Week 15 Fantasy Football Gems & Sleepers

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Quarterback Fantasy Gem- Nick Foles @ Minnesota Vikings. This match up has the potential to be an offensive behemoth at the quarterback position. The Minnesota have been terrible at basically everything this year not named Adrian Peterson or Cordarelle Patterson. With the plethora of weapons that Nick Foles has at his disposal, he will undoubtedly exploit their secondary and attack down field for points.

Fantasy Sleeper-Matt Ryan vs. Washington Redskins. The Washington Redskins, like the Minnesota have been terrible on defensive. Matt Ryan has had a tough year due to the absence of Julio Jones and in the earlier half of the year, Roddy White.Roddy White has come back and is still not 100%, but Tony Gonzalez and Harry Douglas will provide enough weapons for Matty Ice to perform against a weak Redskins defense.

Running Back Fantasy Gem-Alfred Morris @ Atlanta Falcons. As we saw when the New York Jets played Atlanta this year, a team with a good running back will be able to run the ball against this soft Atlanta defense. Morris has had an off-year as the Redskins are always playing from behind but he will have a chance to set the tone of the game and I believe he will put up more than his share of points this week. With Kirk Cousins starting this week in place of RG III, I believe they will lean on the Morris more than usual.

Fantasy Sleeper- Zac Stacy vs. New Orleans Saints. The New Orleans Saints looked great against the Carolina Panthers last week and shut their offense down completely. I don’t expect that to be an every game thing and I believe they will revert back to the mean. Even though they are better defensively by leaps and bounds than they were last year, you can definitely run the ball on the New Orleans Saints. Zac Stacy has had a pretty nice year with the platoon the Rams have had at running back this year. He is elusive and a tough runner as long as the STL line can neutralize Cameron Jordan , Stacy has nice sleeper potential.

Wide Receiver Fantasy Gem- Alshon Jeffrey @ Cleveland Browns Alshon Jeffrey has been  a  beast this year. It’s a terrible reminder that Stephen Hill was picked before Alshon Jeffrey. With Joe Haden covering Brandon Marshall, look for Alshon Jeffrey to go bananas on the Cleveland

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Browns secondary. Buster Skrine is a nice #2 corner but Alshone Jefrrey would be a #1 receiver on any other team, I know he would be on our beloved Jets. The bottom line is Jeffrey will be too much for Skrine and should pile up the points this fantasy playoff week.

Fantasy Sleeper- Steve Smith vs New York Jets. Rushing yards will be at premium this week in this match up as both teams have stout run defenses. This week Santonio Holmes stated the Carolina secondary was the weakest link in the Panther defense. I believe the same holds true for the New York Jets defense. I look for Steve Smith to have a great game against the Jets defense that boasts and injured Cromartie and a revolving door at the 2^nd CB position. Steve Smith is a solid sleeper pick this week.

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Tight End Fantasy Gem- Jason Witten vs Green Bay Packers Jason Witten has been Tony Romo’s most reliable weapon for years and this year is no different. In more recent history though Jason Witten has had it a bit tough. If not for the three td’s he has had in the past four games, the catches/yardage do not look great during that 4 game stretch. The Green Bay defense is not one that strikes fear in anybody’s eyes and according to NFL.com’s fantasy rankings, they give up the 19^th most points to fantasy TE’s. Look for Witten to pick it up this week and give you nice production at the TE position.

Fantasy Sleeper- Dennis Pita @ Detroit Lions. The Baltimore Ravens offense has been pretty much abysmal this season. With Dennis Pita factoring in the offense last week after having returned from his hip injury, it looks to have provided a much-needed spark to that offense. Pitta should have a nice game against a Lions team who really doesn’t usually give up fantasy points to TE’s. If you are a Gronk owner and need a nice sub TE, Pitta is a nice option at this time.

Kicker Fantasy Gem- Steven Hauschka @ New York Giants. The New York Giants have terribly inconsistent on the defensive side of the football. The Seahawks, while not playing the same on the road as in Century Link field, have been great this year. Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch will provide Hauschka with more than his share of FG opportunities and extra points.

Fantasy Sleeper- Alex Henery vs Minnesota Vikings. The Eagles played in blizzard conditions last week so kicking was impossible. This week they play the Vikings in a dome and should be able to put up more than his share of points. You have to figure with the Eagles moving the ball against a bad Viking defense, he will get more than long FG opportunities playing in this dome.

Defense/Special Teams Fantasy Gem- Carolina Panthers vs New York Jets. It pains me immensely to have to list this match up as the fantasy defensive gem of the week as it is against our beloved New York Jets. The fact is our offense has been terrible since our win against New Orleans. Even in the Jets win last week, Geno had his moments where he made you scratch your head. He wont be afforded the luxury of making any mistakes against this tough Panther defense. Look for the Panther defense to own the over matched Jets offense.

Fantasy Sleeper- Kansas City Chiefs @ Oakland Raiders. While this obviously not a sleeper I felt I had to include the Chiefs @

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Oakland this week. In a nutshell, any defense that is playing against the Oakland Raiders should flourish in fantasy football. Given their QB situation, the stable of injured RB’s, and no consistent production from the WR position, The Chiefs should feast upon the this weak offensive unit, especially after the fantasy point explosion they had last week.