Fantasy sleepers NFL Week 14: Ten high-upside lineup plays

When the Saints turned to Shough, he was something of a curiosity for fantasy managers. The offense wasn’t very good and there was little expectation that he was going to elevate it. The best we hoped for is that Shough could be better than Spencer Rattler and make Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson viable. Alas, Shough has flirted with viability himself. He’s been above 17 fantasy points in two of his last three games and has a favorable schedule the rest of the way. 

But one thing at a time. This week, it’s a Tampa Bay defense that has been good against the run but soft against the pass. That’s convenient since the Saints can’t really run the ball. New Orleans is one of the pass-heaviest offenses in the league. It would take some guts to start Shough in one-QB formats, but he does have solid QB2 upside in two-QB or superflex leagues. 

The Shedeur Sanders DiscourseTM is exhausting but hasn’t impacted fantasy much. Alas, now Sanders is the Browns starting quarterback so there’s more of a reason to mention him. Last week against the 49ers, Cleveland ran a simplified, quarterback-friendly version of its offense. Nonetheless, Sanders executed it well. Hopefully that convinces Kevin Stefanski to put more on his rookie’s plate. 

Even if he doesn’t, a simple game plan could be enough against the Tennessee Titans this week. Don’t let Tennessee’s awful run defense distract you from its below-average pass defense. Seven different signal-callers have topped 17 points against the Titans this year. That might be Sanders’ ceiling in this situation. But if you’re streaming him in two-QB leagues, that should be enough. 

The quarterback issues in Minnesota have distracted from an otherwise forgettable season by Jones. The veteran back missed four games on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. Beyond that, he’s had limited usage and underwhelming numbers. Some of that could owe to defenses inviting the Vikings to throw the ball. Only Derrick Henry and Quinshon Judkins have seen a higher percentage of light boxes on their carries.  

The Commanders could be just the thing to get Jones going. Washington goes light in the box more than 57 percent of the time -- third-highest rate in the league, per Next Gen Stats. They’ve also allowed the second-most yards before contact. Jones has been efficient with his chances this year, averaging 4.5 yards per carry. With Kevin O’Connell looking for answers under center, the short-term option could be to lean on the run. Jones, who is day to day with a shoulder injury, has RB2 upside this week.

I’ve been talking about Corum a lot over the past few weeks. There’s a reason for that. He’s becoming an undeniable part of one of the NFL’s most productive offenses. Going back to Week 7, Corum has maintained a 33 percent snap share with 40 percent of the Rams' rushing attempts. He’s also earning half of L.A.’s rushing attempts inside the 5-yard line. When he’s able to break a couple of big runs like he did last week against Carolina, the ceiling goes up. 

He has a chance to reach that ceiling again this week in the desert. The Cardinals’ run defense has been treading water this season. It's average at stopping the run but gives up a lot of touchdowns to the position -- 15, to be exact. Only six teams have allowed more rushing scores to running backs. It’s reasonable to expect the Rams to rebound from last week’s hiccup against Carolina. If so, Corum should get plenty of work against a middling (at best) run defense and have flex appeal for deeper leagues. 

You can draw a straight line from the release of Brandin Cooks to the emergence of Vele in the Saints offense. The second-year receiver’s route participation has skyrocketed from 27 percent (Weeks 1-9) to 91 percent (Weeks 10-13). With that has come an uptick in targets. Vele was targeted just 13 times through New Orleans' first 10 games. He’s had 15 targets over the past two weeks. 

The Bucs’ secondary has been hit with some big plays by receivers lately. Sure, it’s one thing to be carved up by Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. It’s another thing to surrender 100 yards to Mack Hollins and 90 more to Tyrell Shavers. Tyler Shough is more willing to challenge downfield than Spencer Rattler. Look for a couple of vertical shots to Vele. That’s enough to make him a WR3 candidate this week. 

Franklin has shown nice development after an unimpressive rookie season. He’s already doubled last year’s receiving total and has at times looked like Denver’s top receiver. Unfortunately, his weekly volatility makes it hard to start him regularly. Look no further than Franklin’s four-point dud against Washington after consecutive double-digit fantasy outings. 

The Raiders can be the team to recharge Franklin’s fantasy batteries. Las Vegas has been a top five matchup for receivers for most of the year. It has also allowed the seventh-most yards to receivers lined up wide. That could be where Franklin makes most of his hay this week. But his ability to move around the formation (42 percent from the slot) means he has multiple ways to win. He could be a WR2 in most leagues this week. 

The only consistent thing about the Ravens offense is that it’s been inconsistent. Lamar Jackson is in a horrid slump and his pass catchers are suffering accordingly. Zay Flowers barely ranks among the top 30 receivers with his one big game coming in the season opener. It’s nearly impossible to trust anyone else. 

So maybe there’s a bit of recency bias with Likely. The fundamentals are weak. Almost 70 percent of his yardage has come in two games. The target share is low, and Mark Andrews, who agreed to a three-year extension with the Ravens this week, is sharing the work. But this is about the matchup. Pittsburgh has been a friend to fantasy tight ends as a top six matchup against the position. It has also deferred on tackling tight ends. Only the Bengals have given up more yards after the catch. If Jackson can hit the athletic Likely in space, he could replicate last week’s performance, justifying using him as a streamer in 12-team leagues. 

There are so many explosive parts to the Rams offense. It starts with Matthew Stafford delivering strikes to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. It includes the backfield punch of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. Lately, it’s also taken the stealthy form of the tight end screen. Explosive might be too strong of a word for that portion of the attack. But it’s been effective. 

Right now, the point man for those throws has been Parkinson. Without Tyler Higbee, Parkinson has seen a boost in targets. His role will prevent him from picking up a lot of air yards, but he’ll get catchable targets. He’ll get them against a Cardinals defense that has been a top-10 favorable matchup for tight ends over the past month. Parkinson is best used in deeper leagues, but he could give you low-end TE1 possibilities.  

The Buccaneers defense has become one that fantasy managers can target. At least with the passing game. I mean, you read the parts about Shough and Vele, right? But that doesn’t mean that same defense can’t occasionally bite back. Tampa’s 11 interceptions put them in the top 10 across the NFL. It also pressures the quarterback at an above-average rate. 

Shough should be able to make some plays in this game. For both teams. He’s thrown an interception in four of his five starts while absorbing 14 sacks. New Orleans’ inability to run the ball leaves its offense functionally one-dimensional. That should give the Bucs more chances to come after Shough and pick up points with sacks. This shouldn’t be the first defense you’re looking to stream. But in a pinch, it could get you through. 

My how the turntables have turned. We’ve targeted the Commanders defense all season long. For good reason. It has been consistently terrible against both the pass and the run. But styles make fights. And the Vikings' current offensive style is ungood. 

It wasn’t good with J.J. McCarthy. It got even worse with Max Brosmer. The Vikings turned the ball over five times last Sunday and have given it away 13 times in the last four games. They’ve compounded it by giving up 20 sacks since Week 8. That’s ... a lot of sacks. The Commanders aren’t liable to match Seattle’s 30-point effort from last week. But if you’re streaming, 8-10 points should be good enough. That seems like a fair bar for Dan Quinn’s squad this week.