Fantasy football Week 15: Add and drop

Each week I’ll list the best widely available free agents for fantasy football — I define “widely available” as being owned in around half of all ESPN or Yahoo leagues — and some guys who are probably better off in the free-agent pool than collecting dust on your roster.

Follow me on X (formerly known as Twitter) @UTEddieBrown if you have questions throughout the week.

Here’s my NFL Week 15 waiver wire cheat sheet for all league sizes and formats, with players you need to add, drop and stream in your fantasy football league:

ADD

— RB Blake Corum, Rams (ESPN: 22%; Yahoo: 33%): Coach Sean McVay has made an effort to involve Corum more this season, partly to keep Kyren Williams fresh for the postseason, but also because last year’s third-round pick is the more explosive option in the backfield. Corum had his best game of the season in a rout of the Cardinals at Arizona, running for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries. He has 209 yards and three TDs on 19 carries in the last two weeks, and six games this year with at least 53 yards or a TD. If you have Williams, you should definitely roster Corum as well, but he’ll have standalone flex appeal against the Falcons in Week 17 when most leagues play their championships.

— QB Justin Fields, Jets (ESPN: 26%; Yahoo: 27%): Tyrod Taylor suffered a groin injury against the Dolphins on Sunday, and was replaced by rookie Brady Cook because Fields was inactive with knee soreness. I’m thinking his knee will be fine this week unless Aaron Glenn and Co. want to see more of Cook against the Jaguars. I wouldn’t bother adding the rookie, but we all know what Fields is capable of even though it’s terrifying to watch sometimes. Grab the dynamic running QB with a laser rocket, albeit mostly inaccurate arm if you’re desperate and need upside in the first round of your playoffs.

— WR Luther Burden III, Bears (ESPN: 16%; Yahoo: 17%): Burden led Chicago in targets (six) and yards (67) with Rome Odunze out with a stress fracture in his foot. The upcoming matchups aren’t great, but he played over 70% of the Bears’ offensive snaps without Odunze against the Packers. A playmaker like Burden doesn’t need much volume to produce, but he might see a significant increase over the next few weeks with how ineffective D.J. Moore has been this season.

— TE Pat Freiermuth, Steelers (ESPN: 6%; Yahoo: 11%): Darnell Washington suffered a concussion against the Ravens. Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith essentially split time without Washington, but Smith played more in running situations with Freiermuth handling the majority of passing situations. Pittsburgh plays Miami on Monday Night Football this week, and the Dolphins are allowing the third-most fantasy points to tight ends this season.

— WR Jayden Reed, Packers (ESPN: 40%; Yahoo: 42%): Reed looked good in his return, producing 31 yards on four receptions and 22 yards on two carries. Don’t worry about Green Bay’s traffic jam at wide receiver. Reed usually operates outside of that mess because of his playmaking ability, and how coach Matt LaFleur schemes up specific opportunities just for him. Obviously, he carries boom-or-bust potential, but Reed will have WR3/flex upside most weeks.

— QB Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars (ESPN: 40%; Yahoo: 59%): Lawrence is the overall QB6 since Week 5 with multiple TDs in seven of the last nine games. He has at least 25 rushing yards or a rushing TD in five of the last six games.

— TE Harold Fannin Jr., Browns (ESPN: 55%; Yahoo: 40%): Fannin had season highs in targets (11), receptions (eight) and yards (114) plus a TD against the Titans. In his rookie season, he’s the overall TE9 in standard formats (TE6 in PPR) through 14 weeks. Since Week 6, Fannin is the overall TE5 in standard (TE4 in PPR) with at least four receptions or a TD in seven of the last eight games. He should be universally rostered.

— WR Kayshon Boutte, Patriots (ESPN: 27%; Yahoo: 29%): Drake Maye has proven to be one of the best deep ball throwers in the NFL and Boutte is his favorite target downfield, on top of being one Maye’s favorites in the red zone as well. He had four receptions for 35 yards and a TD against the Giants on the Monday night before New England’s bye. Boutte has at least one TD in four of the last five games he’s started and finished.

— RB Devin Singletary, Giants (ESPN: 28%; Yahoo: 25%): Singletary finished with 102 total yards and a TD in a loss at New England on the Monday night before New York’s bye. Tyrone Tracy had to be helped off the field early in the fourth quarter and was eventually carted back to the locker room with a hip injury, but it sounds like he only suffered a stinger and will be fine. It’s a split backfield, but I’d favor Singletary in standard formats and Tracy in PPR.

— TE Theo Johnson, Giants (ESPN: 43%; Yahoo: 42%): Since Jaxson Dart became the starting quarterback in Week 4, Johnson is the overall TE8 across most fantasy formats. He has five TDs in the eight games Dart has started (he missed two with a concussion). New York faces division rival Washington this week. The Commanders are allowing the second-most fantasy points to tight ends this season.

— WR Darius Slayton, Giants (ESPN: 20%; Yahoo: 35%): I guess while I’m touting G-Men, I should mention Slayton. He’s had at least 62 yards or a TD in three of his last four games. If you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty big on Dart and the Giants finishing strong this season.

— RB Bam Knight, Cardinals (ESPN: 43%; Yahoo: 37%): If Arizona doesn’t activate Trey Benson by Wednesday, his season is over, and Knight would be the lead back going forward. He’s the overall RB26 in standard formats (RB16 in PPR) since Week 10 with a TD in three of the last four games, and at least three receptions in four straight.

