Early in the week, San Francisco 49ers running back Jeff Wilson looked like a week-winning fantasy football waiver claim. The three-year NFL veteran appeared to have full control of his backfield and had an RB2 floor. However, with Raheem Mostert healthy and expected to play, fantasy football owners need to know what to expect from Mostert and Jeff Wilson in Week 15.
Fantasy Football: Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Fantasy Football Week 15 Outlook
Usage Projections
Kyle Shanahan is one of the best offensive minds in the league and is a master at creating yards for his running backs. Throughout the years, Shanahan’s lead running back has always been a phenomenal asset for fantasy football. This trend has held up in 2020, as Wilson, Mostert, and even Jerick McKinnon have had their moments of fantasy stardom.
However, trying to predict which running back will carry the load is never easy. Shanahan loves to switch around his running backs, and you can never be fully confident which guy will be the star on a week-by-week basis. However, looking at previous usage can give us an educated guess as to what San Francisco will do in Week 15.
Mostert and Wilson suffered injuries earlier in the season, but both came back in Week 12. During that time, Jerick McKinnon faded into obscurity as these two served as a two-headed monster. Since Week 12, Wilson has averaged 11 touches per game (10 carries, one reception) while playing on roughly 40% of the snaps. Mostert, meanwhile, averaged 15 touches over that same timeframe while playing on roughly 45% of the snaps. This is a 1A-1B situation, with Mostert the slight favorite for touches.
Jeff Wilson, Raheem Mostert Fantasy Football Rankings
Both of these players will receive touches, but will there be enough volume for either player to have fantasy relevance? To fully answer this, we need to look at what these two did over the past three weeks, and what their matchup looks like in Week 15.
Since Week 12, Mostert is the RB29 and Wilson is the RB41 is PPR formats. While this gap appears large, it really isn’t. Mostert is averaging 8.2 fantasy points per game since Week 12, while Wilson is averaging 6.4. While both players have left a lot to be desired over the past three weeks, there is a chance they could be relevant in the right matchup.
Week 15 provides that right matchup. The San Francisco 49ers go up against an absolutely atrocious Dallas Cowboys defense that cannot stop anything on the ground. Chances are, one of these running backs will find the endzone and give you a solid performance, but which running back has higher odds of hitting paydirt?
Once again, this looks like a split situation. Since Week 12, Wilson and Mostert have six and four red zone carries, respectively. However, it’s worth noting that Wilson had three carries to Mostert’s zero in Week 14, despite Mostert having the higher snap count (49% to 48%).
Ultimately, Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson have remarkably similar fantasy football outlooks for Week 15. If you have the choice, Mostert is probably the better play, as he narrowly edges out Wilson in snaps and opportunities. However, both guys are nothing more than touchdown-dependent flex plays.
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