Fantasy football projections, Week 15: Saints-Cardinals featuring Drew Brees, Brandin Cooks, David Johnson, more

The Week 15 matchup between the New Orleans saints and the Arizona Cardinals features underachieving teams looking to finish the season strong. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Quarterback Drew Brees holds the NFL record for consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass. That streak was snapped in Week 13 thanks to the Detroit Lions. Brees finished that game with three interceptions and threw three more last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, marking the second week in a row he’s been held out of the end zone. It’s hard to envision that one of the greatest quarterbacks in fantasy football history could go a third straight game without a score. It just may happen in Arizona against a Cardinals secondary that ranks fifth in the league. Still, most fantasy owners should expect Brees to bounce back even in a tough road game. Just based on how horribly he has played over the last two weeks, throwing a pair of touchdowns and getting close 300 yards is realistic. Brees will come a lot closer to his projections than most people think in Week 15.

Improved play from the quarterback should also help wide receiver Brandin Cooks. He has 12 catches on 19 targets for 134 yards in the last two games combined. With Michael Thomas trying to overcome an injury and Brees unlikely to play as bad against Arizona as he has in the last two games, Cooks is a good candidate to find the end zone this Sunday. That’s something he hasn’t done since Week 10. With the volume he’s seeing, Cooks should easily be able to top his projections against Arizona, especially if he manages to connect with the quarterback for a touchdown.

With 121 total yards against the Miami Dolphins in Week 14, running back David Johnson now owns the NFL record for consecutive games with 100 total yards. He’s done it 13 times. Only four teams have given up more fantasy points to running backs than New Orleans. Johnson will be in sole possession of the NFL record by the end of Sunday’s game. He’s probably the one elite fantasy player who not only lived up to his pre-draft hype, but surpassed it. This guy is good for multiple touchdowns and 150 total yards in Week 15.

One player who could use a bounce back effort right now is wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. He was how to just three catches for 12 yards against the Dolphins last week. Normally a reliable option particularly in PPR leagues, Fitzgerald provides the most value he can when he sees double digits in targets. Overall he’s in for a solid finish to the season which should see Fitzgerald top 100 catches and 1,000 receiving yards. His only downside is the fact that Fitzgerald hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 5. Considering his usual level of production, Fitzgerald is a safe bet to surpass his projections week to week and he just may put together one of his better games of the season against the Saints.