Waiver Wire Pickups: Week 16

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Week 16 Waiver Wire Pickups

Championship week is here. Hopefully, you are still playing in your fantasy leagues and you have made it into the final round!

Last week’s article featured some nice plays with Blake Bortles, Nick Foles, Mike Wallace, and the New Orleans D/ST. Unfortunately, those who picked up Dede Westbrook fell to the wrath of Keelan Cole and Jaydon Mickens who both had dominating fantasy performances.

But that was last week and it is time to move on. Week 16 is here and you need to be ready because you will be up against a tough opponent for sure.

Key Tips:

• Pick up guys to block your opponents. Take a careful look at your opposition that you will be facing and try to predict who they will be targeting. Make your prediction and pick those guys up!

*Drum roll* Introducing the waiver wire pickups for Week 16!

Week 16 Waiver Wire Quarterbacks

Blake Bortles

Quarterback | JAX

• ESPN: Less than 40% owned
• Yahoo: Less than 54% owned

Somehow in ESPN leagues, Bortles is owned less than Nick Foles. The Jacksonville quarterback has been on fire over the past four weeks. Averaging over 22 fantasy points per game over that time frame, Bortles is still a must-add for any quarterback-needy teams. His next game is versus 49ers on the road who over the past two weeks, allowed 18 plus fantasy points to the likes of Marcus Mariota and T.J. Yates. Bortles should have a productive outing against a subpar pass defense. His stock further rises if Fournette remains sidelined.

Nick Foles

Quarterback | PHI

• ESPN: Less than 45% owned
• Yahoo: Less than 27% owned

How much do the Eagles really miss Carson Wentz? Well…they sure did not miss him on Sunday as Nick Foles lit up the Giants defense for 237 yards and four touchdowns. The matchup was very favorable versus New York, and in Week 16 the Eagles will be taking on the Oakland Raiders atrocious defense at home.  If he is on the waiver wire still, you best be grabbing him!

Jameis Winston

Quarterback | TB

• ESPN: Less than 57% owned
• Yahoo: Less than 54% owned

Available in many leagues entering Week 16, Jameis Winston is definitely worth targeting on the waiver wire. Over the past three weeks since returning from his injury he has averaged over 19 fantasy points per game. His matchup versus the Panthers could also be great. The Panthers over the past five weeks have allowed on average over 20 fantasy points to the QB position. The game script could most certainly be negative as well, so Winston may be forced to throw to keep up with the Panthers high-powered offense.

Week 16 Waiver Wire Running Backs

Mike Gillislee

Running Back | NE

• ESPN: Less than 18% owned
• Yahoo: Less than 27% owned

Bill Belichick hates your fantasy team. With Rex Burkhead out for an extended period of time, look for the Patriots to activate Gillislee on the roster for game day. Now Dion Lewis seems like the most probable candidate to benefit with Burkhead out, but Gillislee will get work in especially if the Patriots jump out ahead. The Bills defense ranks dead last versus the run, and remember this will be Gillislee’s first chance playing his former team as he was inactive in their first game. In PPR formats, James White needs to be added as well. He is owned by less than 53% of ESPN and 51% of Yahoo leagues.

Tion Green

Running Back | DET

• ESPN: Less than 0% owned
• Yahoo: Less than 3% owned

The Bengals cannot stop anyone right now, and I think that bodes well for Green heading into Week 16. The Bengals over the last two weeks have allowed more than 30 fantasy points to the RB position on a per game basis. In the past two out of three weeks, Green has seen double-digit carries. The Lions seem to be going away from Ameer Abdullah, and with Theo Riddick possibly limited to an injury, Green could see the lion’s share of the workload. Riddick is owned by less than 64% of ESPN and 54 of Yahoo leagues, so he is also an option to target if he is on your waivers or if he gets dropped.

Peyton Barber

Running Back | TB

• ESPN: Less than 18% owned
• Yahoo: Less than 16% owned

Doug Martin has been officially unseated as the starting running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was inactive for Monday night’s game for breaking team rules, so it just seems like his season may be over. With the Buccaneers in a lost season, it would only make sense for them to give more looks to Barber who has played well this season. He is a volume play at best versus Carolina however in Week 16. The Panthers defense has only allowed double-digit fantasy points to three different running backs this season: Alvin Kamara (twice), Mark Ingram, and Kenyan Drake.

Week 16 Waiver Wire Wide Receivers

Keelan Cole

Wide Receiver |JAX

• ESPN: Less than 2% owned
• Yahoo: Less than 6% owned

Keelan Cole continues to make big plays, but now with the injury to Marqise Lee volume will now accompany that upside. He has averaged over 21 fantasy points per game over the past three weeks, so you need to get into these flames. The matchup at the 49ers is also great, who have allowed over 26 fantasy points on average to the WR over the past two weeks.

Martavis Bryant

Wide Receiver | PIT

• ESPN: Less than 42% owned
• Yahoo: Less than 56%owned

There are two reasons, why Martavis Bryant could be a great plugin play asset this week. Obviously missing Antonio Brown is going to open up a ton of targets to Bryant. That being said combining an uptick in volume with his matchup versus the Houston Texans that have been shredded all year by big-play wide receivers, Bryant is a solid play this week for sure.

Week 16 Waiver Wire Tight Ends

Ricky Seals-Jones

Tight End | ARI

• ESPN: Less than 16% owned
• Yahoo: Less than 33% owned

Seals-Jones failed to be productive last week going with just two catches for 11 yards. However, in Week 16, he gets the New York Giants who have allowed 13 receiving touchdowns to TE this season. The Giants defense cannot cover the TE, and with Seals-Jones getting work in the passing game, I like his odds in the barren wasteland we call the tight end position.

Charles Clay

Tight End | BUF

• ESPN: Less than 38% owned
• Yahoo: Less than 32% owned

Volume is king in fantasy football, and Clay is the volume king in Buffalo when Tyrod Taylor is under center. Clay had nine targets on Sunday, so I expect that trend to continue when the Bills play the Patriots in Week 16 especially in the red zone. The Patriots have allowed the fifth most red zone targets to the TE this season and second most red zone touches. Clay going to be scoring some touchdowns this week!

Week 16 Waiver Wire Defenses/Special Teams

 

 

Thanks for reading!