Depth Chart Watch: Fallout From Week 15

Ah, this fantasy game sure is a painful one. I took losses in all three of my playoff matchups last week, so the only reason I care about football at all anymore is the Jets ... and, of course, you guys. For those about to rock in Week 16, we salute you.

Arizona RB: With Andre Ellington (toe) again inactive, David Johnson went absolutely crazy against the Eagles on Sunday evening, taking the ball 29 times and turning those carries into, oh, nothing special -- just 187 yards and three touchdowns. Oh, hey, and 42 receiving yards! Why not, right? Even if Ellington gets back, there's no question that Johnson is this team's starting rusher.

Baltimore QB: With Matt Schaub (chest) unable to go again, Jimmy Clausen offered another mixed bag of a start Sunday, going 26-for-45 for 281 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, including a pick-six late in the fourth quarter that let the Chiefs salt away the game for good. Schaub was active as the backup, an indication that he could return to the starting role in Week 16.

Baltimore RB: Remember when it was great to own Javorius Allen? Boy, things have changed in a hurry. He's now lost fumbles in consecutive weeks, and Sunday's first-quarter dispossession -- which was returned 73 yards for a touchdown -- got the rookie stuck to the bench with just four carries on his line. Of course, the game flow wouldn't have given him too many opportunities anyway, as the Ravens played from behind pretty much all the way. Terrance West ended up leading the rushing attack with seven carries for 35 yards.

Baltimore TE: A back injury's now kept Crockett Gillmore off the field two weeks in a row, and the Ravens have no incentive to rush him back. Maxx Williams, though, won't hold much value in his absence -- at least he put up a 31-yard effort Sunday, marking his first five catches of December.

Buffalo RB: Well, isn't this a messy boxscore. Seven -- seven! -- Bills (including all four RBs on the roster as well as not one, but two quarterbacks, plus a wide receiver) carried the ball in Sunday's loss to Washington, thanks in part to LeSean McCoy's third-quarter removal due to a knee sprain. Of course, McCoy wasn't doing anything before being hurt -- he ran for only 29 yards on 10 carries. Karlos Williams and Mike Gillislee carried four times each in relief and blew that away -- Williams picked up 41 yards, and a 60-yard TD scamper led to 81 on the day for Gillislee. That's consecutive weeks with a score for the unheralded ex-Dolphin, who missed all 2014 with a hamstring injury. If McCoy has to miss time, it seems the Bills will roll with a Williams-Gillislee combo -- just as we anticipated in the preseason, right?

Buffalo TE:Charles Clay (back) didn't appear in Week 15; his replacements, Chris Gragg and Nick O'Leary, were targeted just once each, catching 18- and 37-yard passes, respectively. That was the first catch of O'Leary's career, so I'm sure that was a nice moment for him.

Carolina RB: With no Jonathan Stewart (foot), my prediction came true: Cameron Artis-Payne led the Panthers' backfield Sunday, carrying a team-high 14 times for 59 yards while chipping in another 34 on a couple catches. Of course, Cam Newton was the team's leading rusher (100 yards on the ground and 340 with five touchdowns through the air? There should be a law). Mike Tolbert saw five ineffective carries (10 yards), while Fozzy Whittaker was handed the ball just twice.

Carolina WR: What in the dickens has gotten into Ted Ginn? Well, sure, he wasn't efficient -- Cam threw the ball his way 14 times, and he caught only six for 85 yards -- but he scored another two touchdowns, giving him seven in the last four weeks. Philly Brown and Devin Funchess also got into the touchdown-catching action, snagging one apiece.

Carolina TE:Greg Olsen didn't miss any time or a single beat with the knee injury he suffered in Week 14, as he got right back out there Sunday and delivered 79 yards with a score.

Chicago RB: Despite running more efficiently -- one more rushing yard (47) on three fewer carries (eight) -- than Jeremy Langford, Matt Forte split off a big share of work to his rookie compadre Sunday. However, Forte led the team in receiving with 57 yards and a score, leaving him with a pleasantly helpful fantasy line. For his part, Langford added an 11-yard catch to 11 carries for 46 yards. This split should continue for the remainder of the season, and then we'll see where the 30-year-old Forte's career goes from here.

