Week 15 Flex Rankings: Lockett Down

Many fantasy managers and analysts alike tend to suffer from FOMO or fear of missing out. I wish I could pretend I am above such things, but alas I am not. If I were, I would probably not have continued to rank Tyler Lockett as high as I have each week. For seven straight weeks beginning in Week 8, I have ranked him among my top 15 wide receivers. Only once in that stretch has he finished the week at that level. Every other week, Lockett has finished outside the top 30. So it may stand to reason that I should rank Lockett outside the top 30 receivers in my Week 15 Flex rankings, right? Well, not so fast my friends.

Of course, I have not been ranking him that high on a lark. I began my sample in Week 8 for a reason. In Week 7, Lockett went completely bananas on the Arizona Cardinals to the tune of 15 receptions, 200 yards, and three touchdowns. It was one of the best single-game fantasy performances by a wide receiver of all time. His 45.5 half-PPR points were 7.4 points ahead of that week’s number-two wideout, and 21 (!) points ahead of the next highest scorer. Lockett’s outburst also came on the heels of a Week 3 effort in which he dropped a 9-100-3 line on the Dallas Cowboys. He was that week’s high scorer as well. One of the worst feelings in fantasy football is being too low on a guy who goes off like that. Can you imagine benching Lockett for one of those games?

Say what?! Your dynasty football league isn’t hosted on Fantrax? Unthinkable! Check out all the features Fantrax has to offer, and we think you’ll be singing a different tune for next season.

So the big question is, how do we value him going forward, particularly in Week 15? Lockett should have another exploitable matchup against the Washington Football Team and slot corner Jimmy Moreland. Moreland ranks 81st among 126 qualified cornerbacks per Pro Football Focus, and his coverage grades have gotten progressively worse in each of his last three games. However, I do not think I can go to the well with Lockett as a WR1 again this week. While the ceiling remains sky-high, his recent results have been disappointing at best. Despite good matchups against the Eagles, Giants, and Jets in his last three games, Lockett has finished outside the top 40 wide receivers in each instance. I will not drop him that far, and I would still recommend starting him this week. But I believe expectations need to be reduced given his recent track record.

Keeping Up with the Joneses

Julio Jones missed his fourth game of the season last week due to his recurring hamstring injury. Interim head coach Raheem Morris described Jones’ status as week-to-week, leaving managers in limbo. I would not count on Jones in Week 15, and Atlanta may just shut him down given their 4-9 record. Given the outstanding crop of young receivers in the NFL and Jones’ increasing injuries and age (32 in February), fantasy managers will likely wait a bit on Jones in 2021 redraft leagues.

After dropping 236 yards and three touchdowns against Detroit in Week 2, Aaron Jones racked up 75 scoreless yards against the Lions last week. Jones has had at least 15 carries in eight of 11 ballgames, but Matt LaFleur continues to monitor his workload. The Week 2 outing was the only game all season in which Jones has surpassed 20 touches. It can be frustrating for fantasy managers at times, but it hard to argue with the results. Green Bay currently leads the NFC standings, and Aaron Rodgers is one of the frontrunners for the league’s MVP award. Fantasy managers still need to view Jones as an elite RB1 in a fantastic matchup against the Carolina Panthers.

Few people were higher than me on Marvin Jones coming into the 2020 season. He was my WR27 coming into the year and he enters Week 15 as the WR31 overall. And yet, I will not be holding any big, fake checks or cashing any real ones (at least not substantial ones) come January. That is because Jones was abjectly awful for the first half of the fantasy season. He has bounced back in recent weeks as Kenny Golladay remains sidelined with a bad hip. Jones is once again in play in Week 15. However, Detroit is likely to be without quarterback Matthew Stafford, who suffered an injury to his ribs. Jones profiles as a volume-based WR3 for me this week, but his ceiling is lower than usual with Chase Daniel likely to get the starting nod.

Ronald Jones has posted at least 80 yards and a touchdown in three of his last five games. In his other two, he has totaled 42 scoreless yards. That has been fun to try to project every week. We will likely get a reprieve this week, as Jones is unlikely to be available for Tampa Bay’s Week 15 tilt in Atlanta. Jones suffered a broken pinky finger in last week’s victory and had surgery on Tuesday. Tampa Bay then placed the running back on the reserve/Covid list on Wednesday. Either situation would likely put his availability for Sunday in doubt, so the combination is far from ideal. I have not listed Jones in my Week 15 Flex rankings. Given how Bruce Arians has utilized his running backs this season, I would not get too enamored with any other Bucs back this week, either.

Donovan Peoples-Jones had a total of six targets through the end of November. However, the sixth-round rookie out of Michigan has emerged a bit over the last two ballgames. Peoples-Jones has 166 receiving yards and a touchdown in that small sample size, which has coincided with a hamstring injury to KhaDarel Hodge. Keep that in mind before putting too much stock into the rookie’s recent run. If Hodge returns this week, Peoples-Jones will likely return to a reserve role. Even with a full allotment of Week 15 snaps, DPJ is the low man on the totem pole in a low volume passing offense.

Week 15 Flex Rankings

Fantrax was one of the fastest-growing fantasy sites of 2019, and we’re not letting our foot off the pedal now! With multi-team trades, designated commissioner/league managers, and drag/drop easy click methods, Fantrax is sure to excite the serious fantasy sports fan – sign up now for a free year at Fantrax.com.