Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Early pickups for Week 15

It’s never too early to look toward your next matchup and a chance to bolster your fantasy football lineups. Here are some options to consider for Week 15 — the first round of the fantasy football playoffs in most leagues.

Sincere McCormick, RB, Las Vegas Raiders (15% rostered)

McCormick is just the latest example of why it’s so important to stash backup running backs — or, in this case, the backup to the backup. McCormick has taken advantage of injuries to the Raiders backfield the last couple of weeks and has turned into a flex-worthy option for fantasy managers dealing with injuries of their own, or bye-week roster issues.

McCormick hasn’t been an absolute revelation or anything like that, but he’s taken control of the Raiders’ rushing work, and that makes him interesting for our purposes. He has a relatively tough matchup against the Falcons next week, but some juicy defensive opponents are on tap in the Jaguars and Saints afterward.

It remains to be seen when Zamir White and Alexander Mattison will return to action, but considering the Raiders are staring down another losing season — and they just lost quarterback Aiden O’Connell to what looks to be a serious injury — it makes the most sense for them to see what they have in their young RB. McCormick is worth a bench spot, at the very least. And speaking of backups to the backup …

Isaiah Davis, RB, New York Jets (11%)

Much was made about rookie RB Braelon Allen taking the lead in the Jets’ backfield after Breece Hall was ruled out of Week 14. The entire fantasy community was excited to see what the big, bruising RB could do in a lead role.

So, of course, as has been the nature of this season, we were all wrong on the player we agreed on.

Allen did lead the backfield with 11 carries, but it was Davis who scored the rushing touchdown, along with adding 27 yards on three catches (on six targets).

If Allen had scored the TD instead of Davis, we likely wouldn’t be having this conversation. Nevertheless, Davis looked at a near-even split with Allen, making him fantasy-worthy for as long as Hall is out — and hey, would it really benefit the Jets to force their star RB back onto the field when their playoff hopes are cooked?

Jalen McMillan, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5%)

The Buccaneers have been trying to replace the major loss of Chris Godwin for weeks. For a time, it looked like tight end Cade Otton would fill that role.

But rookie wide receiver Jalen McMillan might have something to say about that.

McMillan had the best game of his career in Week 14, scoring twice and leading the Bucs in targets with seven. And sure, three other Bucs players had three or more targets and three or more catches, but McMillan showed off skill and explosive ability, with his touchdowns coming from 15 and 29 yards, respectively. He’s fully on the flex radar.