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Kyle Yates’ Week 15 Thursday Night Projections (2020 Fantasy Football)

Kyle Yates’ Week 15 Thursday Night Projections (2020 Fantasy Football)

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the next round of the fantasy football playoffs!

If you managed to soldier on to the next round of the fantasy playoffs, congratulations! But as you know, the work’s not done. We’re not in this to win third-place, right? We’ve got to go all the way and bring home that coveted first place trophy.

As always, my weekly Fantasy Projections article that highlights every single player will come out Friday. But in preparation of the Thursday night game, I’m releasing my projections and player notes here for you to read! If you’re considering any of the players in this game, it’s important to know what to expect and whether or not you should even be looking their way.

You’ll find my projections below that now include fractional touchdowns. If you missed it, in Week 13’s Fantasy Projections article, I highlighted a significant change that would hopefully render my article even more helpful. With whole touchdown projections, it creates too much of a swing in the overall projected fantasy points, which is what is most important to fantasy managers. This change has created even more accurate projections, which can certainly help as you set your playoff lineups for Week 15.

With all that being said, it’s time to dig in and take a look at the players in the Thursday Night Football game that you should be considering.

Los Angeles Chargers vs Las Vegas Raiders

Date/Time: December 17, 8:20pm ET
Spread
: Raiders -3
Over/Under: 54 points
Implied Vegas point totals
: Raiders 28.5, Chargers 25.5

Los Angeles Chargers

POS NAME COMP/ATT PASS YDS TDs INTs RUSH YDS TDs FPTS
QB Justin Herbert 29/41 304 2.75 0.9 19 0.25 25
POS NAME CARRIES RUSH YDS TDs RECS REC YDS TDs FPTS
RB Austin Ekeler 14 63 0.4 8 63 0.5 21.96
RB Kalen Ballage 8 30 0.2 2 10 0 6.03
POS NAME CARRIES RUSH YDS TDs RECS REC YDS TDs FPTS
WR Keenan Allen 0 0 0 7 72 0.65 14.77
WR Tyron Johnson 0 0 0 3 47 0.5 9.31
WR Mike Williams 0 0 0 2 39 0.4 7.57
POS NAME CARRIES RUSH YDS TDs RECS REC YDS TDs FPTS
TE Hunter Henry 0 0 0 4 37 0.6 9.2

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Las Vegas Raiders

POS NAME COMP/ATT PASS YDS TDs INTs RUSH YDS TDs FPTS
QB Derek Carr 28/40 310 2.7 0.45 6 0.2 24
POS NAME CARRIES RUSH YDS TDs RECS REC YDS TDs FPTS
RB Josh Jacobs 16 65 0.75 2 14 0.15 14.17
RB Devontae Booker 6 25 0.4 3 15 0.15 8.8
POS NAME CARRIES RUSH YDS TDs RECS REC YDS TDs FPTS
WR Nelson Agholor 0 0 0 5 84 0.75 15.59
WR Hunter Renfrow 0 0 0 6 74 0.4 12.66
WR Bryan Edwards 0 0 0 3 35 0.25 6.57
POS NAME CARRIES RUSH YDS TDs RECS REC YDS TDs FPTS
TE Darren Waller 0 0 0 8 77 0.8 16.3

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Quarterback

Los Angeles: Herbert certainly bounced back from his atrocious Week 13 performance against the Patriots, but it fell short of expectations against a vulnerable Falcons secondary. Herbert was still a solid start though and he should absolutely be in consideration for your starting lineup again this week as a low-end QB1 against the Raiders defense. While the ground game could easily take over here, the Raiders aren’t going to have an answer for Herbert and his receiving weapons.

Las Vegas: Carr just put up a solid fantasy performance against the stout Indianapolis Colts pass defense, but he gets a little bit of a tougher matchup here against the Chargers. The Chargers are allowing 6.6 yards per pass attempt, as compared to the 6.9 that Indianapolis is surrendering, and they’re only giving up 217 passing yards per game. With the secondary that LA has, they should be able to shut down the receiving weapons on the Raiders, which makes Carr a volatile low-end streaming option for Week 15. It’s probably best to look elsewhere in your playoff matchup.

Running Backs

Los Angeles: Ekeler returned to relevancy in spectacular fashion in Week 14 and may have been a key part of how you advanced to the next round of your playoffs. Against the Raiders, who just saw Jonathan Taylor destroy them for over 160 total yards, Ekeler should have a field day. The Raiders are allowing the most rushing touchdowns per game with 1.6 and they’re allowing the 3rd most average yards per rush attempt with 4.7! Ekeler should easily see 20+ touches in this game and he should be viewed as a top-5 play at the position.

Las Vegas: Jacobs put himself on the wrong side of fantasy managers last week with his Instagram antics. Against the Colts, Jacobs gave a safe floor for fantasy managers that still started him, but he certainly didn’t help your lineup. However, against the Chargers, Jacobs should be in your starting lineup. Los Angeles is giving up 4.6 yards per rush attempt on the season and averaging one rushing touchdown per game. Jacobs should have plenty of room to run in this one and he can be viewed as a low-end RB1.

Wide Receivers

Los Angeles: Allen continued his streak of dominance this season with Justin Herbert at QB in Week 14 and was able to find the end zone for the eighth time this season. Allen has now scored a touchdown in six of his last seven games. He’s as consistent as they come and he should be in your lineup every single week as a top-12 WR. In this favorable matchup, assuming that he suits up, he can be viewed as a mid-range WR1. Mike Williams is a game-time decision after leaving last week’s game with an injury. Even if Williams plays this week, it’s hard to trust him as anything more than a boom-or-bust FLEX option. The matchup is fantastic and Williams has an excellent chance of reeling in a touchdown, but there’s also the possibility that he leaves this game early with an injury. If both Allen and Williams miss this game, Tyron Johnson becomes a very intriguing option. The targets will have to go somewhere and he looked great in his increased role last week. Johnson could be started as a high-end WR3 if both Allen and Williams miss. If only Williams misses this game, Johnson can be started as a high-end FLEX play.

Las Vegas: At this point, the only WR on Las Vegas that you should be looking at for fantasy purposes is Agholor. While Agholor will have to deal with some talented corners, he’s proven that he can come through in some tough matchups before. With Ruggs out of the lineup, Agholor can be started as a low-end WR3 with upside.

Tight Ends

Los Angeles: Henry saw his production bounce back with the rest of the offense this past week and he should be viewed as a solid start here against the Raiders defense. Henry can be viewed as a mid-range/low-end TE1.

Las Vegas: Waller’s one of the most consistent fantasy assets out there. He can be plugged into your lineup as a top-3 option yet again this week.

FantasyProjection Buster: Agholor looks like he’s in a great spot this week with Henry Ruggs out of the lineup, but there’s always the possibility that Derek Carr chooses to send the ball elsewhere.

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Kyle Yates is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Kyle, check out his archive and follow him @KyleYNFL.

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