It has been a long and grueling fantasy football season, but we have finally made it to Championship Week. If you have made it to this point, pat yourself on the back. This year, and especially the past few weeks, has been quite a war of attrition. Injuries have hit many teams hard, and the scoring barrage that took place over the first three months of the season has largely come to a screeching halt. Many studs have been duds in December. If you have persevered to this point, there is still one more hill to climb. My Week 16 rankings will help you put things into focus.
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Week 16 Breakdown
There is not a ton of news on the quarterback side of things. But if you had told me when the season started that I would have Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen ranked ahead of Cam Newton, Tom Brady, and Kirk Cousins heading into this week, I probably would have called you crazy. Such is fantasy football. My rankings do not differ terribly from the Expert Consensus Rankings at the quarterback position. In most cases, I would suggest starting whoever has helped you get through the playoffs to this point.
Derrick Henry has single-handedly put fantasy teams on his back the last two weeks. That is, of course, assuming that teams with Henry even made the playoffs. Henry had a grand total of 26.02 fantasy points through the first six weeks of the season. But the third-year running back has surpassed that total in each of the last two weeks. In fact, only 41 running backs have tallied more fantasy points all season than Henry had totaled in the last two weeks. Those who have him rostered should obviously start him with confidence and hope that he keeps his incredible run going for another week.
At the present time, I do not have either Odell Beckham or Keenan Allen included in my Week 16 rankings. Allen’s status will be known by Saturday, which is helpful for fantasy purposes. But he will be difficult to trust amid injury concerns and in an unfavorable matchup against Baltimore. The same can be said for Beckham as well with regard to both his status and matchup. New York travels to Indianapolis to face the Colts, who just shut down the Dallas Cowboys and Amari Cooper. Beckham has a 1:00 PM EST start time, so owners should know his status prior to locking their lineups.
For the second week in a row, I thought I was too low on the Denver Broncos emerging duo of DaeSean Hamilton and Tim Patrick. And for the second week in a row, I still have them ranked considerably higher than the consensus. Most continue to have Courtland Sutton ranked much higher than his two teammates. This seems like another case of us putting too much stock in potential and draft pedigree rather than on what is happening on the field. Sutton has been the least productive of the three in each of the last two weeks following the loss of Emmanuel Sanders. I would not ignore Sutton completely in fantasy this week. But if you find yourself needing a late replacement for Allen and/or Beckham, Hamilton or Patrick could help seal a fantasy championship on Monday night.
Week 16 Rankings
Mick Ciallela has been writing for FantraxHQ since July 2017. He has also written for Bleacher Report. He is a lifelong sports fan and has been an avid fantasy sports player for many years. Mick was the Overall Champion of both the 2016 Football Challenge – Roto and 2017 Play 3 Football contests hosted by CDM Sports. Mick was born and raised in Mount Vernon, New York and currently resides in New London, Connecticut.
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