Fantasy Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame member Bob Harris and Gary Davenport have well over 40 years of experience as fantasy football analysts, with three Football Writer of the Year Awards between them. They know their stuff—or at least that's what they tell themselves.
Each week during the 2025 season, Harris and Davenport are going to come together here at Footballguys to answer five of that week's biggest fantasy questions.
It seems like only yesterday that Davenport was being wrong about Week 1 plays (didn't check—just assumed he was). But here we are. Week 14. The end of the regular season. And for many fantasy managers, this week has the highest of stakes. Playoffs or bust. Jubilation or disappointment. They need sound fantasy advice in the worst way.
Half of this duo is here to give it.
Drawn and Quartered
In a week where so many fantasy managers are in a must-win scenario, we'll keep things simple.
With the QB position more than a bit unsettled, who is your top play for Week 14 ranked outside the top 15 in the Footballguys weekly rankings? How about outside the top 20?
Harris: I'll start with QB16…Tyrod Taylor, come on down.
As Sports Illustrated's Matt De Lima suggested, Taylor's Week 13 performance was "more proficient than prolific" as he completed 19 of 33 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown. But as we often see with quarterbacks, it was Taylor's mobility that made him fantasy relevant -- or in this case, more than just relevant.
With 44 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, Taylor finished as QB5 on the week with 21.3 fantasy points.
This week, Taylor will face a Dolphins defense that's allowed 19.5 points per game to opposing quarterbacks, the sixth-most in the league.
Outside the top 20, you say?
Well, any opportunity to support young Tyler Shough. Wait. He's a rookie, but at 26, the Saints signal caller is older than Trevor Lawrence, Brock Purdy, Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Bo Nix, Jayden Daniels, and Caleb Williams. He's also going to be ranked below all of them on any given Sunday. This week is no different, with Shough sitting at QB21.
While the fantasy scoring hasn't been great so far, he's QB25, averaging 12 points per game since moving into the starting lineup in Week 8. Shough is QB18 over the last two games, scoring 13.6 points per game.
I know, not great. But there are positives. As ESPN.com's Tristan Cockroft noted, Shough, working in one of the league's pass-heaviest offenses, has posted the league's fifth-best completion percentage (68.2 percent) and seventh-best off-target rate (12.0 percent) during his five starts.
Better still, the Buccaneers have been one of the league's weaker pass defenses all year, allowing the third-most fantasy points (20 per game) to opposing QBs this season. They've been even worse -- as in the Worst -- over the last four games, giving up an NFL-high 25.8 points per game.
Davenport: Since Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers is right on the line of demarcation here at QB15 and everyone knows I'm all about being a stickler for the rules (Yep, that's me), I'll go a bit farther down the list with Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears.
Even if I'm hard-pressed to come up with a reason why.
The Green Bay Packers haven't been a good fantasy matchup for quarterbacks, allowing the sixth-fewest fantasy points per game to the position. The Packers have been especially stout defensively at home. But Williams is quietly eighth among quarterbacks in fantasy points. He offers some rushing upside. And the Bears aren't winning at Lambeau Field the same way they did in Philadelphia last week. If the Bears are going to log another statement win in Week 14, Williams is going to have to make that statement with his right arm.
Might as well keep suggesting quarterbacks with bad matchups and go with Marcus Mariota (QB22) of the Washington Commanders, who faces a Minnesota Vikings team surrendering the ninth-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks this season. Mariota has rushing upside of his own. He just dropped 349 total yards, two touchdowns and a QB3 fantasy finish on the Denver Broncos, who are an even worse fantasy matchup for the position.
Just make sure you say his name right.
Running Wild
There are always issues at running back, and this week's are complicated by the fact that Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers is on a bye.
Here we go again—who is your favorite Week 14 running back play ranked outside the top 25? How about a dart throw ranked outside the top 35?
Harris: I'll take the Vikings starter. I'm not entirely sure who that will be, but whether it's Aaron Jones Sr. or Jordan Mason, both of whom fall outside the top 25.
Jones, who is RB35, is considered day-to-day with a shoulder injury. He seems optimistic about playing, and if he does, I'm interested. That said, if Jones doesn't play, I'd be all about Mason, who currently resides at the RB27 spot (making it safe to assume our rankers think he'll be the guy).
As CBSSports.com's Jamey Eisenberg noted, in four starts for Jones earlier this season, Mason averaged 14.5 fantasy points with four touchdowns over that span.
Meanwhile, NFL Network's Marcas Grant notes the Commanders run light in the box more than 57 percent of the time -- the third-highest rate in the league, per Next Gen Stats. Better still, the Commanders have allowed the fourth most fantasy points per game (25.2) to the position this year, with nine different backs posting at least 13 PPR points, including three in a row.
Looking past that RB35 spot, I'll take a chance with Kimani Vidal, who is currently ranked as RB44.
Yes, it seems likely that Chargers rookie Omarion Hampton will return to action in time to play against the Eagles on Monday night.
Hampton, who has missed the last seven games with an ankle injury, practiced on a limited basis all last week, but he wasn't activated for Sunday's game against the Raiders. Vidal, however, came through in a big way with 25 carries for 126 yards and a touchdown.
If Hampton returns, as expected, it's fair to wonder how robust a workload he'll get in his first game back. At the very least, a split with Vidal seems likely. Whether it's Justin Herbert, who is coming off left-hand surgery (he plans to play), or backup Trey Lance under center, a run-heavy approach makes sense.
Unlike past seasons with Vic Fangio running their defense, the Eagles have been beatable on the ground this year. Philadelphia is currently 24th in rush defense with 128.9 yards allowed per game -- including Swift and Monangai running wild on them last Friday.
Davenport: So now Harris is just grabbing entire team backfields? That hardly seems fair.
What I get for being respectful and letting him pick first.
It doesn't take long for the running back rankings to start looking, um, not great. And here I go again with a player whose matchup isn't ideal.
The Los Angeles Rams have been solid against the run, allowing just under 108 yards per game. Only three teams have given up fewer PPR points per game to running backs. And after last week's loss in Carolina, the Rams roll into Arizona as an angry team. But while the Cardinals aren't winning, the team has been moving the football with Jacoby Brissett under center. And since assuming lead back duties for the team, Bam Knight (RB28) has peeled off three straight games with double-digit fantasy points. He'll get there again, even if it's in garbage time.
I could just finish flushing what tattered shreds of credibility I have left and pick Cardinals passing-down back Michael Carter as my deeper play, but for the first time this week, I'll go with a guy who actually has a good matchup.
Much has been made of Chase Brown's second-half surge with the Cincinnati Bengals, but Samaje Perine (RB39) hasn't just been standing around—he has double-digit touches in two of the last three games. Only two teams have given up more rushing yards per game than Buffalo. The Bills have allowed the fourth-most PPR points per game to running backs this season. And if the Bills build a lead and the Bengals have to play catch-up, their third-down back could see an increased snap count.