Cincinnati QB:AJ McCarron wasn't asked to do a lot Sunday in San Francisco, but he did enough, operating at an efficient 15-for-21 clip en route to 192 yards and a touchdown. Andy Dalton won't need surgery on his broken thumb, but McCarron's the guy for the rest of the regular season and maybe into the playoffs.

Cincinnati RB: Once again, the ol' "Jeremy Hill against bad teams, Giovani Bernard against good ones" rule applies -- neither rusher was efficient Sunday against the Niners, who've done surprisingly well against the run at home for a team that's so bad against rushers in general. Hill gained an atrocious 31 yards on 19 rushes and lost a fumble, which would be pretty painful if not for the two second-quarter touchdowns he punched in. A similarly inefficient Bernard managed just 33 yards on 14 carries, but didn't get the goal-line work and didn't require much use in the passing game (four catches, 18 yards).

Cincinnati TE:Tyler Eifert (concussion) rode the pine Sunday, but on a light day of work for McCarron, there wasn't much need to lean on the tight ends. Tyler Kroft caught all three of his targets for 31 yards, while Ryan Hewitt caught one of two for nine yards.

Cleveland RB: Did you really expect Isaiah Crowell to follow up last week's massive performance with an encore in Seattle? Don't be silly. Crowell gained 30 total yards (23 on nine carries, seven on three catches) Sunday and was roundly outshined by Duke Johnson, who led the team in both rushing (46 yards on only four carries) and receiving (five catches, five targets, 39 yards).

Dallas QB:Matt Cassel's leash ended up being rather short in the Saturday evening matchup with the Jets, as he completed just three of eight passes for 37 yards and got picked off. Of course, Kellen Moore was equally bad in relief, throwing a trio of interceptions to go with 158 yards and a touchdown that made Dez Bryant owners happy-ish.

Denver QB:Peyton Manning seemed to have a setback with his foot in practice last week, but even if he gets healthy, it's well rumored that he may not displace Brock Osweiler as the Broncos' starter. After all, Manning was horrendous for the first nine weeks of this season, throwing 17 interceptions against just nine touchdowns. Osweiler was inefficient Sunday against Pittsburgh (21-for-44 inefficient) but still had 296 air yards and four total touchdowns. He also suffered a shoulder injury (not the throwing shoulder) that didn't cause him to miss any snaps, but did precede a brutal second half in which the Steelers mounted a comeback and won the game while Denver couldn't score. Osweiler was scheduled for X-rays on Monday.

Denver RB: If I never have to write or think about Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson again, it'll be too soon. Hillman took a significant the workload edge Sunday, running 14 times for a pretty unhelpful 48 yards while losing a fumble. At least Anderson got on the field this time, though it only resulted in 20 total yards.

Detroit WR:Calvin Johnson's listed as questionable for Monday night, as usual; expect him to play through his ankle injury, but it's unclear whether he'll be much more than a decoy, which is pretty much what happened last week. Golden Tate may actually make a more interesting play against the terrible New Orleans secondary.

Green Bay RB:Eddie Lacy keeps struggling to get into the flow, as he planted his second dud in three weeks Sunday, making only 23 yards of progress on 11 rushes. It's hard to blame anyone but Lacy himself for that, as James Starks turned his own nine carries into 51 yards, though he also put the ball on the ground.

Houston QB:T.J. Yates' return to the starting role didn't last long, as he got to attempt only 10 passes Sunday before leaving with a knee injury that now appears to be a torn ACL. And so we saw another Texas team reluctantly turn to Brandon Weeden, who was actually half decent, going 11-for-18 for 105 yards and a score, riding the defense to a victorious effort. Brian Hoyer's still in the concussion protocol, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that Weeden draws the Week 16 start in a game with playoff implications.

Houston RB: With Alfred Blue feeling better, the Texans leaned on him in Week 15 to the tune of 20 carries, and though he (like seemingly everyone else this week) lost a fumble, Blue also picked up 107 rushing yards. Former practice squad member Akeem Hunt carried five times (a career high!) for 26 yards in backup duty, while Chris Polk delivered four useless carries (six yards). Jonathan Grimes, a big piece of the playbook the prior week against Indy, touched the ball just once.

