In a week where the New York Giants and Jacksonville owned the top-four spots among fantasy wide receivers, some fantasy football owners likely saw their seasons reach their demise. The week 15 injury to Antonio Brown was a major blow to fantasy football owners.
Only two wide receivers have been worth a top-tier grade in fantasy football. Brown is one of them, with DeAndre Hopkins as the other. Brown has 209 fantasy points this season, with Hopkins coming in second at 201. The third-best receiver, Tyreek Hill, has 153 fantasy points.
Keep that in mind in 2018 when drafting your roster. You can’t control injuries, but you can wake up to the fact that receivers are overvalued overall. Here’s the week 16 wide receivers start’ em, sit ’em guide in fantasy football.
Start
Martavis Bryant vs. Houston Texans
JuJu Smith-Schuster is a priority start. He should be a top-10 receiver this week. Beyond him, though, I’m still valuing Bryant this week against a Texans defense that can’t stop opposing wide receivers.
The Texans allow the fifth-most fantasy points per game to wide receivers and are ranked 27th against the pass this season. Even without Brown in the lineup, the Steelers are going to exploit Houston’s terrible defense. That opens up opportunities for multiple weapons, including Bryant. He has at least six targets in each of the last four games. That should be closer to the double-digit mark in week 16, which he had in week 14.
He’s been a major disappointment overall this season, but he deserves a start, along with Smith-Schuster in week 16.
Alshon Jeffery vs. Oakland Raiders
He hasn’t always been dependable this season. And without Carson Wentz in the lineup, there was some doubt about how productive he could be.
Week 15 offered enough evidence that Jeffery should be fine and should be considered a WR1 in week 16. He has 21 targets combined in the last two weeks and he’s a player that Foles can lean on in a matchup that should favor the Eagles.
Oakland owns the 23rd-ranked passing defense, and don’t discount the travel and the completely limited shot at making the playoffs. You need a strong defense when traveling this late in the season with pretty much nothing to play for. The Raiders aren’t good enough to overcome those factors, which should allow Jeffery to make plenty of noise in week 16.
Jeffery has been in and out of lineups this season for 12-team leagues. This week, though, he should earn that start.
Kendall Wright vs. Cleveland Browns
If you made it through the semifinal round, despite Brown’s injury, and need a new weapon, don’t overlook Wright. He’s owned in 4 percent of leagues on Yahoo, but he has 20 targets combined in the last two games.
He’s being productive with those looks, too, going for 188 yards receiving in the last two weeks. He hasn’t exactly been the most trustworthy weapon for the Bears this season, but this matchup could prove beneficial once again.
The Browns are giving up 290 yards passing per game in the last three outings, giving way to Mitchell Trubisky being a decent streaming option this week, along with Wright being back on the fantasy map. He shouldn’t be considered a top-of-the-line fantasy starter, but he has some value.
If you need some receiver help, you could find worse options.
Sit
Marquise Goodwin vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
I’ve been all over the Goodwin train in recent weeks with solid success. Jimmy Garoppolo has turned Goodwin’s fortunes around in real life and fantasy, supplying him with 33 targets in the three games that Garoppolo has started.
Despite the volume, though, I’m sidelining Goodwin in week 16 against a Jaguars team that is rough on passing games.
Jacksonville allows just 168 yards per game through the air. Against wide receivers, the Jaguars allow the second-fewest fantasy points per game.
That’s enough for me to sit Goodwin in fantasy football.
Robby Anderson vs. Los Angeles Chargers
This goes against most of what I believe. Anderson has been a target monster in the last four weeks, reaching at least 10 targets in three of the last four contests. But how much trust do you have in the Jets passing game at the moment?
Bryce Petty is terrible and this week’s matchup is against one of the better pass defenses in the NFL. Even if Anderson racks up the targets like usual, I just don’t see much production.
Anderson attracted 12 targets in week 15 with Petty, but only reeled in five catches for 40 yards. The Chargers are a top-10 defense in fantasy points allowed to wide receivers and passing yards allowed.
Anderson was a nice a story, but I’m sticking with my thoughts from last week. Josh McCown is a functional NFL quarterback. Petty isn’t, so that should devalue all the Jets weapons.
Mike Wallace vs. Indianapolis Colts
The matchup is a nice one for Wallace, who has emerged as the top wide receiver for the Ravens. So it’s natural to believe that Wallace could have WR2 value.
I would pass on that sentiment. He has double-digit targets only three times this season, with one of those outings happening in week 15. Even with those increased targets, he only has one touchdown since week 11.
He’s seen his yardage go up in the last three weeks, but I just don’t believe he’s someone you can trust, even with a plus-matchup. There are other options on better passing teams who can offer up better potential for week 16.
Wallace is a low-end WR3 for week 16.
