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Fantasy Football Week 15: Start or Sit Alshon Jeffery and A.J. Green?

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:19 a.m. ET

Fansided, Dan Salem/FanSided via NFL Spin Zone

The playoffs are on the line and Alshon Jeffery and A.J. Green are now playing. Do you start or sit these stud wide receivers in Fantasy Football Week 15?

Week 15 of the NFL season is either the first game of a two-week championship week, or the first game of normal fantasy playoffs. Either way, it is as vital as any week has been this season. There happens to be two brand-name wide receivers returning to real-life lineups this week, which begs the question, do they deserve to start in fantasy weeks that will decide league championships?

Do you play it safe or risk it all in fantasy football Week 15? Should you start or sit Alshon Jeffery and A.J. Green, star receivers returning to action. The playoffs are on the line.

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem discuss Fantasy Football Week 15 in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

The first player up for debate is Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery. Jeffery was suspended four weeks for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy. His suspension is over, and he is allowed to return to the field. Matt Barkley has been pretty okay as Chicago’s starting quarterback; he could certainly benefit from having Jeffery in there, but is the reverse also the case?

Consensus rankings for this week hardly found a consensus at all. Rankings on Jeffery range from having him as the 10th-best WR to ranking him 52nd at his position. That is the difference between a No. 1 receiver and someone essentially unplayable in most leagues. Where does he lie? The Bears face the Green Bay Packers this week, a team that has relied on its rush defense to succeed, but has been playing well overall these past three weeks.

The other receiver set to (possibly) return is Cincinnati’s A.J. Green. Green suffered a hamstring injury a few weeks back, but is returning to practice this week. When healthy, Green is one of the half dozen best wide receivers in the NFL. No one is sure how healthy he’ll be by Sunday, though. Rankings are even more split on Green than they are on Jeffery. Green’s rankings range from, get this, fourth to 78th! For perspective, the fourth WR this week according to the consensus is Jordy Nelson. 78th is Russell Shepard, who is apparently an NFL wide receiver.

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What do you do with Green if you own him, but, presumably, found an adequate replacement these past three weeks? If he ends up being active, I think I would start him, but I would rather have Jeffery. At least we know he’s returning healthy, albeit unfamiliar with the Barkley-led offense. Both guys are tough calls with so much on the line, especially if you have a league-average option that has been filling in.

Dan Salem:

Presumably if you’ve reached the fantasy football playoffs, you have a solid roster. That means you successfully replaced Jeffery and Green in your lineup to some extent. As both players’ rankings indicate, the question is whether or not either receiver will slot back in as their teams’ No. 1 guy. Our experts seem split on the matter, which personally has me confused. Do not take the risk in the playoffs with either Jeffery or Green. They are not primary options for their football teams here in Week 15.

Both the Bears and Bengals are playing for just pride at this point against divisional opponents aiming for the playoffs. While playing spoiler is fun, not getting hurt is way more valuable. Jeffery and the Bears are a bad football team playing the hottest team in the league in a must win game for Green Bay. At best, Jeffery finds the end zone once and gets five or six targets for 50 yards. His team ranks dead middle in terms of passing offense, but will be playing from behind in this football game. For me this comes down to trusting Matt Barkley, a developing quarterback who has no pre-existing chemistry with Jeffery. I do not trust Barkley to get him the ball.

Jeffery is a boom or bust player in fantasy football Week 15, and that is a recipe for disaster in the playoffs. Green Bay will certainly attempt to remove him from the game, figuratively of course, as he’s the most dangerous receiving target on the field for Chicago. That assumes Barkley can get him the ball in the first place. Don’t trust the Bears.

Cincinnati presents a slightly different story with a similar ending. While I was encouraged by the Bengals offense last week, they played the worst team in the entire league. Now Pittsburgh comes to town needing to win to keep their playoff hopes in tact. I see no reason why Cincinnati allows Green to play, let alone uses him as anything more than a decoy on the field. Hamstring injuries are the easiest to aggravate. Why risk Green’s health going forward in a meaningless football game? I believe the Bengals got him back into practice so he can stay conditioned, but also to force their opponent to prepare for a player unlikely to see the field.

Leave Green on your bench this week. His upside is too low and the downside of starting him is obvious. At least Jeffery presents a high upside, however unlikely. Both players have a high probability of disappointing you. Don’t let that happen in the playoffs.