Fantasy Football Week 15 Quarterback Preview: Time to bench Jacoby Brissett in the Fantasy Football playoffs?

For the vast majority of you, the Fantasy playoffs are upon us. Congratulations. Now, the age-old question must be answered: Do you start the guys who got you here or play the matchups and the projections? Nowhere is that question more polarized than in the case of Jacoby Brissett.

Brissett has made eight starts this season, and he has scored at least 20 Fantasy points in each. In seven of those eight starts, he has scored at least 23 Fantasy points. Since Week 6 only Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford, and Drake Maye have outscored him. Brissett has thrown 40 passes in six of those starts and thrown two touchdown passes in seven of them. He's also added a cool 2.5 points per game with his rushing. In other words, he seems like a bulletproof QB1. Enter the Houston Texans.

The Texans have given up a league-low 12.23 Fantasy points per game to opposing QBs. They just held Patrick Mahomes to five. Josh Allen scored eight two weeks ago. Only three QBs have scored 20 Fantasy points against them all season and none have scored more than 23. While Brissett has produced against the Seahawks, Paackers, and Rams, none of them have been at the Texans level of shutting down opposing QBs.

This may seem like a draw, and if it is, we may have gotten the tiebreaker. Star tackle Paris Johnson has a sprained MCL and is week to week. If he is out against this pass rush, it gets easier to justify sitting Brissett. There are two QBs available on the waiver wire that I would start over Brissett. Of course you may have to fight the Daniel Jones manager over them. More on those players below. 

Let's get to the rest of the Week 15 preview:

Week 15 QB Preview

• 12.62 -- The Chargers are the only defense within a point of the Texans in terms of preventing Fantasy points. They face Patrick Mahomes this week.
• 7.5 -- Shedeur Sanders' 7.4 yards per pass attempt leads all rookie QBs.
• 405 -- Patrick Mahomes leads all QBs with 405 scramble yards.
• 49.0 -- Since Week 6 Jacoby Brissett leads the NFL with 49 drop backs per game. Joe Burrow is second at 43.
• 4 -- Jaxson Dart had a season-low four rush attempts in Week 13. We'll be watching to see if that is a blip or a trend.
• 8.1% -- Matthew Stafford leads the NFL with an 8.1% TD rate. That should signal regression, but maybe not since he also leads the league in red zone pass attempts and pass attempts inside the 10.

Adds/Streamers (QB Preview)

Marcus Mariota QB WAS Washington • #8 Age: 32 • Experience: 11 year Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP @ NYG NYG -2.5 O/U 47.5 OPP VS QB 30th QB RNK 14th ROSTERED 33% YTD Stats PAYDS 1389 RUYDS 255 TD 10 INT 7 FPTS/G 13.9 As of Tuesday, we are not expecting Jayden Daniels to play in Week 15. If he doesn't, Marcus Mariota is the clear top streamer. He has topped 20 Fantasy points in two of his last three starts, has Terry McLaurin back, and still has rushing ability to boost his floor and his upside. The Giants have given up the third-most Fantasy points to opposing QBs. The last four QBs they have faced have topped 20 Fantasy points and eight QBs in a row have scored 19 or more against them.

C.J. Stroud QB HOU Houston • #7 Age: 24 • Experience: 3 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs ARI HOU -9.5 O/U 42.5 OPP VS QB 15th QB RNK 17th ROSTERED 58% YTD Stats PAYDS 2181 RUYDS 194 TD 12 INT 6 FPTS/G 16.6 Stroud's play has been better than his Fantasy production but he is at home against Arizona and I think he has a good chance to get you to 19 or 20 Fantasy points. I would not start him over Brissett, but he's an excellent Daniel Jones replacement. I would start him against Bo Nix, who faces the Packers.

Top DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Matthew Stafford QB LAR L.A. Rams • #9 Age: 37 • Experience: 17 yrs. Weekly Breakdown MATCHUP vs DET LAR -5.5 O/U 55.5 OPP VS QB 28th PROJ PTS 21 QB RNK 1st YTD Stats PAYDS 3354 RUYDS -10 TD 35 INT 4 FPTS/G 25.4 Stafford has been one of the best QBs in Fantasy this season and I would not expect that to change in Week 15. He is at home against a Lions defense that is better against the run than the pass. This game has an over/under of 54.5 and the Lions have an implied total of 30. He's the fifth highest priced QB on FanDuel, $1,000 cheaper than QB1 Josh Allen. I would not be surprised at all if Stafford outscores him.

Contrarian DFS Play

Projections powered by Sportsline

Jaxson Dart QB NYG N.Y. Giants • #6 Age: 22 • Experience: Rookie I am less confident Dart will be contrarian, but I am the high guy on him in the rankings so I don't think most people will be as excited to play him as I am. The Commanders have given up the fourth most Fantasy points to opposing QBs and Dart is QB6 in FPPG since Week 6. He's priced more like a high-end QB2 than the high-end QB1 he is this week.

My full set of Week 15 Fantasy football projections for every position is now available on SportsLine. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 15. Projected stats for all starting quarterbacks are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.