- Isaiah Likely has an excellent Week 15 matchup: Likely has scored the fifth-most fantasy points among tight ends over the past two weeks, and he faces a Cincinnati Bengals defense that has allowed by far the most fantasy points to the position this season.
- J.J. McCarthy accounts for three touchdowns for the Minnesota Vikings: While McCarthy’s season hasn’t led to many wins for the Vikings, he’s been a top-12 fantasy quarterback whenever he has an excellent matchup, and he has three such contests to close out the fantasy season.
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Another week of the 2025 NFL season is just about in the books. Here are the players you should be targeting in your fantasy football leagues, including options for smaller leagues and deeper leagues, as well as players to avoid.
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QUARTERBACK
J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings (Rostered in 27.9% of leagues on ESPN)
- League Size: 10, 12, 14
- Time Frame: Weeks 15-17
McCarthy was one of several quarterbacks who were widely available and had a big Week 14. Shedeur Sanders, Sam Darnold, Tyler Shough, Aaron Rodgers and McCarthy all finished among the top 12 quarterbacks this week. None of them has shown any kind of consistency this season, and while Darnold has been the closest thing to a consistent fantasy quarterback, he has the most difficult remaining schedule of all quarterbacks.
McCarthy makes this list over the others thanks to the Vikings’ schedule. He has played two games in very favorable matchups, including this past week, and was worthy of being a fantasy starter both times. He completed 16 of 23 passes for 163 yards and three touchdowns while running six times for 19 yards. He did that despite Justin Jefferson not being very involved in the offense. He also accounted for three touchdowns against the Detroit Lions in Week 9.
The Vikings have the best schedule for quarterbacks over the rest of the season. McCarthy faces the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Detroit Lions, all bottom-four teams at preventing fantasy points to quarterbacks.
While there is a good chance that McCarthy will endure touchdown regression, he could see positive regression in passing yardage. Any waiver-wire target at quarterback is risky over a normal starter in fantasy lineups, but McCarthy has the most upside among those who will definitely be starting next week.
Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders (11.9%)
