Most fantasy football playoffs begin next week, meaning managers are either already eliminated, fighting for your playoff life, or sitting comfortably with a spot already clinched.

This column is more so for the latter group. What’s the only thing cooler than managing to snatch up your favorite waiver wire darling? Already having them on the squad because you, a scholar, had the foresight to look ahead to see which players are set up brilliantly ahead of Weeks 15 to 17.

As always: It’s a great day to be great.

Rams DST

  • 34% rostered in Yahoo! leagues

Some fantasy DSTs are good enough for fantasy managers to not overly concern themselves with matchups. Think of the Cowboys, Ravens, Chiefs, Browns and 49ers as the poster children of this … although even the Cowboys (BUF, MIA, DET) and Ravens (JAX, SF, MIA) have the sort of schedules in Weeks 15 to 17 to make fantasy managers potentially consider some reinforcements.

As for pretty much everyone else: Matchups are more important to play than pretty much any other position — good thing there are a handful of low-rostered units that look more than capable of helping your fantasy squad during the final three weeks of the season.

My five favorite options ranked by personal preference:

  1. Rams (34% rostered in Yahoo leagues): Face the Commanders, Saints and Giants. While this might not be the most complete Rams defense that we’ve seen in recent years, Aaron Donald alone remains more than capable of wrecking a game — particularly when getting to face two of the league’s most sack-prone QBs and either Derek Carr or Jameis Winston.
  2. Colts (32%): Matchups with the Steelers, Falcons and Raiders. This profiles as Mitch Trubisky, Desmond Ridder and Aidan O’Connell. While the Colts defense isn’t what most would call a “good” real life unit — they rank 27th in points per game allowed this season — they’ve proven plenty capable of exploiting fantasy-friendly matchups in recent weeks on their way to scoring the third-most fantasy points of any DST this season.
  3. Texans (16%): Gets the Titans twice as well as the Browns. Very much alive in the playoff race, look for DeMeco Ryans to keep his defense playing hard against probably Will Levis and Joe Flacco.
  4. Packers (21%): Good spots vs. the Buccaneers, Panthers and Vikings. This should coincide with the suddenly feisty Packers getting much healthier on the defensive side of the ball as well.
  5. Falcons (51%): Will go up against the Panthers, Colts and Bears. I’m honestly less of a fan of Atlanta compared to these other squads due to Gardner Minshew and Justin Fields having more upside than most QBs also on this list.

WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seahawks

  • 58% rostered in Yahoo! leagues

No WR room has a better end-of-season schedule than the Seahawks:

  • Week 14 at 49ers: 25th
  • Week 15 vs. Eagles: 32nd
  • Week 16 at Titans: 28th
  • Week 17 vs. Steelers: 17th

Enter JSN, who is coming off a season-high 11 target performance that featured more middling 7-62-0 production. Still, this box score only tells half the story, as the 2023 NFL Draft’s 20th overall pick set the Seahawks up at the one-yard line on two separate occasions by drawing end zone defensive pass interference flags. Smith-Njigba was so close to converting this potential 30-yard score in particular.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Oct 29, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) carries the ball after a catch while chased by Cleveland Browns safety Grant Delpit (22) at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Yes, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett aren’t going anywhere. Also yes, the latter receiver continues to play through a hamstring injury that seemed to originate back in Week 7 if the team’s injury report is any indication. Perhaps this is what compelled the Seahawks to start using JSN more like a real WR as opposed to a low-aDOT gadget:

  • Weeks 1-6: 4.2-yard average target depth, 4.3% deep target rate (20-plus yards)
  • Weeks 7-13: 7.5-yard average target depth, 16.3% deep target rate

JSN still isn’t exactly being used like a prime DeSean Jackson — and that’s OK! He doesn’t need to be, but it was rare to ever see the rookie used downfield in most early-season contests; he’s flashed far more as a pure receiver in recent weeks. Overall, JSN has averaged a respectable 11 PPR points per game since Week 7 compared to just 5.4 during the first month and a half of the season.

An objectively talented rookie who was forced to start his career while mending a fractured wrist but now is suddenly seeing more volume and production than ever inside a potentially ascending passing attack setup with objectively the single-most fantasy-friendly schedule that the WR position has to offer over the final month of the season — is that something you might be interested in?

