It’s scary to mess with your fantasy football lineup in the championship round, but the best options aren’t always the players with the biggest names.
The entire season has seen plenty of inconsistency and poor showings from the league’s biggest stars, and Week 16 likely won’t be much different. With this in mind, you don’t want to necessarily just play the obvious choices without considering other options.
Here is a look at some noteworthy players you should bench if you have other options, followed by some sleepers to outperform expectations if you still need some help.
Sit ‘Em
Javorius Allen, RB, Baltimore Ravens
Fumble issues have led to just 12 carries over the past two games for Javorius Allen, which have equaled just 32 rushing yards. On the plus side, head coach John Harbaugh has noted the lack of playing time won’t necessarily carry over, per ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley:
“It probably won’t carry over, but you play the best players. At running back, the best players don’t fumble. Fumbling—it is what it is. You have to hold onto the football. He knows that. I have a lot of love and respect for Buck. No way is Buck going to be banished, by any stretch.”
The problem is this also means one fumble and Buck Allen could be done for the day. After losing the ball in back-to-back games, it will be tough to rely on him to avoid more fumbles.
Meanwhile, the matchup isn’t great even if Allen does get a full workload. The Pittsburgh Steelers rank fifth in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game while only the New York Jets have allowed fewer rushing touchdowns than the Steelers’ five for the season.
Allen has plenty of talent, but this isn’t a trustworthy pick for your title game.
A.J. Green, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
The Monday night game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos will be a big one, but no matchup might be more interesting to watch than A.J. Green and Chris Harris.
Both of which are coming off bad games in Week 15, with Harris being torched by Antonio Brown and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Of course, Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus explained what this performance meant:
Green also struggled with just one catch for 37 yards Sunday. His problem was not a great matchup, however, as he just couldn’t get separation from a mediocre San Francisco 49ers defense. The real issue lies at quarterback where he is still getting comfortable with backup A.J. McCarron.
It isn’t likely this chemistry starts to develop against an elite Broncos defense. Harris should be able to stick with Green, who doesn’t have as much quickness as Brown. Although Green could sneak out for a few big plays, he shouldn’t be expected to produce his usual high numbers.
Start ‘Em
Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, New York Jets
Although the matchup doesn’t look great on paper, Ryan Fitzpatrick has done a great job over the past few weeks to keep the New York Jets in playoff contention. During the current four-game winning streak, the veteran quarterback has 10 touchdowns and just one interception, averaging 307.3 passing yards per game in this stretch.
The Jets have quality weapons to target down the field in Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, each of which have produced at high levels during this stretch to get open and make plays down the field. Bilal Powell has also helped out in the passing game.
Although the New England Patriots defense has been impressive lately, Fitzpatrick has already shown he can do well against this unit. In Week 7 he threw for 295 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions while falling short of a road upset.
Now at home, Fitzpatrick has a chance to improve upon this performance and help out fantasy teams in the process.
Cameron Artis-Payne, RB, Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers will continue to be without their starting running back Jonathan Stewart this week, once again leaving a mismatch of players to take over, per Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer:
While all three players should get carries, last week showed Cameron Artis-Payne is the clear top of the pecking order. Although the rookie struggled to get onto the field most of the year, he thrived in a feature role last week with 14 carries for 59 rushing yards.
Considering both Mike Tolbert (five carries for 10 yards) and Fozzy Whittaker (two carries for two yards) were relegated to smaller roles against the New York Giants, you can probably expect a similar breakdown against the Atlanta Falcons.
Artis-Payne also played a key role in the passing attack with two catches for 34 receiving yards, proving his value regardless of game flow. With the Falcons allowing a league-high 18 rushing touchdowns on the year, the Panthers running back also has a chance to get into the end zone for the first time in his career.
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