Indianapolis QB: With Andrew Luck (kidney) practicing, but still not ready to go, Matt Hasselbeck drew another start Sunday, and it didn't go well. He completed 17 of 30 passes for 147 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and he was temporarily relieved by Charlie Whitehurst after a head injury. Hasselbeck did avoid a concussion and thus returned, but Colts fans have to be eager to see Luck back out on the field -- which could happen this coming week.

Jacksonville RB: Denard Robinson drew a start Sunday with T.J. Yeldon (knee) out of action, but we didn't see a repeat of the previous week's efficiency -- Shoelace averaged just 2.0 YPC on his 14 rushes, but he did enjoy a team-high 10 pass targets, catching eight of them for 46 yards, so at least PPR owners didn't get hurt. Yeldon's looking at a Week 16 return, but that seems an overly optimistic timeline for an MCL sprain. If he does return prematurely, ineffectiveness or reinjury would be my expectation.

Kansas City RB: Although Spencer Ware (ribs) was active in Week 15, he went unused while the Chiefs fed the ball to Charcandrick West, who rolled up 76 yards and a score on 16 rushes. Odd to see West work so little in a game the Chiefs were near-constantly leading, but two defensive touchdowns meant a reduced workload for the offense.

Miami RB:Lamar Miller and Jay Ajayi saw their work split almost 50-50 on Sunday thanks to Miller's ineffectiveness -- nine carries and two receptions produced only 24 total yards. Ajayi took the ball six times for a respectable 27 yards and scored a touchdown; he also caught a 15-yard pass, for what it's worth. With the Dolphins playing for nothing but next year and Miller unlikely to be back, expect to see a bigger share of Ajayi duty these last couple weeks as the organization tries to get a better look at him.

Miami WR: After DeVante Parker crushed my dreams by putting together all of 16 yards -- why?! -- last Monday, he rebounded to grab four balls for 87 yards Sunday against San Diego. Kenny Stills drew an equal number of targets (six), but had only a lonely 23-yarder to show for it; Jarvis Landry was targeted 10 times, but couldn't break free for a big gainer, as he finished with just 54 yards on eight catches.

Minnesota WR: The Vikes ran away with one Sunday against Chicago, but they were ahead for so much of the game, Teddy Bridgewater only had cause to attempt 20 passes. A full fifth of those (that's four) went for touchdowns, and the only wide receiver to benefit from those was Stefon Diggs, who was only targeted four times, but brought down three for 55 yards and a pair of scores. Those are Diggs' first touchdowns since Week 8 as well as the most yards he's gained in a game since Week 11.

New England RB: Because the Pats seem to really hate handing too much non-special-teams work to Brandon Bolden, they signed Hawaiian fullback Joey Iosefa off the practice squad and handed him the ball 14 times against the Titans on Sunday. He and Bolden (who carried 10 times) produced near-identical 3.6 YPC marks. Meanwhile, James White got it done through the air, catching seven of eight targets for 71 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots are expected to sign noted old man Steven Jackson on Monday to help make up for LeGarrette Blount's season-ending hip injury.

New York Giants RB: If you expected Rashad Jennings to have his best rushing day of the year against Carolina, raise your hand. ... I'm not seeing any hands. The last two weeks have featured Jennings' highest carry totals of the year, and Sunday's 16 rushes (six fewer than last week's season-high 22) produced 107 yards and a touchdown, though Jennings also lost a fumble. Shane Vereen also got some serious air action in for the first time in weeks, catching eight balls (tying his season high) for 43 yards and a score of his own.

New York Giants WR: Although Odell Beckham saved his fantasy owners with a late touchdown Sunday, his poor behavior against Carolina, including a flagrant helmet-to-helmet downfield "block" on star cornerback Josh Norman, got him suspended one game. My third-least-favorite person in the world at the moment, Rueben Randle, got into the end zone as well; with Beckham suspended, Randle will in all likelihood be the Giants' No. 1 receiver for a game. Dwayne Harris and Hakeem Nicks would figure to see extra looks too.

New York Jets RB: Saturday evening was a slow one for Chris Ivory, who put up his worst rushing performance in quite a while -- he gained just 37 yards on 13 carries, marking the first time in six weeks that he didn't have a carry of 20-plus yards and his worst YPC since Week 9. Meanwhile, Bilal Powell again proved surprisingly useful, catching all seven of his pass targets for 54 yards and tacking on six carries for 25 and a touchdown.

