fantasy football

Week 16 Fantasy Football Rankings Plus Ask Mike

/ by Mike | Leave a comment

This is a post to discuss Week 16 fantasy football rankings. I will update throughout the week as the rankings are posted and changed, typically from Wednesday through Sunday morning.

Plus, feel free to ask your own fantasy football questions in the comments. Waivers, free agent add/drops, trades (although I am not a big trader), and start/sit are all fair game. I’ll try to answer as quickly as I can.

Didit Video Chat

If anyone wants to talk one-to-one about the week 16 fantasy football rankings, waivers or start/sit decisions for their fantasy team, check this out:

I really didn’t have much chance to get online last week, but I will set aside more time this week starting today (Wednesday). If I’m offline but you want to chat, then comment below, or shoot me an email or DM on Twitter.

Rankings Posted Wednesday

Week 16 fantasy football rankings are up. The initial rankings I mostly use for waivers. Plugging in the league_id for my leagues on MyFantasyLeague.com, Sleeper, or Fantrax, highlights the rostered players to identify free agent acquisition targets. If you ever notice a player not marked correctly then let me know. It probably means the player_id for that player isn’t matched in my database.

Preliminary Rankings Commentary

Fantasy football playoffs – semi-final week! Here are a handful of thoughts for the preliminary rankings.

  • Pay attention to the QB injuries, not only for your own starter (or your opponent’s, to block them from finding a replacement), but on how it impacts your other skill players. It sounds like Matt Ryan is getting benched for Nick Foles. Jalen Hurts unlikely to play, Gardner Minshew is in. Ryan Tannehill possibly out, Malik Willis in. Ravens, Broncos, Cardinals all up in the air. Steelers should be Kenny Pickett.
  • Pay attention to weather. Bills at Bears and Saints at Browns appear like they will be negatively impacted in the passing game due to high winds to go with the cold and snow.
  • Jerick McKinnon came through last week justifying his relatively high ranking. Another choice matchup this week against the Seahawks and he’s ranked Top 12 right now. Crazy. Note to self: Spend more time next season looking ahead 3-5 weeks on the schedule to identify players that might blow up against upcoming soft matchups.
  • Like last week, I’m below consensus on Nick Chubb in the preliminary rankings. Last week I ranked him RB17, consensus was RB8. This week’s prelim ranking is RB17, consensus RB8 (again). This is an example of trying to stay ahead of the curve with players showing a trend of over- or under-performing in recent weeks. I’m guessing that consensus comes down, and I might move him down further, too. Love the player but something isn’t working right now. Also, he missed practice Tuesday with a foot injury.
  • DK Metcalf checks in as WR5 facing Kansas City and with no Tyler Lockett. Even at 5 it seems a little low.
  • Tight end position continues to be frustrating week-to-week beyond Travis Kelce. Dallas Goedert is back and I wouldn’t hesitate to start him in his first game back, even with Minshew at QB. Early ranking is TE4.

Most games are Saturday this week! Get your lineup set for Saturday. Rankings may very well be final Saturday morning this week as opposed to Sunday. Hit me up with questions in the comments, and I’d be happy to answer them.

Thursday Update

Way too many changes for all the moving parts between injuries and weather. Every time I think I’m done, a new breaking news update comes through on the Fantasy Life App. Highlights (or low lights, depending on perspective):

  • Significantly downgraded the Jaguars and Jets passing games due to weather. I hate doing this. I am not a meteorologist. But, it looks horrendous in New Jersey tonight to the point I don’t know how these teams are going to pass the ball. I had Zach Wilson above consensus, and Trevor Lawrence about consensus, with the usual suspects at receiver – Garrett Wilson, Christian Kirk, Zay Jones – all ranked for a decent fantasy outing. Wilson was WR13. Now? WR24. Lawrence still checks in at QB16. He could scramble for some yards, but that ranking is a far cry from where he’s ranked the last month plus.
  • Chris Olave and Jarvis Landry are ruled out for the Saints, so Andy Dalton keeps on dropping. Looks like another Tre’Quan Smith, Marquez Callaway game. It doesn’t seem like Dalton will necessarily pay any more attention to Alvin Kamara, so he stays put at a modest (and I’m getting fed up with him) RB15. Taysom Hill could do well.
  • Weather looks like it could be a factor in Chicago for the Bills-Bears game, but I haven’t adjusted too much for that at this point. Two high end rushing quarterbacks deserve Top 3 ranks. Gabriel Davis has been more miss than hit but always seems to pop out Top 30 in the preliminary rankings. I moved him down, so this could be a Davis week.
  • Jared Goff is a tough one this week. The Lions are away at the Panthers, who are decent defensively. Goff could wilt in this one. However, his saving grace is he’s really been spreading the ball around lately, and everyone is healthy. QB13 seems a tad high but I don’t see a strong candidate to rank above him.
  • I’m not overly bullish on Gardner Minshew, he’s at QB15. That game could go a couple of different ways… Dallas D comes hard after the Eagles without Jalen Hurts and Minshew Mania quiets down. Or, Eagles show why they are such a strong team, run it down the Cowboys throat. Minshew exceeds fantasy expectations if the Cowboys get up quick and it turns into a shootout. I give that a 50-50, so mid-tier ranking for him.

Without getting into every game right now, it sure looks like there are going to be some low fantasy scores this weekend. Weigh all of your options and try to not overthink things, of course, but if you can stack a couple players into the games that have a higher chance of heavy scoring, strongly consider it. Players like Christian Watson in Miami, J.K. Dobbins versus Atlanta, Marquise Goodwin at Kansas City all look promising.

Saturday Morning Update

Saturday or not, this will be the last update for the week, since we are locking (for the most part) fantasy lineups, game picks, pool picks, and what have you. I prefer the usual Sunday schedule. Always tough in a compressed week and full slate of games with no teams on bye.

Right now we are two hours to kickoff. Going to hop on Didit app (see above), Twitter, and monitor late breaking news for adjustments. Good luck this week and Happy Holidays!

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