Fantasy Football Week 15 Rankings: Matchups We Love and Player Stat Projections

With everything on the line, fantasy football owners saw Week 15 start as routinely as possible.

On a...colorful edition of Thursday Night Football, the Seattle Seahawks took care of business against the Los Angeles Rams, with Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin ending up as a couple of the highest scorers thanks to good matchups.

The rest of the week won't be so easy, but those facing elimination have surely used every moment of free time the past few days to study up.

If not, here is a comprehensive projections guide.

Week 15 Schedule

Saturday, December 17	Time (ET)
Sunday, December 18
Monday, December 19
Miami at N.Y. Jets	8:25 p.m.
Green Bay at Chicago	1 p.m.
Tennessee at Kansas City	1 p.m.
Detroit at N.Y. Giants	1 p.m.
Cleveland at Buffalo	1 p.m.
Indianapolis at Minnesota	1 p.m.
Philadelphia at Baltimore	1 p.m.
Jacksonville at Houston	1 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati	1 p.m.
New Orleans at Arizona	4:05 p.m.
San Francisco at Atlanta	4:05 p.m.
New England at Denver	4:25 p.m
Oakland at San Diego	4:25 p.m
Tampa Bay at Dallas	8:30 p.m.
Carolina at Washington	8:30 p.m.

Quarterbacks

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Matt Ryan	25
2	Aaron Rodgers	24
3	Cam Newton*	21
4	Colin Kaepernick	19
5	Kirk Cousins	18
6	Drew Brees	18
7	Jameis Winston	17
8	Andrew Luck	17
9	Philip Rivers	16
10	Tyrod Taylor	14
11	Ben Roethlisberger	14
12	Eli Manning	12
13	Dak Prescott	12
14	Carson Palmer	12
15	Tom Brady	12

It looks like Week 15 belongs to Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons.

Ryan has been a stud all year, falling below 15 points just twice. This builds an incredible floor for bettors to lean on, but keep in mind that he also has highs of 27 and 35.

A new high wouldn't be much of a shock when Ryan squares off with the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners are allowing the fourth-most points to quarterbacks on average and have permitted 20 or more points to six sets of opposing gunslingers.

On a slightly less popular note, Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins is also in for a huge week. Believe it or not, Cousins sits a few spots behind Ryan in scoring and has also fallen below 15 points only twice.

Cousins, at home, gets to light up a Carolina Panthers defense that has allowed multiple passing touchdowns in a game seven times.

Were this a year ago, Cousins would be a sit. Now he's a stud against a once-proud defense.

Running Backs

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Le'Veon Bell	23
2	David Johnson	21
3	LeSean McCoy	20
4	Devonta Freeman	18
5	Ezekiel Elliott	17
6	DeMarco Murray	16
7	Bilal Powell	15
8	Lamar Miller	14
9	Latavius Murray	13
10	Jordan Howard	12
11	Jeremy Hill	12
12	Jay Ajayi	12
13	Carlos Hyde	12
14	Robert Kelley	11
15	Frank Gore	11
16	Tevin Coleman	11
17	Jonathan Stewart	10
18	Spencer Ware	10
19	Isaiah Crowell	10
20	LeGarrette Blount	10
21	Kenneth Farrow	9
22	Theo Riddick*	9
23	Doug Martin	8
24	Ryan Mathews	8
25	Mark Ingram*	8
26	Kenneth Dixon	7
27	Ty Montgomery	7
28	Justin Forsett	7
29	Tim Hightower	6
30	Terrance West	6

Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy couldn't be hot at a better time.

McCoy has scored 16 or more points in three consecutive games and has double digits in five straight. He's back to his old self after injury issues and has rushed for four scores over the course of his last four outings.

Shady's on fire just in time for a date with the Cleveland Browns, the team allowing the second-most points to backs on average. Six of the last seven opposing backfields to face the Browns have hit on 109 or more rushing yards, a number McCoy can hit on his own.

Owners can expect Tennessee Titans lead back DeMarco Murray to have one of his usual performances Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Hesitation is understandable, though. This is essentially a playoff game against one of the league's best, and it comes on the road in one of the toughest places to play.