— QB J.J. McCarthy, Vikings (ESPN: 28%; Yahoo: 30%): Coach Kevin O’Connell finally simplified the offense against the Commanders, and McCarthy played looser. He completed 16 of 23 passes for 163 yards and three TD passes with no interceptions. The 69.6 completion percentage is his best rate to date and it was his first game without throwing an interception. There’s still a long ways to go in his development. McCarthy’s footwork was still atrocious in the 31-0 victory, but this Sunday night he’ll deserve streaming consideration against a Cowboys’ defense allowing the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season.

— WR Jayden Higgins, Texans (ESPN: 40%; Yahoo: 42%): Higgins is the overall WR27 in standard formats (WR28 in PPR) since Week 8 with at least four receptions for 55 yards or a touchdown in five of the last seven games. The rookie also has at least five targets in six of the seven. Higgins has WR3/flex upside against the Cardinals and Raiders the next two weeks.

— RB Chris Rodriguez, Commanders (ESPN: 31%; Yahoo: 37%): Rodriguez remains in a timeshare with Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Jeremy McNichols, but he’s been the primary ball-carrier for about a month, especially at the goal-line. Rodriguez has at least 10 carries in four of his last five games, and a TD in four of his last seven. He has premium matchups against the Giants, Eagles and Cowboys the rest of the way. All three teams are in the bottom eight of the league at preventing fantasy points to running backs.

— WR Devaughn Vele, Saints (ESPN: 9%; Yahoo: 19%): Vele tied a banged-up Chris Olave for the lead in targets (five) and led New Orleans with 40 receiving yards in the win at Tampa Bay. He has 14 receptions for 170 yards and a TD on 20 targets in the last three games. He’ll have flex appeal in a premium matchup against the Titans during championship week.

— TE A.J. Barner, Seahawks (ESPN: 16%; Yahoo: 12%): Two of Barner’s next three matchups are against teams — the Colts and Panthers — in the bottom nine of the league at preventing fantasy points to tight ends.

— QB Marcus Mariota, Commanders (ESPN: 11%; Yahoo: 8%): Why would Washington continue to play a banged-up Jayden Daniels with nothing to play for? In Mariota’s last three starts, he finished as the weekly QB13, QB9 and QB3. Two of the Commanders next three matchups are against the Giants and Cowboys, two of the bottom three teams in the league at preventing fantasy points to quarterbacks.

— WR Pat Bryant, Broncos (ESPN: 3%; Yahoo: 3%): Bryant has replaced Troy Franklin as Denver’s No. 2 wide receiver the last two weeks. Only Courtland Sutton has a higher route rate since the Broncos’ bye in Week 12.

— TE Isaiah Likely, Ravens (ESPN: 8%; Yahoo: 6%): Likely had 25 yards and a TD on four receptions against the Steelers on Sunday. He also had a potential game-winning score overturned on a controversial call. Likely faces the Bengals this week after producing five receptions for 95 yards against them on Thanksgiving. Cincinnati has allowed the most fantasy points to tight ends this season, by far.

— RB Jaylen Wright, Dolphins (ESPN: 2%; Yahoo: 3%): Wright had his best game as a pro against the Jets with 107 yards and a TD on 24 carries after De’Von Achane suffered a rib injury. It sounds like Achane will be fine for MNF against the Steelers, but it looks like Wright might have surpassed Ollie Gordon (ESPN: 7%; Yahoo: 8%) as the handcuff if you’re rostering Achane.

— D/ST Jaguars (ESPN: 41%; Yahoo: 37%): Jacksonville is the second-highest scoring defense in fantasy since Week 10, and face a Jets team allowing the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing defenses who will be quarterbacked this week by either Justin Fields or rookie Brady Cook.

— D/ST 49ers (ESPN: 23%; Yahoo: 25%): The Niners are at home after a bye against the Titans, who are allowing the third-most fantasy points to opposing defenses this season. Cam Ward has been sacked an NFL-high 49 times. In Week 16, San Francisco will travel to Indianapolis to face a Colts team quarterbacked by rookie Riley Leonard, Anthony Richardson or the ghost of Philip Rivers.

— D/ST Bears (ESPN: 13%; Yahoo: 22%): Chicago hosts the Browns this week, who are allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing defenses. Shedeur Sanders has thrown three interceptions and been sacked eight times in four games this season. The Bears have created a league-high 27 turnovers in 13 games.

— D/ST Cowboys (ESPN: 12%; Yahoo: 11%): J.J. McCarthy looked better against the Commanders, but he’s still been a mess for most of the season. McCarthy has been sacked 24 times, thrown 10 interceptions and lost five fumbles in seven games.

— D/ST Saints (ESPN: 5%; Yahoo: 8%): New Orleans faces the Panthers, Jets and Titans in Weeks 15-17, three teams in the bottom nine of the league at preventing fantasy points to opposing defenses.

— D/ST Giants (ESPN: 6%; Yahoo: 2%): Speaking of favorable schedules during the fantasy playoffs: the G-Men face the Commanders, Vikings and Raiders.

DROP

— QB Daniel Jones, Colts: A broken fibula couldn’t stop Jones, but there’s not much you can do with a ruptured Achilles.

— WR Troy Franklin, Broncos: Not only has Pat Bryant surpassed him on the depth chart, but Franklin fell to fifth in routes, behind two tight ends against the Raiders.

— RB Trey Benson, Cardinals: Benson’s season is finished if Arizona doesn’t activate him by Wednesday.

— WR Rome Odunze, Bears: Odunze missed the game at Green Bay with a stress fracture in his foot. I wonder how limited he’ll be even if he returns over the next couple of weeks.

— TE Zach Ertz, Commanders: Ertz tore his ACL in Sunday’s loss at Minnesota.