The fantasy football landscape shifts dramatically after Week 1, as unexpected performances and emerging storylines reshape our expectations for the season ahead. Some players exceed all projections, while others leave managers scratching their heads, wondering if early concerns were justified or merely a case of growing pains.
Thursday night’s Atlanta Falcons-Tampa Bay Buccaneers matchup could provide crucial clarity on several key start/sit situations for both NFC powerhouses. Get ready to dive deep into the developments that could make or break your fantasy team’s Week 15 performance.
Kirk Cousins, QB
Kirk Cousins has three touchdowns (and three picks) on his 138 pass attempts this season and has completed just 18-of-49 passes when throwing past the sticks (four-of-13 on Sunday against the Seahawks).
I’m not sure what the Falcons do long-term under center, but it’s very possible that the answer for 2026 isn’t currently on the roster, and how we view the pass catches, not so much Bijan Robinson, will hinge, to varying degrees, on what they do in that regard.
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For the rest of 2025, you can bank on getting well below average play the rest of the way. Tampa Bay’s defensive structure encourages opponents to pass, so I hope that Cousins can reach 235 passing yards for the first time this season, but it’s far from a guarantee.
Bijan Robinson, RB
Most people will look at Robinson’s 20 carries against the Seahawks last weekend and be disappointed with 86 yards and zero scores. I can’t excuse the fumble that he lost, but with nine of those attempts picking up 5+ yards, he was running well against one of the best units in the sport.
Tampa Bay locked him up back in Week 1 to an even greater degree (12 carries for 24 yards), but they had no answer for him out of the backfield (6-100-1).
Why would this week be any different?
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The Bucs are built to deny you easy yards between the tackles, but that leaves them vulnerable to this type of freakish athlete that can turn the corner on anyone.
I’ll go ahead and say it: I think we get a Barry Sanders-like game from Robinson this week. The carry-by-carry recap may not look good, but throw enough punches and I’d bet on one landing in a significant way.
He’s my RB2 for Week 15, sitting behind only the great Christian McCaffrey (vs. TEN).
Tyler Allgeier, RB
Tyler Allgeier is what he always is. You can sign him up for 8-10 carries and a target with a high level of confidence.
In a perfect matchup (at Arizona, next week is under consideration), Allgeier is a dart throw with a standard role. Still, in a matchup like this, a sixth game with under six PPR points is very much in the range of projectable outcomes.
He’s not a top-40 running back for me this week. I’d rather play multiple backs on the Rams, Chargers, Giants, or Patriots.
Darnell Mooney, WR
“If you had one shot or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment. Would you capture it or just let it slip?”
Eminem is one of the great philosophers of this generation, and that line pretty much summed up Darnell Mooney’s Week 14.
The Falcons schemed up a vertical shot for him. They got the single coverage, and he beat it as he is one to do when given the opportunity in space. Cousins delivered the ball on time, and the 26-yard score worked to perfection.
Flag down, hat down.
Mooney stepped out of bounds and was the next player to touch the ball before establishing himself back in the field of play. No touchdown.
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He finished the game with six harmless yards on four targets and has now been held under 35 yards in six of his past seven games. These fringe receivers playing alongside iffy QBs aren’t going to get many chances, and when one is wasted, it feels like the week is doomed.
We saw the connection with Cousins a season ago, and this play design implies that there is some chemistry between the two, but I can’t justify going this deep in a redraft format with my season on the line. In DFS, sure, where one spike play can pocket you a bunch of money, but in a season-long format, the risk far outweighs the reward.
I’ve got him ranked outside of the top 40 this week, in the Kayshon Boutte range.
Drake London, WR
In Weeks 9-11, Drake London was the third-highest scoring player in the sport. His 82.1 PPR points over that stretch trailed only Josh Allen (90.8) and Christian McCaffrey (87.0), leading the position by 19.2 points (Jaxon Smith-Njigba).
We know he was a star, but there are levels to these things, and he was ascending despite marginal quarterback play.
A knee injury has cost him three consecutive games, though, and we aren’t exactly being loaded with glowing reports about his “not serious” injury. He didn’t practice at all last week, and it’s not as if this team is pushed to bring him back with their postseason hopes gone.
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This profiles as one of those easy situations where you simply mirror what the professional franchise does. This would be a brutal spot to return, but with 15 of 31 Cousins targets going to Kyle Pitts Sr. or Robinson last week in New York, it’s clear that there isn’t a secondary pass catcher to take looks off the plate of London.
He’s a dynasty-building piece, and while there is some risk in trusting him after a multi-week absence whenever it comes, he’s built up enough equity for us to rely on.
Kyle Pitts Sr., TE
Here we go again.
Pitts Sr. had 68.8% of Atlanta’s first-half receiving yardage against the Seahawks last week and now has set a new season high in yards in consecutive games.
- Week 13 at Jets: 7 catches, 8 targets, 82 yards
- Week 14 vs. Seahawks: 6 catches, 10 targets 90 yards
Cousins is limited in a lot of ways, but targeting his big tight end doesn’t appear to be one of them. In Week 13, Pitts owned a 4.3-yard aDOT with zero deep targets, but on Sunday, his aDOT spiked to 12.1 yards with four deep shots.
Is Cousins making him the player we thought he could be?
Enjoy it while it lasts. Pitts has a 20+ yard reception in six of his past seven, making up for the fact that he hasn’t scored since September. It’s not going to feel comfortable, but this is a pass funnel spot, and that has me ranking the former first-round pick as my TE6 this week.
