FanDuel NFL DFS Picks for Week 15

After some weeks with smaller NFL DFS main slates on FanDuel, we've got a whopping 13-game slate in Week 15.

Using our NFL DFS projections as a guide, let's take a look at some of the best daily fantasy football plays at each position -- accounting for salary -- on this week's FanDuel main slate.

Note: All stats come from NextGenStats or Pro Football Focus unless stated otherwise.

NFL DFS Picks for Week 15

Quarterbacks

Lamar Jackson, Ravens

FanDuel Salary: $8,200
Matchup: at CIN

The Baltimore Ravens' offense isn't clicking right now. I hope that scares some people away from Lamar Jackson this week.

Jackson has a dream matchup at the Cincinnati Bengals. Not only does this game have a lofty total (51.5) and close spread (2.5), Cincy's defense is struggling mightily. The Bengals' D ranks 30th overall and 29th against the pass. They're permitting the second-most FanDuel points per game to quarterbacks (21.5).

Lamar showed more rushing juice last week than he had for a while, running seven times for 43 yards and a score. It's basically must-win territory the rest of the way for the Ravens, which could lead to Jackson getting back to his running ways.

Jaxson Dart, Giants

FanDuel Salary: $7,600
Matchup: vs. WAS

The New York Giants-Washington Commanders game has my attention. With a 46.5-point total and 2.5-point spread, there's shootout potential, and I think you can make a case for both quarterbacks. I give Jaxson Dart the edge.

Washington's defense just made J.J. McCarthy look good and ranks dead last both overall and against the pass, per our schedule-adjusted numbers. They're allowing the sixth-most FanDuel points per game to QBs (20.2).

Dart's running ability has given him an appealing fantasy ceiling, and he can torch one of the NFL's worst defenses.

Others to Consider

Matthew Stafford ($8,300) - On a slate with a lot of cold-weather games, you can avoid all that and roster Matthew Stafford indoors in what could be a shootout as the Los Angeles Rams-Detroit Lions matchup has a 54.5-point total and 5.5-point spread. Stafford is playing at an MVP level -- -180 NFL MVP odds -- and has two elite wideouts to throw to.

Brock Purdy ($7,500) - Most will look to the San Francisco 49ers' run game this week versus the Tennessee Titans, making Brock Purdy an enticing pivot. Purdy is getting healthier and just had a bye week to rest. Tennessee ranks 29th versus the pass, and you can even use Purdy alongside his RB.

Marcus Mariota ($6,700) - On the flip side of the Commanders-Giants game, Marcus Mariota makes sense as a value play. Big Blue has conceded the third-most FanDuel points per game to QBs (21.5) as well as the third-most rushing yards per game to the position (24.2). His rushing yards prop is 30.5.

Running Backs

Christian McCaffrey, 49ers

FanDuel Salary: $9,000
Matchup: vs. TEN

Coming off a bye and facing a bad defense as a huge favorite, Christian McCaffrey is the slate's top play. I expect him to be rostered as such, but he'll likely be chalk worth swallowing unless TD luck goes against him.

Among all players, CMC is fifth in the league in catches (85). The pass-game workload has been silly as he'd seen at least six targets in every game until San Fran's most recent outing.

Tennessee is 28th in overall defense and 26th in run D. The Niners are 12.5-point favorites and will need to keep their foot on the gas in a heated NFC West race.

CMC checks all the boxes, and you could argue he's under-salaried even at a $9,000 salary.

Saquon Barkley, Eagles

FanDuel Salary: $8,500
Matchup: vs. LV

We haven't yet touched on the Philadelphia Eagles, who has an attractive 24.5-point implied total at home against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Saquon Barkley is my favorite way to get exposure to Philly. Barkley is fresh off one of his best showings of the year as he went for 122 rushing yards and a score last Monday night.

It's fair to be a tad worried about the short week and the travel across the country from LA after that MNF affair. But to me, the combination of the matchup against a Vegas defense that is 23rd overall and the fact the Eagles are 11.5-point favorites makes up for it.

