Week 15 Sunday Fantasy Football Takeaways: Davante Adams, Tyjae Spears, Jerome Ford, Ty Johnson, Brenton Strange and More

The Sunday slate of week 15 NFL games included some big-time individual performances and some interesting fantasy football happenings.

Let’s take a look at some fantasy football takeaways. Check back soon for an IDP roundup. Also be sure to check out the takeaways from Thursday's game.

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Davante Adams a Must-Start Down the Stretch?

Going into Monday’s games, New York Jets’ Adams leads all PPR fantasy scorers.

He went for 198 yards and two touchdowns on nine receptions and 12 targets. It was Adams’ third straight game in double figures for targets, and he’s topped 65 yards in four straight now.

Adams has scored at least 13 PPR points in four straight contests, and has another pretty favorable matchup against the Rams in week 16. He has a bit tougher clash against the Bills in week 17, but given how Adams has performed of late, it’s going to be hard to keep him out of fantasy starting lineups (as long as he and most of the other New York starters are out there).

Tyjae Spears Worth Roster Spot?

The Titans are another team out of the playoff picture, but that doesn’t mean the team’s players can’t be fantasy assets to you.

Spears is a top-three PPR fantasy back so far this week after rushing for five yards and a score on four carries and adding 87 receiving yards and a touchdown on six receptions and seven targets.

Tony Pollard was injured in the contest (although he returned), and it allowed Spears to play more snaps. Pollard still dominated the rushing attempts department, but given the lack of playmakers in Tennessee, Spears might be worth a roster/starting spot in PPR leagues down the stretch.

Week 16 and 17 matchups against the Colts and Jaguars definitely favor Spears, even if Pollard is out there. If Pollard is inactive, Spears is going to be close to a must start.

Jerome Ford, Ty Johnson Two More Backup RBs to Add?

Ford is primed to be the Cleveland starting running back again after starter Nick Chubb broke his foot. Johnson delivered another big game as a pass catcher and now looks to have some fantasy relevance down the stretch.

Ford had 84 yards and a score on seven carries on Sunday, including a 62-yard touchdown run. He added 20 receiving yards on two catches and targets. 

Ford was a flex-level fantasy option early in the season when Chubb was working his way back from injury, and now with Chubb out again, Ford should be back in the same boat. His next two matchups are pretty average, so I’m sure Ford will appear in our running back start/sit stories and start decision articles - check back for those later in the week.

Johnson had just two rushes for nine yards, but went for 114 yards on five catches and targets - he had a long reception of 33 yards. 

Johnson had 55 yards and a score on two catches and three targets last week. His production was better this week, and looks more sustainable than the couple long catches he had a week ago.

James Cook and Josh Allen are going to take up most of the carries on a weekly basis, but there’s no reason Johnson couldn’t keep factoring in as a pass catcher.

The matchups for the Buffalo backs are average-or-worse over the next couple weeks, but Johnson is probably still a viable option for those of you in the fantasy playoffs in a standard league. The deeper the league, the better a starting option Johnson becomes.

Rashod Bateman Reappears Again

Bateman had a string of good fantasy performances earlier in the season, but had become pretty touchdown dependent for a good fantasy showing of late.

He scored two times on Sunday, but had his best showing since probably late October. Bateman had 80 yards and touchdowns on three receptions and five targets.

It was an even better showing for Bateman coming off a no-target game in week 13. There’s definitely some boom-or-bust to Bateman’s fantasy outlook, but it’s hard to ignore this kind of production at the most important time of the fantasy football season.

I think Bateman is a standard league flex option for week 16, but again an even better option for some deeper leagues. He has a tough matchup against the Steelers this coming week (Bateman had 30 yards on two catches and five targets in the team’s first meeting).

Bateman has a much easier matchup in week 17 against the Texans. So don’t write Bateman off if he struggles this coming week.

Brenton Strange Delivers in Starting Role

Jacksonville’s normal starting tight end Evan Engram is out for the season, and Strange took advantage of the opportunity and delivered a monster fantasy score this week.

Strange is PPR tight end No. 2 so far this week after catching 11 of his 12 targets for 73 yards. Considering some of the options at the fantasy TE position, Strange all of a sudden looks like a good/great fantasy option for the next couple weeks.

Strange had a couple decent fantasy showings early in the season when Engram was injured, and with Engram out of the picture again, Strange definitely has some fantasy value down the stretch again. He’s got a great matchup in week 16 against the Raiders, before a bit tougher clash against the Titans in week 17. 

It’d be hard to trust Strange fully in a huge fantasy matchup in week 16 for standard league owners, but he honestly might be one of the better options. Again, the deeper a league gets, the more valuable Strange becomes.