Alas, Murray has double digits in all but one game this year. He has just five games without a rushing score. In the freezing cold, owners can expect both offenses to remain grounded, feeding Murray the chances necessary for a huge fantasy day.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Mike Evans	18
2	Antonio Brown	18
3	T.Y. Hilton	16
4	Jordy Nelson	16
5	Alshon Jeffery	15
6	Odell Beckham Jr.	14
7	Sammy Watkins	14
8	Michael Crabtree	14
9	A.J. Green*	13
10	Julian Edelman	13
11	Davante Adams	12
12	Larry Fitzgerald	12
13	Demaryius Thomas	11
14	Dez Bryant	11
15	Brandin Cooks	11
16	Mohamed Sanu	11
17	Amari Cooper	10
18	Tyrell Williams	10
19	Emmanuel Sanders	10
20	Jordan Matthews	10
21	Willie Snead	9
22	DeSean Jackson	9
23	Terrelle Pryor Sr.	8
24	Steve Smith Sr.	8
25	Golden Tate	8
26	Stefon Diggs	8
27	Michael Thomas	8
28	Taylor Gabriel	8
29	Jamison Crowder	7
30	Ty Montgomery	7
31	Rishard Matthews	7
32	Dontrelle Inman	7
33	Pierre Garcon	6
34	Allen Robinson	6
35	Brandon Marshall	6

At first pass, the fact that Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout Mike Evans has to deal with the Dallas Cowboys sounds like a fantasy quagmire.

While the Dallas defense has been criminally overlooked this year, Evans owners don't have too much to worry about. The Cowboys still rank in the middle of the pack in terms of points allowed to wideouts and have allowed a touchdown to wideouts in all but two games this year.

Few teams have anyone who can line up against Evans, hence his sitting second in scoring. With top corner Morris Claiborne hurt and this likely to be a shootout, Dallas won't stop Evans from having a big day.

Green Bay Packers wideout Jordy Nelson is another guy getting hot at the right time. He's scored 16 or more points two games running and with three touchdowns over the span.

Next? A date with the struggling Chicago Bears. Thanks to injuries, those Bears have allowed 21 or more points to opposing sets of wideouts seven times this year.

With a couple of names in the backfield hurt and Randall Cobb having a down year, Nelson will be the main target of the offense against a bad defense, which should keep his strong streak alive.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player	Projected Points
1	Jordan Reed	13
2	Antonio Gates	12
3	Ladarius Green	11
4	Greg Olsen	10
5	Kyle Rudolph	10
6	Tyler Eifert	8
7	Travis Kelce	8
8	Delanie Walker	8
9	Cameron Brate	7
10	Zach Ertz	7
11	Martellus Bennett	6
12	Jason Witten	6

Tight end Jordan Reed will be the main target of the Washington attack against the Panthers.

Reed has bumbled his way through the last few weeks thanks to a shoulder issue but remains a must-start option.

When healthy this year, Reed has high outputs of 19, 15 and 21 points. The Panthers almost guarantee another such outing, with their defense allowing the most points to tight ends on average, but Reed needs to be healthy.

Recently, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Ladarius Green has been a nice discovery for owners. Green erupted with 17 points in Week 13 before falling off the map the week after.

Expect Green to re-emerge against the Cincinnati Bengals. Owners have targeted the Bengals for years thanks to their inability to defend the position, and 2016 is no different, with Cincinnati allowing the fourth-most points to the spot on average.

In the cold, short passes and shots into the end zone will go to Green.

Defense/Special Teams

Rank	Unit	Projected Points
1	Ravens	12
2	Bills	10
3	Texans	9
4	Jets	9
5	Packers	8
6	Dolphins	7
7	Raiders	7
8	Falcons	6
9	Patriots	6
10	Chiefs	6

The Bills defense hasn't exactly been as reliable as past iterations, though the random struggles shouldn't deter owners with everything at stake in Week 15.

For context, Buffalo has outings of 21, 12 and 16 points this year but has a minus-four performance on record. This seems like a huge variance, but keep in mind that the Bills play the Browns.

Problem solved, right? The Browns cough up the second-most points to opposing units this year, and the last four weeks have been stunning—opposing defenses have posted 16, 23, 22 and 10 points, respectively.

Buffalo is in for one of its best days of the season.

Kickers

Rank	Unit	Projected Points
1	Matt Bryant	12
2	Nick Novak	10
3	Justin Tucker	9
4	Dustin Hopkins	9
5	Brandon McManus	8
6	Sebastian Janikowski	7
7	Kai Forbath	7
8	Matt Prater	6
9	Adam Vinatieri	6
10	Dan Bailey	6

Like targeting the Browns when searching for a defense, owners should target the Jacksonville Jaguars for kickers.

This time, Nick Novak of the Houston Texans gets the honors. A guy with five trips to double digits this year, highlighted by his impressive 19 points in Week 14, he'll get to light up the unit.

Jacksonville allows the most points to opposing kickers on average, with seven kickers faced hitting on double digits. Like Novak, Jacksonville hits Week 14 off a notable outing in which the team coughed up 14 points to a kicker.

With Novak streaking and the Jaguars slumping, owners have a great option when they need it most.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN.com standard leagues as are points-against info and ownership stats.

Follow Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) on Twitter.