#Jalen Hurts creates quarterback dilemmas

The Post is fielding fantasy football questions from readers heading into the playoffs to address your lineup dilemmas and more.

Mike Davis or J.K. Dobbins this week at flex? I have Cook and Montgomery at other spots — Ian Snowdeal

This is a wonderful problem to have in Week 15, as all four of these running backs are fantastic starts this week. Going to go with Davis assuming Christian McCaffrey is out this week, which isn’t a big leap of faith to assume. Davis should light up the Packers defense, which is giving up the fifth-most points to running backs this year. Dobbins also has a positive matchup, but has more competition out of the Ravens’ backfield competing with Gus Edwards (and Lamar Jackson to an extent) for touches.

What are we doing with Diontae [Johnson]? — @ClintsHints

Consider him a low-end WR2 moving forward. Yes, he was benched after two early drops in last week’s game, but he still finished the game tied for the most targets. He remains the preferred Pittsburgh receiver to roster, but JuJu Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool aren’t far behind him. There’s a decent chance you have to start him this week, where he should bounce back against Cincinnati’s middle-of-the-pack pass defense.

PPR. Start [Noah] Fant, Irv Smith, [Jordan] Reed or [Cole] Kmet? Going against [Travis] Kelce and need a BOOM — Phill Paik

Fant should be your best bet in Week 15 against the Bills, who are giving up the fourth-most fantasy points to tight ends this year, if he plays. His status, though, remains very much up-in-the-air as of writing this midweek after he exited the Broncos’ Week 14 matchup with a mysterious illness and hasn’t practiced all week.

If Fant is out and you’re looking for upside, I might lean Smith over Reed or Kmet in this spot so long as Kyle Rudolph is still out. Smith hauled in all four of his targets for 63 yards and a touchdown in Week 14 against the Buccaneers. This week, Smith and the Vikings face the Bears, who have been sneaky bad against tight ends all year and are giving up the sixth-most fantasy points to the position.

My receivers have faltered of late due to injured QBs, struggling teams, bad weather, or whatever other explanation. Who can I trust among: Tee Higgins, Chase Claypool, Jerry Jeudy, and Chris Godwin? — Dan Gerber

Godwin is by far the most trustworthy of this bunch, especially this week against the Falcons’ secondary. Claypool would be next, and could see more targets with Diontae Johnson’s drop issues. After Claypool would be Higgins then Jeudy, both of whom are droppable in shallower leagues at this point.

Last week you suggested Tom [Brady] over Cam [Newton] and Brady outscored him by 16 points. I won by 25, so you helped me move on to playoffs week 2. This week it’s between Tom and Jalen Hurts (I didn’t even consider him last week). — Jay Dozier

So glad to hear that worked out for you. Going to keep rolling with Brady, who has a cupcake matchup in Atlanta this week. I definitely see the attraction for Hurts, who far-outperformed expectations and finished as QB13 against the Saints. His rushing gives him a nice floor, but it is a small sample size and Brady has the better matchup this week. The Falcons defense is absolutely horrendous against the pass and is allowing the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this year. Start Brady with confidence in your semifinals.

[Deshaun] Watson (vs Indy) or [Jalen] Hurts (vs Arizona)? — Reynaldo Rojo

This is a really close call, but the edge still goes to Watson for me. In spite of a tumultuous start to the season and Bill O’Brien taking away Watson’s favorite target, he’s still QB7 on the year and has finished as the top fantasy quarterback three times this year. The only other quarterback that’s done that is Patrick Mahomes. The matchup is tough, but he didn’t kill you if you started him in Week 13 against the Colts. He completed 26 of 38 attempts for 341 yards, one touchdown, one interception and seven rushes for 38 yards, finishing as QB14 when these teams met two weeks ago.

On the other hand, Hurts looked fantastic in his first NFL start against the Saints last week and has an easier matchup this week. He completely transformed the Eagles’ offense, but there is the risk that opposing defenses will improve and adapt once they have more tape on him. I would feel more comfortable starting Watson this week over Hurts, especially since we’ve only seen Hurts perform in one game, versus Watson, who is a proven, blue-chip fantasy QB.

