Week 15 Fantasy Football Rankings: Projecting the Week's Biggest Duds

A bad matchup or just a down year in general can make a player a fantasy football pariah on any given week. There's nothing more frustrating than resting your team's hopes on one player and then seeing him contribute nary a point to your overall effort.

With the playoffs in full swing, you can't afford to make a single mistake. That's why I'm here to help you with four players that I believe are bench-worthy in Week 15.

QB Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers (vs. Baltimore Ravens)

If the San Diego Chargers' Philip Rivers is your starting fantasy quarterback, it's not likely that you're able to bench him. That's fine, of course; just be prepared for the possibility of a disappointing week from him when his team hosts the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night.

Rivers has been up and down all season and has been prone to uncharacteristic inaccuracy. He's thrown 22 touchdowns to 17 interceptions—the most picks of his career—for 3,745 passing yards and has a rushing touchdown on the year as well.

Now, he's about to face the Ravens league-leading defense that ranks No. 1 against the pass. Expect another Rivers interception or two in this game, even if he does manage more than 250 passing yards and one or two touchdowns.

WR Jeremy Maclin, Philadelphia Eagles (vs. New York Jets)

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin was limited in Wednesday's practice after his injured hamstring tightened up in his team's Week 14 win over the Miami Dolphins that caused him to leave the game. However, that's not the main reason why he's not a recommended fantasy starter this week.

Simply, it's the Eagles offense of which he is a part. Whether it's Michael Vick or Vince Young under center, Philadelphia hasn't seen the kind of success in the passing game that they saw in 2010. Accuracy and durability issues have plagued both quarterbacks, and the wide receivers have suffered as a result.

On the year, Maclin has caught 47 passes for 625 yards and has scored four touchdowns. He won't get anywhere close to his stellar 2010 season, when he had 11 touchdowns and 964 yards on 70 receptions. Maclin once found success because he made fellow receiver DeSean Jackson better, though Jackson has been effectively neutralized on an almost-weekly basis; Maclin hasn't flourished as a reliable target.

With the New York Jets and their No. 2 overall defense coming to town this week, Maclin's numbers are likely to stay low. He's had just two 100-yard receiving performances this season. If he does get a third, it won't be this week. If you have other options at receiver, I suggest you look to them this week.

RB Rashard Mendenhall, Pittsburgh Steelers (at San Francisco 49ers)

After a slow start to the season, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall has finally gotten into a groove. He's averaging nearly 60 rushing yards per game and has scored four touchdowns in his last four games.

However, he's about to face the fierce San Francisco 49ers defense on Monday night, a squad that has yet to allow a rushing touchdown all season, is holding teams to 70.5 rushing yards per game and has 18 forced fumbles—and 13 recoveries—to their names this season.

Mendenhall isn't as much of a fumble risk this season, having lost just one all season, which came in the team's season opener against the Baltimore Ravens. But he's guaranteed to struggle just the same on Monday night.

This season, Mendenhall has carried the ball 187 times for 710 yards and eight touchdowns and has caught 13 passes for 87 more yards. Expect Mendenhall to be held to around 50 rushing yards and, if history is any indicator, no touchdowns this week.

QB Christian Ponder, Minnesota Vikings (vs. New Orleans Saints)

Perhaps you're in a two-quarterback fantasy league or you chose to pick up quarterbacks off of the waiver wire as a result of dropping your usual starter out of frustration earlier this season. Either way, if you're in a situation where you're considering making Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder part of your starting lineup this week, I'd suggest you find another option.

Once a semi-viable fantasy option, based on matchups, Ponder has slumped in recent weeks, throwing eight touchdowns to nine interceptions in his team's last five games—not surprisingly, the Vikings lost all of those games.

His three interceptions and one lost fumble in last week's game against the Detroit Lions cost him his job, at least for the day, as Joe Webb took over and looked comparatively competent. Despite that fact, Ponder will remain the Vikings starter, at least for one more week.

In his eight starts, Ponder has completed just 55.7 percent of his passes for 1,637 yards, 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions and he's lost two fumbles.

Though the New Orleans Saints defense is prone to giving up big plays, don't expect much out of Ponder this week except a few more interceptions, perhaps a touchdown and no more than 215 yards in the air.

If you're in a situation where you are forced to consider starting a quarterback as low on the totem pole as Ponder this week, I suggest the Miami Dolphins' Matt Moore or the Arizona Cardinals' John Skelton (if Kevin Kolb is out) instead.