Is Darren Waller Playing Tonight on Monday Night Football? Should I Start Foster Moreau?

Week 15 has arrived, and with that comes all sorts of injuries to deal with on top of plenty of COVID chaos, all of which has made setting fantasy football lineups really tricky. This is the first week of the playoffs for most fantasy football leagues, so it's crunch time, and making the correct start/sit decisions can be the difference between winning or seeing your season come to a close.

Let's check in on the injuries for the Las Vegas Raiders' tight ends and their Week 15 Monday evening game against the Cleveland Browns.

Is Darren Waller playing this week on Monday Night Football? Should I start Foster Moreau if Waller is out? Below we take a quick look at the updated injury status for Waller and attempt to answer these questions.

Is Darren Waller Playing In Week 15 Against the Cleveland Browns?

Darren Waller has been dealing with a IT band injury, which runs from his hip down to the outside of his knee and limits his mobility. Waller suffered the injury on Thanksgiving and hasn't played since. Unfortunately, he will also not play on Monday:

With the Raiders at 6-7, a loss this weekend might drastically dampen their playoff chances, which could impact whether or not we see Waller on the field again this season. He should still be held in all leagues, but obviously he's running out of time to make an impact in fantasy seasons.

Should I Start Foster Moreau in Week 15 Against the Browns?

In Waller's place, Foster Moreau has been the main tight end in Las Vegas. In fact, in the two games that Waller has missed, Moreau has played on 84% and 98% of the team's snaps. His two-game average of snaps played is more than any Las Vegas pass catcher, including Hunter Renfrow.

Unfortunately for Moreau, he has only had four catches for 47 yards combined in those two games. His 14% target share against Kansas City last week was third on the team, but his 8.3% target share against Washington was 4th. Hunter Renfrow is eating up targets (28% and 33%), which hasn't left much for other receiving options.

So, the target share is fine but not ideal; however, the matchup is a good one. The Browns are currently ranked 22nd in the NFL in fantasy points allowed to tight ends, averaging 8.9 points per game allowed to tight ends. The Browns also have been ravaged by COVID, with nearly half of their starting defense currently on the COVID-IR. Now, it's entirely possible that some of them are able to be activated before Tuesday's game, but that's a major unknown, and it would still be likely that they do not have a good percentage of their regular defenders. That makes Moreau a solid TE2 option, but his uncertain target share and the chance that the Raiders get up early and just go run-heavy against a ravaged Browns team limit his upside a bit.

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