches in football by over 45 without a receiving TD and I want to be playing him with or without Murray this weekend. 

We have two strong punt options this week, who are stepping into bigger roles due to injuries. Will Dissly is out for the Chargers, while Evan Engram is out for the Jaguars. Smartt turned in 50+ yards last week after Dissly exited while we have seen Strange find the end zone in Engram’s absence before. I prefer Strange straight up given that he is min-priced but both are viable in all formats. 

Travis Kelce gets a homecoming game in Cleveland, and he is on my GPP radar as a one-off at sub-9% projected ownership.

Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)