This is what you’ve been preparing for all season, the fantasy playoffs. Congratulations on being in the upper echelon of teams in your league but now is the time to show that you’re the best team of 2021. At the start of the playoffs, it is always important to recognize who might be on the rise and who might be falling into the season’s end. Based on recent performances and relevant news surrounding these players, here are your risers and fallers heading into Week 15.

Week 15 Fantasy Football Risers

George Kittle (TE, SF) 

George Kittle has been on a monster run during these past couple of weeks. In two straight performances, Kittle has seen 10+ targets come his way with 12 and 15 while also turning those targets into a combined 332 yards and 3 touchdowns. He’s fallen back into his previous role as the leading receiving threat for San Francisco and at the perfect time for fantasy managers. 

With Deebo Samuel being relegated to more of a rushing role and the 49ers realizing their potential in the passing game, these Kittle performances could continue. Both of those factors have opened the door for George Kittle to finish the year on an incredible stretch while making up for being a disappointment for the majority of the fantasy season.          

Amon-Ra St. Brown (WR, DET)

Amon-Ra St. Brown has been on a bit of a hot streak as of late. In Weeks 13 and 14, he’s managed to come away with a combined 18 receptions for 159 yards and a touchdown. In Week 14, without the presence of T.J. Hockenson, St. Brown had a 32% target share among all Detroit offensive weapons and a 50% target share among Detroit wide receivers. 

Now, T.J. Hockenson has been reported to have undergone thumb surgery which is expected to sideline him for the remainder of the 2021 season. This opens the door to Amon-Ra being an even greater part of this Detroit offense. He is clearly Jared Goff’s favorite target in the passing game and the Lions aren’t a good team so they are going to be playing through negative game scripts for the rest of their season. Without Detroit’s star tight end, Amon-Ra St. Brown is sure to be the focal point in this offense going forward. 

Hunter Renfrow (WR, LV)

Flashing onto the scene recently as more of a poor man’s Cooper Kupp, Hunter Renfrow is quickly becoming one of the more reliable receivers to have in fantasy football. He has put up double-digit Half-PPR performances in 5 out of his last 6 games while also posting 3 straight 100+ yard totals. 

After being a waiver pickup in most leagues, Renfrow has performed well enough to be considered a steady WR2 with nice upside as he is garnering a heavy target share while Darren Waller misses time. Not bad for a guy that looks like he could be selling you insurance rather than playing professional football.

Melvin Gordon III (RB, DEN)

Returning to the backfield after his one-week absence, Melvin Gordon had a great day on the ground as the Broncos stomped over the Lions. Gordon finished the game with 24 carries for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also out-touched his fellow backfield member, Javonte Williams, by 8 touches. This suggests that the Broncos are still heavily committed to a committee approach with Gordon taking more of a 55% to Javonte’s 45%. 

As much as the fantasy community wants it to happen, workhorse Williams will probably have to wait until 2022 when Melvin Gordon hits free agency. Until then though, Gordon should play a nice role for fantasy managers that have him as Denver’s playoff schedule favors the run game. 

Week 15 Fantasy Football Fallers

Travis Kelce (TE, KC)

This is not the same Chiefs team we have been accustomed to seeing these past couple of years and it is hurting fantasy teams tremendously. Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, to a lesser extent, have been seeing far less production these past few weeks as the Chiefs are moving toward a more conservative approach on offense followed by dominant defense. 

The issue with this new approach is that it’s actually working incredibly well which suggests Kelce won’t be producing up to his previous standard. Back-to-back 27-yard performances don’t bode well for him heading into the fantasy playoffs and I’d just pray that the squeaky wheel narrative comes his way soon. 

Dak Prescott (QB, DAL)

Dak Prescott has not been himself recently and it shows through his stat totals. 3 out of his last 4 performances have been duds as he’s been averaging 13.5 fantasy points over that stretch. He’s also thrown more interceptions than touchdowns during this run with 3 touchdown passes and 5 interceptions. Dak is a player that most fantasy managers will have to start because of the draft capital spent on him along with most other options not having the same level of upside.

However, if there is another option you feel comfortable with, consider a pivot in the coming weeks. The Cowboys have an advantageous matchup against a struggling Giants defense this week so there is the possibility that Prescott bounces back. Let’s hope that’s the case because Dak has been a disappointment for fantasy managers as of late. 

DeAndre Hopkins (WR, ARI)

A recent report from Ian Rapoport has said that DeAndre Hopkins is going to be out for six weeks after he had surgery on his torn MCL. This is an unfortunate circumstance for fantasy managers as this likely sidelines Hopkins for the rest of the regular season. This coming just one game after managers thought they had him back for the rest of the season just adds insult to injury. Hopefully, there is a decent pivot option available because replacing Hopkins shouldn’t be easy right before the playoffs. 

Kareem Hunt (RB, CLE)

Kareem Hunt apparently suffered an ankle injury during the Brown’s Week 14 matchup against the Ravens. Hunt was reported to have missed practice on Wednesday and according to a tweet from Adam Schefter, is considered week to week with this ankle injury. Since Hunt has returned from injury, he’s been far from productive as he’s put up 2.0 and 2.8 Half-PPR fantasy points in Weeks 12 and 14 respectively. 

Maybe his recent ankle injury had something to do with that lack of production but he won’t make the Browns Week 15 matchup against the Raiders due to the game being scheduled for a Saturday. Maybe a week’s rest is what Hunt needs to get back on track but managers would probably want him out on the field considering the playoffs are upon us.