The Denver Broncos have Ronnie Hillman out and Montee Ball done for the season with injuries and that makes CJ Anderson, Juwan Thompson and Jeremy Stewart solid fantasy football pickup options to start in Week 15 along with Julius Thomas and Demaryius Thomas, as those RBs are best for Peyton Manning as the team takes on the San Diego Chargers in an important divisional matchup.
The Broncos have been dealing with injuries to Hillman and Ball over the past month and Ball has been in and out of the lineup for most of the season. According to Pro Football Talk, Ball is now out for the rest of the season after being placed on injured reserve with a groin injury. The groin forced Ball to miss time earlier in the season and that gave way to Hillman, who also got injured and that allowed Anderson to step up for Peyton Manning in the offense.
Ball came in as a rookie last season and played well behind Knowshon Moreno, but this season he was expected to be the lead back and he has not been able to stay healthy. Ball has averaged 3.1 yards per carry this season and both Hillman and Anderson have been more effective and consistent. Anderson is now leading the team in rushing, while Hillman put up over four yards per carry this season. Juwan Thompson is another solid pickup for the playoffs, but only in deeper leagues for desperate owners.
Anderson has played in 12 games this season and has nearly 600 yards rushing yards and four touchdowns and he has also made an impact in the passing game. Anderson has 22 catches for 238 yards and two TDs this season and this comes after he had just seven carries all last year. Anderson dealt with an ankle injury last week, but he still scored three touchdowns and was able to practice this week. Anderson has been very consistent in the second half of the season, rushing for over 160 yards in two of the past three games and scoring four touchdowns in that span.
Both Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas come in slightly banged up, but John Fox said that they are expected to play on Sunday. Manning can't afford to lose either of those players this week, as they are still trying to lock up home field advantage in the playoffs with the Patriots in the AFC. Hillman is questionable for this week after being out for the past few games and he has been solid while rushing for 378 yards in seven games this season.
Ball came in as a top fantasy option this season and now he is done for the year and ended up playing in just five games. Ball rushed for 172 yards this season with one touchdown and nine receptions for 62 yards on only 55 carries. Ball was able to play in all 16 games last season and rushed for 558 yards while averaging over 4.5 yards per carry and now he will try and bounce back heading into next season.