RB Kenneth Gainwell, Eagles

  • 27% rostered in Yahoo! leagues

This is a handcuff play here; for the love of God please don’t risk your fantasy season by playing Gainwell should D’Andre Swift be perfectly healthy come Week 15.

That said: Swift hasn’t been all that close to 100% recently, appearing on the injury report with an ankle issue in back-to-back weeks and getting JACKED UP (I miss that segment) at the end of the Eagles’ blowout loss to the 49ers.

Whether it was the injury or comeback mode game script: Gainwell worked ahead of Swift for the first time since Week 1.

Eagles RBs

Again, it's certainly possible Swift remains perfectly healthy enough to suit up the rest of the season, but God forbid something happens? Gainwell would instantly be in the upside RB2 conversation with a projected workload of 15-plus touches against fantasy's single-softest schedule against the position in the fantasy playoffs:

  • Week 15 at Seahawks: 28th in PPR points per game allowed to opposing RBs
  • Week 16 vs. Giants: 24th
  • Week 17 vs. Cardinals: 31st

Additional upside handcuffs that are available in more leagues than not (of course, not YOUR leagues):

  • Falcons RB Tyler Allgeier (53% rostered in Yahoo leagues): Yes, Bijan Robinson’s utilization in recent weeks is borderline erotic. Also yes, Allgeier would be looking at a potential weekly workload of 20-plus touches against the Panthers (30th in PPR points per game allowed to opposing RBs), Colts (29th) and Bears (20th) during the most important weeks of the fantasy season if something unfortunately happened to the 2023 NFL Draft’s No. 8 overall pick.
  • Chargers RB Joshua Kelley (13%): Handled 14, 12 and 17 touches in three games with Austin Ekeler sidelined and gets the position’s second-easiest schedule in Weeks 15 to 17 against the Raiders (27th), Bills (21st) and Broncos (32nd).
  • 49ers RB Elijah Mitchell (17%): Obviously this run game revolves around Christian McCaffrey for the time being, but Mitchell is one injury away from entering the upside RB2 conversation ahead of potential smash spots and/or shootouts against the Cardinals (31st), Ravens (11th) and Commanders (23rd).

Also don’t forget about Week 14 waiver wire targets Tyjae Spears, Ezekiel Elliott and Antonio Gibson, although acquiring their services figures to be a bit tougher given the amount of attention on each at the moment.

WR Rondale Moore, Cardinals

  • 12% rostered in Yahoo! leagues

Honestly, we can go with any of the Cardinals’ complementary receivers here; just realize the potential return of Michael Wilson (groin) after the team’s Week 14 bye would seemingly force Greg Dortch back into a clear-cut backup role. Also keep an eye on the health of Marquise Brown (heel), who was badly hobbled in Week 13 and hasn’t been able to practice much in recent weeks.

I get it — none of these secondary WRs look like smash plays in the fantasy playoffs. Hopefully you do have better options, but guess what? Beggars can’t be choosers in multi-FLEX formats or 14-plus team formats, so that’s why we’re targeting these sort of full-time players in hopefully ascending passing attacks with quality fantasy playoff matchups.

Seriously: The Cardinals get three straight matchups against teams with 1.) Statistically poor defenses in PPR points per game allowed against WRs, and 2.) Offenses that have proven capable of holding their own in a back-and-forth shootout — especially against a bad defense like the Cardinals. 

Overall, Hollywood and company get to feast on the position’s second-easiest schedule in Weeks 15 to 17:

  • Week 15 vs. 49ers: 25th in PPR points per game allowed to WRs
  • Week 16 at Bears: 16th
  • Week 17 at Eagles: 32nd

While the returns on Kyler Murray as a passer weren’t great in his first three games back from injury, he made a pair of great deep throws to Moore in Week 13. One bomb down the middle of the field was sadly dropped, while the other was caught for a 33-yard TD … only to be nullified on a ticky-tack holding call.

Credit to second-year TE Trey McBride for emerging as the most productive member of this passing game in recent weeks — his presence makes it tough to feel GREAT about the leftover volume for WRs. Reminder: WRs checking every box that fantasy managers could ever hope for aren’t available on your waiver wire in the first place, but these complementary Cardinals options do indeed check three key boxes by:

  1. Being relatively good at football.
  2. Playing in an ascending passing environment.
  3. Participating against opponents with a bad defense against the position *and* good scoring offense.
JSN