Before I get to my Week 16 rankings, I want to put out a couple of tips and programming notes before you set your lineups. There are three games on Saturday with staggered start times. This means that there will be seven different lock times as opposed to the usual five. I always encourage people to try to keep the Saturday players at their primary positions if possible. For example, if you are planning on starting Deebo Samuel but value him as your WR4, you may be better served to start him in your WR3 instead of your Flex slot. This is especially true if you have a wide receiver whose status is questionable heading into Sunday, such as D.J. Chark. By keeping the Flex spot open, you increase the pool of players you can use there come Sunday.
Now that my PSA is out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff. Week 16 represents Championship Week in many fantasy football leagues. And what a long, strange trip it has been. From Andy Dalton and Case Keenum combining for 798 passing yards and five touchdowns in Week 1 to Brashad Perriman racking up 34.6 PPR points in Week 15 and everything in between, there have been many twists and turns on the road to the championship round. While Dalton remains a middling quarterback in fantasy circles and Keenum was long ago benched by Washington for rookie Dwayne Haskins, Perriman is likely to make another sizable impact in Week 16. Perriman has encountered his own long, strange trip on the way to fantasy relevance as the decade comes to a close.
For more help in sealing the deal on a fantasy football championship, check out our Week 16 Waiver Wire Recommendations.
Brashad Perriman Career Recap
The former first-round draft pick out of UCF missed his entire rookie season in 2015. He suffered a PCL strain on the first day of training camp and never fully recovered. He returned to play all 16 games in 2016 but was a distant third behind Mike Wallace and Steve Smith in the pecking order. He managed just 33 receptions for 499 yards that year, and things got worse from there. Injuries and inconsistent play plagued his 2017 campaign, and Baltimore waived him before the beginning of the 2018 season. Cleveland picked him and utilized him as a situational deep threat with decent results. But once they traded for Odell Beckham this past offseason, Perriman saw the writing on the wall and asked out of town.
He agreed to terms with Tampa Bay but did not enjoy much success during the season’s first three months. Through Week 12 (including a two-week absence due to a hamstring injury), Perriman had just 11 receptions and one touchdown. But a funny thing happened on the way to another season as an NFL bust. Perriman started playing better once the calendar hit December. In Week 13, he had a career-high 87 yards. That earned him a bit of trust, and the opportunity gods smiled upon him. The following week, Mike Evans suffered a hamstring injury that forced him out of the game. Perriman played 83 percent of the snaps and responded with a career-high 16.0 fantasy points. Last week he played 89 percent with Evans out and put up easily the best game of his career. He had 113 yards and three touchdowns, finishing as last week’s WR2 overall.
Perriman’s Week 16 Outlook
If his recent play was not enough to him more trust going forward, Tampa Bay’s other elite wideout, Chris Godwin, suffered his own hamstring injury which forced him out of action on Sunday. As of now, he is looking unlikely to suit up on Saturday. The Bucs also placed Scotty Miller on Injured Reserve with a hamstring injury of his own. Week 16 figures to be the Brashad Perriman show for the Bucs. Tampa’s tilt with Houston figures to be an old-fashioned shootout. Despite the recent injuries to their receiving corps and a broken thumb on his throwing hand, Jameis Winston has been airing it out. Winston has 914 passing yards and eight touchdowns in his last two games.
Houston’s secondary is hardly one to fear. The combination of Gareon Conley, Bradley Roby, and Vernon Hargreaves will likely take turns covering Perriman. None rank inside Pro Football Focus’ top-50 among cornerbacks. Hargreaves is particularly vulnerable in slot coverage. Of the 133 corners who have seen at least 20 percent of their team’s snaps, Hargreaves ranks 121st in PFF’s coverage metric. The former Buc has allowed 10.55 yards per target, which is a ridiculously high number. Perriman has manned the slot on 22 percent of his routes, a number that may increase with Godwin and Miller on the shelf. Even if Perriman is less efficient this week than he has been of late, the volume alone should be enough for him to be considered a starter in most formats. Perriman currently checks in at WR18 in my Week 16 rankings.
Week 16 Rankings
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