Riley Leonard, Devin Neal Pop Up in our Week 15 Fantasy Football Rookie Stock Watch
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Rookie's in the National Football League add a ton of intrigue on a yearly basis. We always look to them as higher risk versus reward option in Fantasy Football. We hope that guys like Ashton Jeanty and Tetairoa McMillan can meet their ceilings. We also look to sleepers like Shedeur Sanders and Woody Marks to be long-term solutions, especially in a dynasty format. They generally remain as volatile assets all year long as so today we track their stock through Week 14.
QUARTERBACKS
Jaxson Dart - High
Dart endured a tough matchup against the Patriots last week. It took until Week 14 for the Dart to record his first game of less than two touchdowns. His dynasty value is tremendous.
Cam Ward - Slight Rise
He seems to be improving as the year goes on. The Titans scored (31) points in their 2nd victory of the season. Ward had (2) Touchdowns.
Tyler Shough - Rising
Shough continues to impress many with no just his arm, but also his legs. Shough upset the Buccaneers last week with (2) Rushing Touchdowns. He looks to be the future.
Tyler Shough is the first Saints rookie QB with multiple wins in their first season since Archie Manning pic.twitter.com/fzzlHGrXc4
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 7, 2025
Shedeur Sanders - Rising
It certainly helped that he faced the Titans, but he did put up (364) Yards, and that is impressive regardless of the opponent. Sanders is catching the eyes of many as the potential 2026 starter.
Riley Leonard - Moderate
It looks that Leonard will make his late season debut as the Colts starter, if healthy enough to go in Week 15. He must not be started, but he adds some intrigue on a quite good offense.
RUNNING BACKS
Ashton Jeanty - Neutral
Jeanty has a tremendous ceiling as a potential RB1 in the future. As for now, the Raiders are focused on improving this team into 2026.
Quinshon Judkins - Neutral
His volume and skillset is unquestioned as elite. Judkins remains as an RB2, but very much with RB1 upside in 2026.
TreVeyon Henderson - Rising
Despite much concern on his workload all year long, Henderson is a Top-20 Running Back in Fantasy Football. This says a lot about the rookie and that he will trend highly in 2026 drafts.
RJ Harvey - High
Harvey is the clear RB1 in Denver, fending off Jaleel McLaughlin. He has (3) Touchdowns over his last two games while the return of JK Dobbins is still undecided.
RJ Harvey rushed 13 times for 60 yards and a touchdown against stacked boxes (8+ defenders) against the Raiders.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 8, 2025
His 10 successful runs against stacked boxes were the most in a game league-wide since Derrick Henry in Week 8, 2022.#DENvsLV | #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/al5VnGODMr
Kyle Monangai - High
He lacks too high of a ceiling with D'Andre Swift in the mix, but he is still playing as a borderline RB2 in a 50/50 split workload.
Woody Marks - High
He recorded a career-high (26) Attempts in Week 14. Marks is the high-volume RB1 for a quickly rising Texans team. If you play any Playoff Fantasy Football, Marks is very interesting.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt - Low
Croskey-Merritt has dipped to the lower-volume RB2 on the Commanders. He is unstartable with only 4-8 Attempts per Game, on a bad team, nonetheless.
Omarion Hampton - Rising
He is back with the Chargers just in time for your playoff run. Hampton scored a Touchdown and worked in a 50/50 split with Kimani Vidal. Soon enough, Hampton will be back to about 70% of the work, in our estimation.
Bhayshul Tuten - Low
Despite some stolen valor in the endzone in Week 13, Tuten lacks any great volume. He had (2) Attempts for (5) Yards in Week 14.
Devin Neal - High
Until Kamara is back, Neal trends very highly. The Saints look to be playing better on offense and Neal owns the majority work in this backfield. He has volume as high as some top-tiered Running Backs in the NFL. Neal is averaging (18.5) Touches per Game as the RB1.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Tetairoa McMillan - High
His streak of 5+ Targets ended in Week 14. McMillan only had (2) Targets against the Rams, but do not panic. McMillan will be fine. A bad game is due to happen to anyone.
