We are finally here… Week 16! Way back in the summer when you started researching for your draft you did so with hopes of hoisting up your league trophy and exerting your dominance on all your league-mates. I know the feeling. In a home-league of mine that I have been in for over 10 years, I made it to the championship last year and made a public wager with my Fantasy BFF Frank Stampfl. Despite Todd Gurley doing everything he could… I lost and had to eat a peanut butter sandwich on YouTube. Side note: Peanut butter is disgusting. Like the most disgusting food in the world. But ever since I had to take disgusting bite after disgusting bite… I have sought vengeance. Fast forward a year and here I am once again in the championship. Just like you I am so close I can taste it! All we have to do is do what we do best… win one more Fantasy Football game! And I guarantee you a league championship will taste better than any garbage peanut butter sandwich ever will! Hopefully my championship rankings can help get you there.
However, just because it is Week 16, do not change anything. What you have done this year has gotten you to this point. Now, when I say do not change anything that does not include your lineup. I mean the strategy and approach that has got you here. No you should not sit your stud for some flavor of the week because of a good match up. Many people start to overthink the matchup once they get this far and it often leads to their downfall.
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Week 16 Advice
- Use your bench wisely. By this time, you should have a solid idea of who you are going to start. Not saying you cannot make a switch, but you may be debating between a position or two, not your entire roster. Those players on your bench that you have no interest in starting this week, drop them and make a strategic pickup. Does your opponent have Todd Gurley? Search the waiver wire for John Kelly, Justin Davis and C.J. Anderson. Add whichever of them is available, just in case Sean McVay says Gurley will sit and someone else will start. Josh Adams is questionable so grab Wendell Smallwood now. So on and so forth. Anything to give you the upper hand. P.S. – I have had Gurley his entire career in the league mentioned above and have to throw him back next year. Hoping he plays and we ride out into the sunset together!
- I have to decide between Philip Rivers and Lamar Jackson in a super flex and I am going to sit the safe veteran for the rushing ability of Lamar. Everyone knows that Jackson rushes nearly 20 times a game on average and gives you a floor of 60-plus rushing yards. The downside of that is the Ravens control the clock so long it limits the amount of plays for opposing offenses. Since Jackson became the starter, opposing QBs (Mahomes, Dalton, Carr, Ryan, and Winston have averaged 214 passing yards per game and just 12.36 fantasy PPG. It is a bad combo of limited plays and a tough opposing defense. Rivers is a high-end QB2 for me this week.
- Not only should Jamaal William be added, I believe he should be started this week as well. People on Twitter this week were pointing toward the first two weeks as evidence not to use Williams this week. That is bad advice in my opinion, as Williams faced the Bears and Vikings those first two weeks. Very, very tough defenses, especially against the run. But, Williams played 87 percent of the snaps in Week 15 and was the only running back to have a touch after Aaron Jones went down. Last year, he averaged nearly 100 scrimmage yards per game in games he had 10-plus touches. You want that volume, especially given that Aaron Rodgers said he will play.
- While Rodgers will play, the Panthers are smartly shutting Cam Newton down due to his shoulder injury. Anyone who had Cam in fantasy is likely eliminated given his down play the last couples of weeks (due to his shoulder, of course). Taylor Heinicke, who has attempted five passes in his NFL career, will start. I think the Falcons will stack the box against McCaffrey and dare Heinicke to throw. CMC will have plenty of touches, but I believe his efficiency will take a hit. He is still a Top-5 RB for me this week, but not the Top 2 guy we have had the last six weeks.
- Robert Foster is certainly a streaming option this week. Foster has had 90-plus yards in four of his last five games and 100-plus in three of them. He is Josh Allen’s top target and can be trusted this week. Week 16 is weird, right?
- Isaiah McKenzie is also a deeper league target this week. McKenzie had seven targets for a second straight week and caught six of them for 53 yards. He also may see a couple of carries as well. If you are diving deep, you can do worse than McKenzie.
Good luck this week and hopefully on Monday Night you will be drinking a delicious glass of celebratory champagne and not eating a disgusting peanut butter sandwich.
Week 16 Championship Rankings
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