Philadelphia RB: Unsurprisingly, there wasn't much to be gained from Eagles rushers in a tough matchup against the Cardinals on Sunday, but Ryan Mathews was again the leading carrier, going for 58 yards on 11 runs. On the downside, Mathews lost a fumble and failed to convert a big fourth down, but none of his backfield mates presented any sort of challenge -- Darren Sproles gained all of nine yards on six carries (and again failed to do anything meaningful as a receiver), while DeMarco Murray was handed the ball just twice for three yards.

San Diego RB: Eight carries for 10 yards: Bad day or amazing day? Danny Woodhead's going to go with "amazing," as a two-yard touchdown and three receiving scores (as part of six catches for 50 yards) added up to a huge performance for those precious few fantasy owners who gambled on the diminutive back. That wasn't the only wonky business to go on during what may have been the final NFL game in sunny San Diego, as Donald Brown came out of hiding by doubling his season carry total -- he went for 90 yards on 12 carries and added a couple catches to surpass 100 yards for the first time since 2011. That materialized because rookie "sensation" Melvin Gordon (can you feel the sarcasm dripping from those quotes?) left the game with a second-quarter knee injury. Amazingly, the Chargers found time to hand him the ball 15 times in the first half, which he turned into a very Melvin-esque 41 yards.

San Francisco TE: Thanks to some poor play by Vance McDonald in his return from injury, Blake Bell drew a nice complement of targets (eight) in Sunday's game, but caught just four for 43 yards. Bell and McDonald should keep battling for reps down the stretch.

Seattle RB: In the post-Marshawn Lynch (abdomen), post-Thomas Rawls (ankle), post DuJuan Harris (released for being terrible) era, we finally saw the freshly re-signed Christine Michael get something resembling a full workload for the Seahawks. He carried 16 times for a quite credible 84 yards; Bryce Brown, also signed in the aftermath of the Rawls injury, was credible on his own nine carries, averaging 4.8 YPC, while Fred Jackson's meager utility was confined to the air game. However, Michael seemingly holds the No. 1 role and thus makes for an intriguing Week 16 upside play with the Seahawks at home against the not-good Rams.

Seattle WR: Stop, Doug Baldwin. Just stop. His fourth consecutive multi-touchdown game came with only 45 yards, but that's now 10 scores in four weeks for Russell Wilson's new favorite toy. If all your wide receivers got hurt and you picked up the Baldwin-Ginn duo, you're now the master of all fantasyland. And you don't deserve it. I'm just saying.

St. Louis QB:Case Keenum actually did some really good things Thursday against Tampa Bay -- he only needed to attempt 17 passes to throw for 234 yards and two touchdowns. That'll bring up the ol' QB rating.

Tampa Bay WR: With no Vincent Jackson (knee) for the Thursday game, Jameis Winston went back to locking onto Mike Evans, who was targeted 17 times (more than anyone else this week) and caught nine of 'em for 157 yards -- easily his best game since Week 10. Adam Humphries was also a credible participant, as he caught all six passes sent his way for 60 yards. Donteea Dye managed to catch a 44-yarder, but didn't reel in any of his other four targets.

Tennessee QB:Marcus Mariota left Sunday's game against New England with a knee injury, causing the Titans to call once more on Zach Mettenberger. Although Mettenberger was a fairly efficient 20-for-28 for 242 yards and two scores, he also threw two picks in a losing effort. At least this issue is with the right knee for Mariota, who missed a couple games earlier this year with an injury to the left one; his status for next week is unclear.

Washington RB:Alfred Morris had himself a nice little game, as it goes, in Week 15 -- he went for 84 yards on 14 carries, albeit without making any contribution in the realms of receiving or touchdowns. Matt Jones was given 10 rushes despite being much less effective, as he gained only 28 yards. It's been a tough rookie year for the Florida product.

Washington WR:DeSean Jackson didn't miss a beat Sunday, as he returned from a minor knee ailment to rip off six catches for 153 and a touchdown. Pierre Garcon caught one, too, but it was one of just four targets and came with just 31 yards on the day.