It was a brutal week of injuries around the league on both sides of the ball, leaving a lot up in the air for fantasy managers heading into a pivotal Week 16. We'll break down the fantasy IDP side of things with the information currently known, but as always, it will be imperative to follow the news throughout the week.
Be sure to consult our NFL injury report and the latest fantasy football news before setting your lineups. Also check out the Weekly Projections to see how this week's matchups shape up.
Risers
LBThe Ravens have prioritized other players at inside linebacker opposite Roquan Smith at every opportunity, but Simpson looks to be in line for a significant role to close the season. Teddye Buchanan had an unfortunate end to his rookie season by suffering a torn ACL early in Sunday's win over the Bengals. Simpson didn't take over on a full-time role, but he did rack up nine tackles. Simpson has shown the ability to make it count when he gets full time snaps, as he's had at least nine stops in three games this season.
Both Muasau and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles returned from injury in Week 15, which set up a potentially ambiguous playing time situation in the Giants' linebacker corps. However, Muasau came away as the clearly preferred option, as he played on 79 percent of defensive snaps. Meanwhile, Flannigan-Fowles played exclusively on special teams. Muasau immediately logged a season-high 11 tackles and should be in line for a big close to the fantasy season.
Abdul Carter 
DE
Carter has earned a lot of negative attention in his rookie season, so it's only right to give him credit when appropriate. After logging only 0.5 sacks through his first 12 games, Carter now has one sack in each of his last two contests. More importantly, he's been credited with eight quarterback hurries in that span and looks to be settling into the NFL pace, even if it took a bit longer than anticipated.
SThe Titans have given some young members of their secondary an expanded role down the stretch. That began with Marcus Harris (hamstring), while Brooks was forced into action in Sunday's loss to the 49ers. Xavier Woods continues to battle a hamstring injury that has plagued him for much of the second half of the season, and Brooks played 76 percent of defensive snaps after Woods departed in Week 15. There are a lot of moving pieces due to the poor play and a number of injuries in the Tennessee secondary, but Brooks is at least a name to watch.
SSpeaking of beat up secondaries, the Lions have a depleted defense down the stretch for the second consecutive season. That has forced Avonte Maddox, featured in last week's article, and Hallett into starting roles. Hallett isn't even on the active roster; he reverted to the practice squad Monday, but he was on the field for 75 percent of defensive snaps while logging 10 tackles in Detroit's Week 15 loss to the Rams. Thomas Harper could return from a concussion in Week 16, but Hallett will produce if Harper remains sidelined.
SThe Packers had a rough time in Denver, taking a loss while also losing several key players on both sides of the ball. Evan Williams was among them, and early reporting suggests he could miss one or two games with a knee injury. The Packers have a versatile secondary, as Javon Bullard is capable of playing both in the slot and at safety, but Anderson stepped into increased role in Week 15 once Williams went down. This is a situation to monitor throughout the week to see if head coach Matt LaFleur gives any clues as to the team's projected personnel usage, but Anderson is the player to speculate on for the time being.
Fallers
Noah Sewell 
LB
Chicago had a messy linebacker situation after Week 14 due to the return of T.J. Edwards, but the situation became clear in Week 15. Edwards returned to a 100 percent snap rate, while D'Marco Jackson continued to earn snaps over Sewell. It appears that Tremaine Edmunds (groin) has a good chance to return from injury this week as well. If he follows a similar pattern to Edwards, Edmunds is likely to play around half of the defensive snaps before returning to a full-time role in Week 17. This is a situation to continue to monitor in future weeks.
Buchanan had emerged as a very solid contributor for the Ravens and fantasy IDP managers during his rookie season, consistently recording at least six tackles with plenty of more productive games. Unfortunately, he's now set to miss not only the rest of this season with a torn ACL, but also likely some of the 2026 campaign. Baltimore will likely be forced to invest in the position this offseason, as it doesn't seem to trust Simpson, so Buchanan may have a difficult path to returning to a full-time role in the near future.
Star pass rushers
Trey Hendrickson kicked off the week of bad news by being declared out for the season. Then, T.J. Watt suffered a collapsed lung during the week leading up to Week 15, and Micah Parsons suffered a torn ACL late in Green Bay's loss Sunday. Myles Garrett is closing in on the all-time sack record, but it was otherwise a tough week for some of the best pass rushers in the league.