Emeka Egbuka - Falling
He continues a stretch of bad play and drops. Egbuka does remain with 8+ Targets in every game since Week 6, so do not bench him yet. You should be mildly concerned.
Emeka Egbuka remembering at the last second he's on my fantasy football team pic.twitter.com/hlHpMeHUm5
— Chuck Bass (@ChuckFBass) December 7, 2025
Jayden Higgins - Rising
Higgins is the clear WR2 for the Texans, ahead of Christian Kirk. He had another (5) Targets in Week 14, pushing his streak of 5+ Targets to five straight games. Unfortunately, he is still touchdowns reliant.
Chimere Dike - Boom-or-Bust
Dike is a weekly headcase. In Week 13, Dike had negative Fantasy Points. In Week 14, he scored a Touchdown on (8) Targets.
Tez Johnson - Very Low
With Godwin and Evans back with the Buccaneers, Johnson is unusable. He had (0) Targets in Week 14 and (2) Targets in Week 13.
Luther Burden III - Very High
It looks that Burden III has overtaken DJ Moore as the Bears WR1 in the absence of Rome Odunze. It looks that Burden may remain as the WR1 through the Fantasy Playoffs as Odunze may miss the rest of the regular season.
Elic Ayomanor - Neutral
He did score last week, but still is mostly unstartable. He is very Touchdown reliant, and he did just score, but on (3) Targets. Ayomanor will be hopeful to score again this season.
Pat Bryant - Rising
Bryant had another (4) Targets in Week 14, in which he caught all (4) Targets for (32) Yards. He matched Troy Franklin in targets.
Matthew Golden - Very Low
Golden has missed three of his last five games. When he has played, he has not elapsed (3) Targets in a game since Week 7.
Isaac TeSlaa - Neutral
The Lions like the rookie as he has scored in back-to-back games. However, he is Touchdown reliant, and that is still not anything to reasonably expect on a weekly basis. He is essentially the borderline 4th pass-catcher on the Lions.
TIGHT ENDS
Tyler Warren - Falling
Warren still may be a must-start, but he falls in scary fashion with Riley Leonard/Philip Rivers taking over at Quarterback. He may be okay, and I would start him this week, but I would make sure to have a backup Tight End on your roster.
Harold Fannin Jr. - High
Fannin Jr. is the TE6 in Fantasy Football. He seems to have a nice rapport with Sanders as Fannin Jr. has (2) Touchdowns in as-many weeks. Fannin Jr. had a season-high (11) Targets in Week 14. His volume is tremendous and he may be a great keeper.
Tetairoa McMillan remained on top of the rookie receiving leaderboard during his bye, while Harold Fannin Jr. became the 4th rookie to crack 600+ receiving yards this season 🙌 pic.twitter.com/dtRV2XjPG8
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) December 9, 2025
Colston Loveland - Neutral
Loveland has worked into a solid, borderline Top-10 Tight End role. He consistently has had between (4) and (7) Targets in every game since Week 6.
Oronde Gadsden II - Falling
He seems to be in a performance downtick since his Week 12 bye. Gadsden II has (6) Targets for (2) Receptions over his last two games. I may bench him for the time being, but that also depends on your roster options.
Mason Taylor - High
He has really been up-and-down this year. Taylor was a must-add in October, and must-bench in November, and now he is back up. Taylor had (8) Targets in Week 14 and now has at least (4) Targets in each of his last four games. He gets a Jaguars team that is 31st versus Tight Ends this week.
Gunnar Helm - Neutral
He was hot for a bit there. Helm came down to (2) Targets in Week 14, but also in a difficult matchup (Browns). He may trend higher into 2025. The return of Chig Okonkwo did not help.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.