2021 Fantasy Football Week 16 PPR Rankings

It is time for the next round of the fantasy football playoffs, and COVID-19 outbreaks are causing you to be without several of your top players! With that in mind, start and sit decisions have never been harder. The best resource to make those tough decisions? Well, I am glad you asked; my Week 16 PPR Rankings! Every week, I’ll be providing you with my personal rankings for every position, excluding defense and kicker, who will be ranked later in the week. Who’s positioned to do some damage this week? Who might not be the ideal player to start this week? We’ll answer all of that in the paragraphs ahead.

More fantasy football fun for Week 15: Waiver Wire | FAAB Guide | Start & Sit | Loves & Hates | Stock Watch | Sleepers & Streamers | D/ST Streamers

Week 16 Positional Notes

Quarterback

• Make sure to monitor Lamar Jackson’s ankle injury this week. You’re starting him if he plays, but if he cannot play, you’ll want to have a backup plan, similarly to what you did last week. Hopefully, that backup plan was Tyler Huntley
• The Bengals continue to not open up their offense, which is hampering Joe Burrow’s fantasy production. That being said, we hopefully will see them pass the ball at a greater frequency against the Ravens’ stout run defense.
• With how potent the Bucs’ run defense is, we could see Cam Newton struggle and be benched for Sam Darnold, who is expected to play on Sunday according to head coach Matt Rhule.
• Tua Tagovailoa, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Ryan Tannehill are interesting streaming options against middling pass defenses.

Running Back

• With JD McKissic (Washington) and Carlos Hyde (Jaguars) both being placed on injured reserve, the time has come for Antonio Gibson and James Robinson to be top-ten running backs the rest of the way. That’s what they are in my Week 16 PPR Rankings!
• Consider me slightly me worried about Alvin Kamara. He plays for a very inefficient offense, played a career-low 61% of the snaps, and is being negatively impacted by both Taysom Hill and Mark Ingram. He may be more of a low-end RB1 for the rest of the season.
• Monitor Joe Mixon, who is dealing with an ankle injury. He still isn’t featured much in the passing game, for some reason, and now has a very difficult matchup against the Ravens. That’s why he’s outside the top-ten in my Week 16 PPR Rankings.
• With Leonard Fournette being placed on injured reserve, it’s Ronald Jones’ time to be a low-end RB1; he won’t have the receiving production, but is the lead running back for a proficient offense. With the Panthers and Jets up next, he’s in a great position to shine.
• The Cardinals are going back to more of a backfield split between James Conner and Chase Edmonds. Conner remains the top option, but he played just 59% of the snaps, and moves into low-end RB2 territory.
• The Steelers have been putrid against the run as of late, making them a notable run-funnel. With that in mind, I’m expecting a big week from Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
• After playing over 90% of the snaps, it’s time to view Devin Singletary as a low-end RB2. The matchup against the Patriots isn’t great this week, but he’s still someone you could probably look to start if you had to.
• It’s clear the Rams prefer the power that Sony Michel brings compared to the potential explosiveness of Darrell Henderson. Michel should be ranked much higher than Henderson moving forward, as he is in my Week 16 PPR Rankings.

Wide Receivers

• Regardless of if Mike Evans plays, Antonio Brown is a top-ten receiver in my Week 16 PPR Rankings. He had received 32 targets in his past three games before injury and suspension as is, but now the team is without Chris Godwin and Leonard Fournette. Expect him to be peppered with targets.
• It’s clear that Davis Mills loves Brandin Cooks, who has double-digit targets in back-to-back games and produced with Mills early in the season. He’s a very high-floor option the rest of the way.
• After playing 96% of the snaps and DeAndre Hopkins out for the year, it’s time to get excited about Christian Kirk. Being able to combine his big-play ability with volume is a match made in heaven, and I’d be more than comfortable starting him as a low-end WR2.
• With three straight games with limited routes, we need to downgrade Chase Claypool. It’s a shame that this is happening, but his talent likely won’t lead to elite production for the rest of the season.
• Based on his past history, the presence of Drew Lock could be good news for Courtland Sutton, who could see more contested-catch opportunities this week.
• With Sterling Shepard out for the year, keep an eye on KaDarius Toney as a target hog from the slot if he’s healthy enough to play.

Tight End

• Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, and George Kittle are clearly in a tier of their own. All of them have quite the convincing case for being the #1 tight end this week, and are all matchup proof.
• Zach Ertz gets a major bump up with DeAndre Hopkins out. This means more snaps played due to less four-receiver sets, and he saw 11 targets last week. The Colts have struggled versus tight ends, and that could continue this week.
• Cole Kmet, James O’Shaugnessy, and potentially Evan Engram are the best streaming options with very favorable matchups this week.

Week 16 PPR Rankings

More Week 16 Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | Kicker | D/ST | PPR | Flex

• QB

• RB

• WR

• TE

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