This week's Close Calls are the closest of them all. Nip and tuck. Hairbreadth, even.
Because Week 14 is for all the marbles.
OK, maybe not all the marbles. More like the opportunity for marbles. For many fantasy managers, the playoffs have already started, even if the playoffs don't start until next week. Fantasy leagues have no shortage of 7-6 teams clinging to postseason aspirations by a thread. For them, the math this week is so simple that even I understand it. Find a way to win, and it's on to the playoffs. Lose this week, and that's it. Season's over. Time to clean out their lockers and pack it in until 2026.
And for those 7-6 teams, there's certainly at least one Close Call this week. If their lineups were loaded with no-brainer starters, they probably wouldn't be 7-6 to begin with. Make the wrong call, and all the research and drafting and roster management of the past several months was for nothing.
The pressure is intense. The heat is dialed up. It's enough to make you crazy.
You think that looks scary? I lived through the 1980s. It was—yeah.
But fear not, valued reader! Close Calls is here to save the day! To provide you with the information you need to survive this most treacherous of weeks and advance to the postseason!
Hooray!
Of course, that assumes I'll be right about these. And if you have been reading this column for any amount of time, you know that is a dangerous assumption.
But here goes nothing.
Every week here at Footballguys, Close Calls will make a case for a pair of closely-ranked fantasy options—and then make the call on which player will be more productive.
For the sake of this exercise, we'll only consider quarterbacks and tight ends outside the top 10, running backs outside the top 20, and wide receivers outside the top 30 in the Footballguys Weekly Rankings.
Week 14 Close Calls
Sam Darnold, Seattle (QB17) vs. Caleb Williams, Chicago (QB18)
The Case for Darnold: Think that the Minnesota Vikings wish they had chosen differently last spring? Darnold is leading another team toward the playoffs—he's seventh in the league with 2,913 passing yards. He's sixth in completion percentage. Darnold's 9.0 yards per attempt leads the NFL. He's top-10 in touchdown passes, and while the Falcons are eighth in the league in pass defense, that Atlanta pass defense has backslid in recent weeks.
The Case for Williams: Williams' numbers last week against the Philadelphia Eagles may have left a bad taste in fantasy managers' mouths, but there's no denying the youngster has made strides in his second season in the league—his completion percentage is actually a little lower, but outside that Williams' stats are up across the board relative to his rookie year, as is his fantasy production. Williams ranks eighth among all quarterbacks in fantasy points—a full eight spots higher than Darnold.
The Verdict: Williams. Neither of these quarterbacks has a favorable matchup—the Green Bay Packers have allowed the sixth-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks, and the Falcons rank in the bottom half of the NFL. But this call boils down to game script. No team in the NFC has attempted fewer passes this season than the Seahawks, and it's hard to imagine the Falcons putting Seattle in a position where that would change.
Close Call: Devin Neal, New Orleans (RB23) vs. Woody Marks, Houston (RB25)
The Case for Neal: We admittedly don't have much of a sample size with Neal, and what he does have isn't great—in his first career start last week, Neal amassed 47 yards on 14 carries and caught three passes for 22 yards. The per-touch numbers aren't great, but the 17 touches are nice—especially with Alvin Kamara (knee) likely to miss a Week 14 tilt with a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that has given up the seventh-most PPR points per game to running backs in 2025.
The Case for Marks: Like Neal, Marks is a rookie. Unlike Neal, it didn't take an injury for him to start seeing a bigger role on offense. Marks has usurped the role of lead back in Houston, racking up at least 15 touches in each of the last four games. Marks is only averaging 3.6 yards per carry for the year and has just two scores, but in low-end RB2 territory, sometimes just having a back you know will see the ball 15-20 times is enough.
The Verdict: Neal. Marks is nursing an ankle injury, but it appears he'll be a go for Sunday's showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs. But if he's less than 100 percent, Nick Chubb could get more work against a Chiefs defense giving up the sixth-fewest PPR points per game to running backs in a game where Houston is going to have to throw to win. Neither of these backs inspires much confidence, but Neal is the better Week 14 play.