The Minnesota Vikings will face the Chicago Bears in Week 15. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Vikings 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.
Sam Darnold, QB
Sam Darnold is coming off of the best game of his career and has been a top-12 fantasy quarterback eight times this season, including in each of his past four games.
He’s been nothing short of phenomenal, and while I want to bet against him, there’s nothing supporting doing so. He’s been exceptional against pressure (13.0 yards per attempt over his past four games with five touchdowns and zero picks), and that’s the calling card of this Bears defense.
In Week 12, Darnold completed 8 of 13 pressured attempts against this unit, and that was with Chicago successfully shutting down Justin Jefferson. Darnold is my QB11 this week and a part of a tier that ranges up to QB8. He’s the most reliable fantasy quarterback in this division right now, a sentence you would have never been able to sell me on three short months ago.
Aaron Jones, RB
Aaron Jones has produced over expectations in consecutive games after going through five straight underachieving performances. Behind the impressive season from Sam Darnold, this Vikings offense ranks third in pass rate over expectations, and Jones has been able to pay that off with an 86% catch rate.
We already have proof of production against the Bears (25 touches for 129 yards and a score in Week 12), and I’m inclined to think we see more of the same this week. This offense hasn’t been shy about loading up their bell cow with work (five games with 20 touches and six games with four targets), and that is the driving force behind ranking him as a strong RB2 in this spot as a sizable favorite.
The fumble issues are not to be ignored (four fumbles in the three games before a strong showing last week against the Falcons), but as long as he can hold onto the rock, he’s a solid bet.
Cam Akers, RB
Cam Akers remains the definitive handcuff to Aaron Jones and nothing more. He’ll slide into the back end of my RB2 rankings should Jones end up missing time for any reason, but he’ll remain comfortably outside of my top 30 any week that’s not the case — and that’s where we stand right now.
Jordan Addison, WR
There are three players in the league with multiple 8-130-1 receiving games this season — two of the names you’d expect and the other is the header to this section of this novel.
- Ja’Marr Chase (three)
- Nico Collins (two)
- Jordan Addison (two)
There is certainly a defensive component to that (four of those seven games have come against the Ravens or Bears), but there is also a specific type of receiver that is capable of rattling off games like this.
All of those WRs have a career yards-per-catch average of at least 14 yards with over 7.5% of their career receptions resulting in touchdowns. I’m not the least bit optimistic that Addison’s stock flirts with those other two names long-term, but explosion spots like what we saw last week are going to happen (8-133-3).
Addison was a star the last time these teams met (8-162-1), and with the Bears allowing the fourth-most yards per pass this season, that tracks. In that game, Justin Jefferson was held to just two grabs for 27 yards as Chicago devoted all of their resources to slowing him down.
If you’re optimistic that they employ that strategy again, by all means, fire up Addison with confidence. You do need to be aware of the risks that come with this profile — he’s been held under 45 receiving yards five times in 11 games this season.
He’s pushing for top-30 status for me this week, lower than you might assume coming off of the monstrous Week 14.
Justin Jefferson, WR
The national nightmare ended last week when Justin Jefferson scored for the first time since Week 7, hauling in a 12-yard end-zone target from Sam Darnold.
He added a 52-yard touchdown catch later in the game on a busted coverage situation, and we’ve seen scores come in bunches for the game’s finest receiver (he opened this season with a TD in four straight games and scored in six of eight games during a post-Halloween spurt in 2022).
The Bears took the Vikings to overtime in Week 12 by selling out to keep Jefferson in check (15.6% target share). I have no doubt that they will try to repeat that game plan; I also have little hesitation that Kevin O’Connell schemes up ways to combat that desire.
Whether you want to rank Jefferson as the WR2 or WR8 this week, you’re playing him with the utmost confidence and hoping he can provide you with a Monday night hammer.
T.J. Hockenson, TE
Fantasy football this time of year, more than any point during the first three months, is about reading trends and making a stand. In Week 5, it’s easy to slow-play a positive trend, wanting to wait for a true breakout before investing, understanding that time is on your side.
We no longer have that luxury as many leagues are in the playoffs now. T.J. Hockenson has posted a snap share north of 60% in three straight games after he was worked back into a full-time role with a sub-50% share in his first three games. He’s on the field consistently in an offense that we trust more now than we did back on draft day — that gives him all sorts of potential when it comes to your willingness to be loyal to him up to this point.
In comparing this season to last, Hockenson’s aDOT is up 11.8% without a dramatic shift in efficiency, a role that looks good on him with nothing but safe weather games to end his regular season. I’m encouraged by the spike in red-zone usage and am willing to label him as a potential league winner that you should feel great about playing.
Last week, while Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison were busy putting on a historic show, Hockenson still caught 80% of his targets, saw an end-zone look, and flirted with double-figure PPR points. If what we saw last week was something of a floor, I’m all the way in for this finishing kick as Minnesota jostles for playoff positioning.