Week 15 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Play or Bench Advice on Top Fantasy Football Stars

Week 15 of the 2023 NFL season is here.

And if you're here, that likely means you made it to the playoffs of your fantasy football league. Congrats.

That's as far as celebrating can go for now, though, as the win-or-go-home stakes leave us just one chance to get this right. Let's optimize your lineups, then, by laying out our favorite start and sit recommendation at each of the three marquee positions.

Stafford's season was spotty at times, but we're finally seeing the silly stats he can post with a healthy Cooper Kupp and the ascending Puka Nacua at his disposal. Stafford has 10 touchdown passes and just a single interception to show for his last three outings.

If it's possible, he could take his production a step further here. The Commanders have allowed the second-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season, per Yahoo, and gave up more than 240 yards and multiple touchdown throws to each of the past four quarterbacks they've faced, including Geno Smith and Tommy DeVito.

If you have Goff on your roster, you can credit at least some of your fantasy success directly to him. However, you should also know that he's stumbling through the final stretch. In his last four games, he's topped 240 passing yards just once while turning the ball over eight times (five interceptions) and being sacked 10 times.

Don't look for his luck to change against a Denver defense that has held seven consecutive quarterbacks to fewer than 18 fantasy points, including Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and C.J. Stroud.

As soon as Joe Brady took over the play-calling duties in Buffalo, Cook immediately started performing like an RB1. In his three games since the change, he's seen 57 touches and turned them into 343 scrimmage yards and two scores.

Usage like this can't be ignored, not even in a matchup as tricky as this one.

If you've been chasing touchdowns, Edwards has treated you well at times this season. However, he's now gone back-to-back games without a score and showed just how low his floor drops when he doesn't find the end zone. He has managed just 14 carries for 41 yards and a single reception for 11 yards combined in these contests.

Even if he scores, his role in this crowded rushing game is so small that he could still underwhelm as a fantasy starter.

Sutton doesn't quite see the targets of a number one receiver, but he's still posted some of the best scoring numbers in the business. Here's the list of players who've topped Sutton's 10 touchdown receptions this season: Tyreek Hill. That's it.

Sutton has a touchdown catch in seven of his last eight outings and has only failed to find the end zone three times all season. That has elevated his fantasy floor, but this could be a game that stretches his ceiling, as the Lions have allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to the position.

Nothing about Pickens' situation is encouraging right now. Not his quarterback (Mitch Trubisky), not his level of involvement (six or fewer targets in seven consecutive contests) and certainly not his scoring drought (zero touchdowns since the end of October).

This isn't a great matchup, either, although even a favorable one might not be enough to get Pickens off the flex bubble right now.