Kenneth Walker III, Seahawks

FanDuel Salary: $6,200
Matchup: vs. IND

Although Kenneth Walker III's role is rarely quite as good as we'd like, he's in a smash spot this week at home versus the Indianapolis Colts.

Game script should work in Walker's favor. The Seattle Seahawks are 13.5-point home favorites against an Indy team that may be rolling out a 44-year old quarterback who just came out of retirement this week.

On top of that, Indy's defense is getting worse as the year goes on. Dealing with injuries to key players, the Colts' D ranks 20th overall, and they haven't been the same against the run sans DeForest Buckner.

Walker's rushing yards prop is 60.5, and he has -120 touchdown odds.

Others to Consider

Jahmyr Gibbs ($9,500) - Jahmyr Gibbs' salary is way up there, and given how good of a spot CMC is in, Gibbs may slip through the cracks. The great DFS game environment in LA out-weights the difficult matchup against the Rams' fifth-ranked run D. We know what kind of ceiling Gibbs has, and a potential negative game script could lead to even more pass-game work.

Chase Brown ($7,100) - The return of Joe Burrow has given Chase Brown much better TD chances, and we saw that play out last week as Brown scored twice to finish with 17.0 FanDuel points despite mustering just 35 total yards. He's seen 11 targets across the past two games and is a modest-salaried way to get access to Cincy-Baltimore.

Woody Marks ($6,500) - With Nick Chubb exiting early last week, Woody Marks played a season-best 87% of the snaps and handled 26 carries plus three targets. That's a heck of a workload for any RB, especially one salaried at $6,500. While we can't just assume Marks will get that kind of volume again if Chubb is out, he's got -145 touchdown odds versus the Arizona Cardinals and is a quality value play.

Wide Receivers

Ja'Marr Chase, Bengals

FanDuel Salary: $9,200
Matchup: vs. BAL

I was really torn on whether to write up Ja'Marr Chase or Puka Nacua as the slate's WR1. Both are superb plays in great DFS environments, but with Tee Higgins (concussion) looking iffy, I lean Chase.

Chase just saw the Ravens two games ago and lit them up for seven catches and 110 yards on 14 targets. He's seen at least eight targets in every game since Week 3, and while Chase hasn't touched paydirt in five straight, it's only a matter of time until he gets back in the end zone.

Oddsmakers like his TD chances this week as Chase is -185 to score with a receiving yards prop of 91.5.

Michael Wilson, Cardinals

FanDuel Salary: $7,000
Matchup: at HOU

As of Thursday, Marvin Harrison Jr. isn't practicing. That puts us in position for another week of Michael Wilson becoming Jerry Rice.

In the past three games where MHJ has been out, Wilson has gone nuts, totaling 34.7, 19.8 and 29.0 FanDuel points while seeing 16, 15 and 18 targets. My goodness.

With that said, if Wilson is gonna be mega chalk again like he was a week ago, I'll most likely be light on him. Not only do I try to avoid extreme chalk at WR, the Houston Texans are the NFL's top-ranked pass defense. Fading Wilson could backfire, though, as it did in Week 14.

Khalil Shakir, Bills

FanDuel Salary: $5,900
Matchup: at NE

We're pretty far into this and haven't yet touched on the Buffalo Bills-New England Patriots game. With a 49.5-point total and 1.5-point spread, this game profiles as a sweet environment for DFS, and it would be the best game to stack on some slates.

Khalil Shakir hasn't topped a 50% single-game snap rate in either of his last two games. That gives him a scary floor. But Shakir has big-play upside and was targeted 10 times three games ago. I like him as a way to save salary while still getting access to a great game environment.

Others to Consider

Puka Nacua ($9,700) - As mentioned in the Chase section, Nacua is a superb option this week. Indoors in a game with huge shootout potential, Nacua has as high of a ceiling as any player on the slate. His receiving yards prop is a massive 99.5, and he's got -140 touchdown odds.

