5 Week 15 fantasy football waiver wire pivot options to replace Jared Goff

5. Mac Jones, New England Patriots

Jones had a nice-looking matchup in Week 14 against the Arizona Cardinals, and he promptly delivered less than 10 fantasy points (235 yards, one touchdown, -1 rushing yard). More precisely, 8.3 fantasy points in Yahoo! scoring and 7.3 fantasy points in ESPN scoring. But his matchup in Week 15 is hard to ignore within the realm of widely available waiver wire quarterbacks.

Entering the new week, the Las Vegas Raiders are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season (Yahoo! scoring, 20.48 per game). Since their Week 6 bye, six of the eight quarterbacks the’ve faced have put up over 16 fantasy points (Yahoo! scoring) against them. The only exceptions are the shell of what used to be Russell Wilson in Week 11, and Baker Mayfield on a short week with a new team in Week 14.

If there’s a head coach who knows Jones well it’s Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels, who of course was the Patriots offensive coordinator last year when Jones was a rookie. But Las Vegas does not have the talent on defense to implement whatever extra insight McDaniels has.

Adding and starting Jones in a fantasy playoff week, besides maybe (and even that might be a stretch) as a QB2 in a two-quarterback league, will take what “The Fantasy Footballers” podcast guys would call iron underpants. But there is a path to a solid floor here. If playcaller Matt Patricia loosens the reigns a little, the upside for something like Jones’ Week 12 performance against the Minnesota Vikings (382 yards, two touchdowns) exists too.

ESPN Ownership: 9.7%
Yahoo! Ownership: 18%