[James] Conner (at CIN), [Clyde Edwards-Helaire] (at NO) or Jeff Wilson (at DAL) at RB2 (yes, it’s really come to that)? Conner can’t ask for a much better draw, but he blew it last time they met. [Edwards-Helaire] has a bad matchup against NO, and Wilson vs Dallas D would be great, but [Raheem] Mostert is an issue. — @MRVBM

I would lean Conner here, then Wilson (especially if Mostert misses this game), then Edwards-Helaire. Conner burned a lot of managers last week by posting 18 yards on ten attempts in Buffalo and the Steelers have struggled to get their run game going all year. He’s in a great bounce-back spot in Cincinnati where the Steelers will try to stop their two-game skid on Monday night.

Wilson is an interesting case, especially with Mostert’s health. He saw 11 carries for 31 yards and a touchdown and caught a pass for 13 yards against Washington’s tough run defense while sharing the field with Mostert, who could miss this game with an ankle injury. The matchup is also fantastic, as the Cowboys are allowing an NFL-worst 30.8 points per game and are giving up the sixth-most fantasy points to running backs this year.

For Edwards-Helaire, the matchup is absolutely brutal. The Saints are allowing the second-fewest rushing yards and fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs. The rookie has also struggled since the addition of Le’Veon Bell and was completely boxed up by the Jets and Buccaneers over the last six games. Most managers aren’t in a position to sit him, but they probably wish they were this week.

[Kyler] Murray or [Justin] Herbert? I have [DeAndre Hopkins] and that combo got me here, but Herbert has a great matchup. — Chris Clark

Both are strong starts this week, though I would give the edge to Murray. The second-year QB has struggled slightly over the past few weeks in three fairly tough matchups (at NE, vs. LAR, at NYG), but so has Herbert.

Murray has been so consistent all season and is the top quarterback for fantasy ahead of Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers through 13 games. He has accrued 712 rushing yards this year, which ranks second only to Lamar Jackson, and gives him a nice floor for fantasy purposes.

Herbert has far exceeded expectations this year and is QB7 in fantasy points per game. He has a softer matchup at Las Vegas on Thursday night, but Murray is the better choice for your fantasy semifinals.

Do you think fantasy football curses are real? Top seed almost never wins in my main league. On a related note, looks like [Raheem] Mostert and [Ronald Jones] are banged up. Would you trust [Todd] Gurley in any type of role this week? — James Parziale

I’m not a superstitious person, so no, I do not think fantasy curses are real. What I think is more at play here is that seeding in most leagues is tied to record, not total points, which introduces an element of randomness due to varying strength of schedules.

As for your other question, Jones is likely out for this game after he was placed on the COVID-19/reserve list on Wednesday, and Mostert may not even play this game, which would wipe out two of the three choices here. Mostert underwent an MRI exam on Monday for his ankle after missing four games earlier this year with a high-ankle sprain. He was also absent from practice on Wednesday. That said, I have little to no faith in Gurley this week against the Buccaneers, who are allowing the fewest rushing yards per game at 80.9. Gurley is also banged up and has been terrible since the team’s Week 10 bye. If Jeff Wilson Jr. happens to still be available, I would definitely consider starting him over Gurley this week.

Not exactly what you asked for but would be cool to read, what’s your favorite thing about fantasy/favorite part of fantasy? — Ryan Warsen

There are so many things, but I’m going to start with the community. I have met countless fantastic people and made amazing connections since my first season in 2015. It cannot be overstated how much that enhances the overall experience for me.

Second, fantasy makes watching football so much more interesting to watch, especially as a person who didn’t grow up with a team affiliation.

Lastly, fantasy really appeals to my competitiveness and data-driven side. I was a math major and work in analytics, so I love analyzing player stats and advanced metrics.