The Cincinnati Bengals will face the Tennessee Titans in Week 15. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Bengals and Titans skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 15 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Joe Burrow, QB | CIN
Joe Burrow is having a career year (pace: 4,846 yards and 43 TDs), and just about nothing can slow him down at this point as the offense is scheming around his strengths. Tee Higgins and Mike Gesicki have plenty of room to be more involved, giving Burrow plenty of production outs should a team unearth a way to slow Ja’Marr Chase.
The counting numbers for the Titans’ defense look good, but that’s the result of limited volume. Through 14 weeks, they allow touchdown passes at the 10th highest rate in the league, and we know that this Bengals’ offense is going to challenge the end zone through the air.
Will Levis, QB | TEN
Will Levis again hurt his throwing shoulder on Sunday. While he was able to ultimately return, this season isn’t going anywhere, and that puts his status in question should anything flare up during the work week.
What is Levis but a higher-pedigree Cooper Rush with a lifetime mayonnaise deal? With a similar size profile, he has a slightly higher career passer rating and a slightly lower TD/INT rate. In a vacuum, maybe I take Levis, but the point remains that they aren’t all that different.
- Rush vs. Bengals, Week 14: 31 passes, 183 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception
Any issues with that general projection for Levis? That was QB18 last week, a week in which Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson, Drake Maye, and Bo Nix were sitting at home on a bye.
I understand the idea of wanting to stream in this direction if we get a clean bill of health mid-week, but I think absorbing more risk than reward potential.
Chase Brown, RB | CIN
Chase Brown is the first player with 12+ carries AND 30+ receiving yards in five straight games since Saquon Barkley did it in 2018 for the Giants. Take it a step further and extend his numbers from that stretch, and we’re looking at 1,278 rushing yards and 95 catches.
Two players in the history of this great game have produced that stat line in a single season: LaDainian Tomlinson (2003) and Christian McCaffrey (2019).
Joe Burrow gets all of the attention, but Brown’s versatility and volume might be more valuable in fantasy circles, given the price paid on draft day. The Bengals aren’t likely to impact the NFL postseason, but I very much expect them to be involved with how fantasy leagues finish.
Tony Pollard, RB | TEN
Tony Pollard hasn’t been the picture of efficiency, but he has more 10+ yard rush attempts over the past three weeks than carries that have failed to gain yardage and is averaging over two red-zone touches per game.
He’s projected to score 16.5 points in PPR formats this week. This includes 76 rushing yards, 3.5 receptions, and 0.5 total touchdowns.
Tyjae Spears, RB | TEN
Tyjae Spears touched the ball seven times in the loss to the Jaguars and netted as many yards, and Tony Pollard had touches (23).
I continue to think that Spears is an interesting long-term option should he ever be given the lion’s share of a backfield, but with Pollard signed for another two seasons, that time doesn’t appear to be close.
Calvin Ridley, WR | TEN
You can be worried about this Titans passing game all you want, but you can’t sweat Calvin Ridley’s usage. The team’s clear-cut WR1 has caught a deep pass in six of his past seven games and, since the middle of October, has five games with at least five targets 15+ yards downfield.
We obviously want to marry quality and quantity when it comes to targets, but a high number of chances can be enough when discussing an elite athlete like Ridley.
Last week, we got more evidence that the Bengals still lack the ability to take away top options. The similarly limited Cowboys marched down the field to open Monday Night Football with three of Cooper Rush’s completions, including the 11-yard touchdown, going in the direction you’d expect — CeeDee Lamb.
Lamb finished with the best WR stat line produced against the Bengals this season and continued the theme of big-play receivers piling up PPR points against Cincy.
The QB limitations make it impossible for me to rank Ridley as a WR1, but he’s a rock-solid WR2 whom I rank in the same range as other stars in limited offenses (Malik Nabers and Davante Adams).
Ja’Marr Chase, WR | CIN
I could “stat” you to death about Ja’Marr Chase’s Week 14, past month, or his 2024 season, but I’m already asking you to do a lot of reading, so let’s just relive Monday night together in 120 enjoyable seconds.
Every catch from Ja'Marr Chase's monster night on MNF:
🐅 14 catches
🐅 177 yards
🐅 2 TD pic.twitter.com/v0Wh55L6k4— NFL (@NFL) December 10, 2024
He’s the first Bengal with 75 receiving yards and a touchdown reception in four straight games since Chad Johnson did it in 2004, and the history-making doesn’t figure to slow given his connection with Joe Burrow.
Could he be fantasy football’s 1.01 for 2025?
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, WR | TEN
It’s almost like relying on touchdowns in a below-average offense is a risky maneuver. Go figure.
On Sunday against the Jags, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine earned just a pair of targets on his 31 routes. He’s just not a fantasy asset without chunk plays, and as long as he relies on Will Levis for those opportunities, this is an uphill battle.
An uphill battle, on ice, while trying to juggle flaming bowling pins.
On a unicycle.
For the season, Westbrook-Ikhine is averaging 2.4 PPR points per game not scored on touchdowns. Hard pass.
Tee Higgins, WR | CIN
Was Tee Higgins out there on Monday Night Football?
I’m aware that he had two catches (23 yards) and Joe Burrow missed him on an end-zone target in single coverage that is a touchdown more often than not, but Higgins’ impact was minimal in what looked like a good spot against the Cowboys.
Sadly, we get these stinkers from Higgins on occasion. Week 14 was the fifth time since the beginning of last season in which the star receiver averaged under one yard per route run, a level of production that has kept him from ascending into the top 15 at the position on a regular basis.
I expect enough of a bounce-back to justify a starting rank, but I don’t think we’re getting two weeks’ worth of production in a four-quarter stretch. The Titans are vulnerable on the ground, and when opponents take to the air, it’s usually not too far downfield.
Normally, that would green-light me to start players next to a player like Ja’Marr Chase, who is capable of taking the top off of any defense. However, Higgins’ aDOT is actually 21.1% higher than that of his alpha teammate this season.
The Giants have a similar defensive profile as the Titans’, and Higgins turned seven targets into 77 yards against New York back in Week 6. I think that makes for a reasonable projection and is viable, even if not matchup-deciding.
Mike Gesicki, TE | CIN
Mike Gesiciki’s status in the NFL is based on him being a plus route runner for the position, and while we’ve seen that ring true at times this season (96.8% of his snaps have seen him run a route), that’s a skill that only matters for us if he is on the field.
- Week 14 at Dallas Cowboys: 29.2% snap share
That’s a third straight game of decline; while it was a nice run, he is firmly off of the acceptable streaming radar. Chig Okonkwo and Grant Calcaterra are two options that I’d prefer without a second thought this week and moving forward.
