Week 15 Monday Fantasy Football Takeaways: Kenneth Walker, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Drew Lock, Jalen Hurts, D'Andre Swift and More

Week 15 of the NFL season was capped off by a fun game between the Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles. Seattle trailed for most of the game, but put together a scoring drive late to steal the win.

Let’s take a look at some of the top performers from the game, and discuss what actions need to be taken by fantasy football owners.

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Top Seattle Players

Quarterback Geno Smith was active for the contest, but Drew Lock started and played the whole game for Seattle.

Lock finished with 208 passing yards and a touchdown while completing 22-of-33 attempts. He was sacked twice and avoided any turnovers. Lock’s biggest play came late in the game, when he threw a 29-yard passing touchdown to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. 

It wasn’t the biggest fantasy performance, but he took care of the ball and ended up outplaying Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts. I’d assume Seattle will go back to Smith when he’s healthy, but Lock’s play over the past couple weeks has probably shown the coaching staff enough to stick with him until Smith is close to 100%. Given the uncertain future, I wouldn’t make Lock a top priority if you are targeting him on the waiver wire. 

Lock was once viewed as a top QB prospect, but things never panned out in Denver. He’s a free agent after this season and should earn himself another contract because of his play this season. If you are in a dynasty league, I’m not quite sold on him to the point where I’d add him for the future, but if I was in a deeper league, and you have the roster space, he’s probably worth stashing just in case.

Smith-Njigba turned a lackluster night into a solid one with his late TD grab. He finished the night with 48 yards and the score on four catches and targets.

He’s had an up-and-down rookie season, but has consistently been involved on offense. He should be rostered in most leagues, but is probably only a solid starting option in deeper leagues. JSN is going to have to contend with DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett for the next couple of seasons, which will keep him from truly breaking out, but should also open up some opportunities for the youngster.

Metcalf had 78 yards on five grabs and six targets on Monday. It wasn’t his best game, but he still put up decent numbers, especially in PPR leagues.

Lockett finished with just 21 yards on three catches and nine targets. It was one of Lockett’s worst outings of the season, despite tying for his second-most targets on the year.

Metcalf and JSN look like Seattle’s best pass-catching options right now, but they aren’t locked into fantasy starting lineups either. They should be viewed as flex options and starting if they have a favorable matchup. As for Lockett, he’s capable of going off, but I’d try to avoid him after looking at what he’s done over the past month or so.

Kenneth Walker dominated the backfield. He got 22 touches, while Zach Charbonnet had just four.

Walker rushed 19 times for 86 yards and a score, while adding 26 receiving yards on three catches and targets. Charbonnet rushed four times for 16 yards and failed to bring in his lone target.

This looked like a committee a couple weeks ago, but Walker appears to be the lead back again now. He’s the guy you’d want to start going into week 16. Charbonnet should still be rostered, but I’d avoid starting him in standard leagues.

Philadelphia’s Top Players

Hurts came into the game battling an illness and walked out of the stadium having played probably his worst game of the season, at least in terms of passing.

Hurts was 17-of-31 for 143 yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown and was picked off twice. Hurts made up for his bad passing night by rushing for 82 yards and two scores on 13 carries.

Hurts has really struggled passing several times this season, but his rushing stats still make him one of the best fantasy QBs out there. Some fantasy owners might want to bench him after what he showed Monday, but he still needs to be starting in all formats.

Running back D'Andre Swift had a pretty solid night, but with Hurts stealing a couple touchdown chances, Swift ended up with a pretty average fantasy score.

Swift had 75 total yards on 20 touches, rushing 18 times for 74 yards and gaining just 1 yard on two catches and three targets. He’s the workhorse back for Philly, but his ceiling is limited because of Hurts and the sneak play.

Kenneth Gainwell rushed six times for 21 yards and failed to bring in his lone target. He can be dropped in standard leagues, and you should avoid starting him in deeper leagues.

Seeing Hurts’ passing stats, it shouldn’t be a surprise that no pass catchers really stood out.

A.J. Brown led the team with 56 yards, but only hauled in half of his 10 targets. DeVonta Smith went for 50 yards after catching all five of his targets. Tight end Dallas Goedert went for 30 yards after making four grabs on nine targets.

If Brown and Smith helped carry your fantasy team this season, it’s possible you got knocked out of the playoffs after their down performances. If you survived and advanced, you still should be confident in starting both wideouts. Sure, they didn’t play great this week, but they are capable of carrying fantasy teams and still need to be started every week.

Goedert had the exact same amount of catches and yards in his first two games back after injury. His season has been pretty underwhelming as a whole, but at a weak TE position, I still would want him in my starting lineup unless your other TE option has been far more consistent and has a decent matchup ahead.