Zay Flowers ($7,300) - If it feels like I've written up Zay Flowers a lot lately, it's because I have. He keeps rating out as a solid midrange WR, and this week is no different. Flowers' receiving yards prop of 68.5 is 29.0 yards above anyone else's on the Ravens, and he's the best stacking partner for Lamar.

Ricky Pearsall ($5,700) - Ricky Pearsall is a hunch play for me this week. He's been targeted just nine total times across three games since coming back despite playing at least 75% of the snaps in all three games. I can see the Niners -- coming off their bye -- making an effort to get him the rock versus Tennessee. Remember: Pearsall came out of the gates hot this season, topping 100 yards in two of his first three games.

Tight Ends

George Kittle, 49ers

FanDuel Salary: $6,500
Matchup: vs. TEN

I want pieces from the Niners, a team with a 28.5-point implied total. It's easy to love CMC this week, of course, but I'm interested in stacking Purdy as either a pivot off CMC or stacking Purdy, a pass-catcher and CMC all together. And that leads me to George Kittle.

Kittle has at least 67 yards in four consecutive games, and he can feast against a shoddy Titans defense. Like nearly all tight ends, he'll need TD luck to go his way to have a truly big day, and he's got the second-best touchdown odds (+125) on the 49ers.

Mark Andrews, Ravens

FanDuel Salary: $5,300
Matchup: at CIN

Outside of Kittle, I'll mostly be fishing in the value pool at TE, and Mark Andrews is one of the tight ends I'm most into.

The matchup with Cincy is most of the reason why. The Bengals have been the worst tight-end defense in the league by a large margin, giving up 20.4 FanDuel points per game to the position. No other team has allowed more than 13.5.

You can make just as strong of a case for Isaiah Likely ($5,200), but Andrews' touchdown odds (+150) are shorter than Likely's (+230) while Andrews' yardage prop (39.5) is 5.0 yards more.

Others to Consider

Harold Fannin Jr. ($5,700) - As of Thursday, it looks like David Njoku is trending toward being out. Enter Harold Fannin Jr., who blew up for eight grabs, 141 yards and a score a week ago in a game where Njoku exited early. Fannin's receiving yards prop is 47.5, and he owns the second-shortest TD odds (+270) on the Cleveland Browns.

Theo Johnson ($5,200) - With Dart being such an impactful runner, you don't have to stack him. But I don't mind the idea of pairing Dart with Theo Johnson. The Commanders are giving up the second-most FanDuel points per game to TEs (13.5), and Johnson has logged 25 targets over his previous four games.

Defenses

Kansas City Chiefs

FanDuel Salary: $4,200
Matchup: vs. LAC

The Los Angeles Chargers are having a tough time protecting Justin Herbert, which puts the Kansas City Chiefs' D/ST on my radar. Herbert was sacked seven times last week and has been sacked multiple times in all but one outing this campaign. KC is 10th in pressure rate and second in QB knockdown rate.

New Orleans Saints

FanDuel Salary: $3,200
Matchup: vs. CAR

Although Bryce Young has shown signs of improvement, the New Orleans Saints are a viable low-salary D/ST. Young has throw two picks over his last three games while being sacked eight times in that stretch. I like the idea of punting at defense this week, and the Saints are my favorite punt play.

Others to Consider

Seattle Seahawks ($5,000) - I'm not going to spend this much salary on a defense. With that said, there's no denying how great of a spot this is for the Seahawks. They're at home and -- as of Thursday -- will be facing either a rookie making his first NFL start (Riley Leonard) or a guy who was retired at this time a week ago (Philip Rivers). Yes, please.

New York Giants ($3,300) - Even though I'm into Mariota and the Commanders' offense, the Giants' D/ST is worth a look, too. The G-Men are at home against a backup QB, and Mariota has taken multiple sacks in four of six starts with seven picks and four fumbles in nine total appearances this year.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.