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Fantasy Football Week 16: Waiver-Wire Pickups, Rankings and Stat Projections

Fantasy Football
December 19, 2016

The panic meter is running high in fantasy football with Week 16 of the NFL season rapidly approaching. This is the championship round for many leagues, leading to a lot of scrambling for those final roster additions in order to secure that long-awaiting title. 

Keep in mind there will be less time than usual to finalize your rosters for this week’s games because most of the games will be played on Saturday for Christmas Eve, though there will be two Christmas Day games and the usual Monday night game to tide you over. 

Looking ahead to this week’s crucial fantasy week, here are rankings and points projections for each skill position and a closer look at waiver-wire pickups to boost your roster.

Note: Waiver-wire players were based on being owned in less than 60 percent of ESPN.com fantasy leaguesPlayers who missed Week 15 (e.g. Julio Jones, Melvin Gordon) were kept off projections until their status for next week is confirmed.

           

Quarterbacks

Waiver Pickup of the Week: Matt Barkley, Chicago Bears

While the Chicago Bears will enter the offseason with a lot of questions about their future quarterback, Matt Barkley has at least given the franchise something to ponder with a strong late-season performance. 

Fantasy owners have yet to take notice of what Barkley has done since Week 12, as he entered Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers owned in 1.8 percent of all ESPN leagues. 

In this four-game stretch since taking over as Chicago’s starting quarterback, Barkley has recorded double-digit point totals three times with six touchdown passes while surpassing 300 yards twice.

Prior to Week 15, Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus noted Barkley was keeping some pretty good company among NFL quarterbacks:

Barkley was far from perfect against the Packers, showing his inexperience at times with three interceptions and a lost fumble, but there were still plenty of positive signs to take away from the game. 

Per Elias (via ESPN Stats & Info), Barkley’s effort against the Packers was one for the Bears’ record books:

Next week, Barkley will be taking on a Washington defense that ranks in the bottom 10 in pass yards allowed and opponent completion percentage. It’s a favorable matchup for the young quarterback as he looks to strengthen his resume for a starting job in 2017. 

             

Running Backs

Waiver Pickup of the Week: Ty Montgomery, Green Bay Packers

Odds are good if you didn’t act fast during the Packers’ game against the Bears on Sunday, Montgomery is long gone.

At the time of this writing, Montgomery was only owned in 54.9 percent of ESPN fantasy leagues. He’s turned into one of the best flex options late in the season, recording a total of 42 points in standard scoring leagues over the previous two games.

The Packers have had to get creative with their running-back situation being in dire straits.

Montgomery has taken the reins as the primary runner, despite being a wide receiver by trade, and had 40 yards on six carries against the Seattle Seahawks before exploding with 162 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries against the Bears.

More than just being able to run the ball, Montgomery showed against the Bears he has the power to simply outmuscle defenders when they try to wrap him up. 

The Packers needed someone to step up to save their running game when Eddie Lacy went down after five games. Head coach Mike McCarthy tried James Starks, but it wasn’t until Montgomery stepped up over the last two weeks that the offense really caught fire. 

           

Wide Receivers

Waiver Pickup of the Week: Robby Anderson, New York Jets

Betting on any New York Jets skill player this season has been a dangerous proposition, especially considering how poorly things have gone for their quarterbacks in 2016. 

Yet through the ashes has arisen Robby Anderson late in the season. The rookie out of Temple ranks third among Jets receivers in targets (68), fourth in receptions (38), third in receiving yards (544) and tied for third in touchdown catches (two). 

Those numbers on their own are hardly inspiring, which helps explain why Anderson is owned in less than 6 percent of ESPN fantasy leagues. 

Where the story takes a turn is how Anderson has fared in the season’s home stretch. The 23-year-old has recorded 14 receptions, 240 yards and two touchdowns over the last three games.

Per Pro Football Focus Fantasy, Anderson has been a one-man fantasy wrecking crew for the Jets:

The Jets’ competition over the last three weeks has hardly been elite, with games against the Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins, but everyone has to start somewhere. 

Anderson is certainly getting opportunities from the Jets to make an impact, with Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus offering this nugget from Saturday’s game against the Dolphins:

The Jets have a tough game against the New England Patriots on Saturday, though their first game this season was hardly a blowout. The Patriots squeaked out a 22-17 victory on November 28. 

New England doesn’t have a shutdown secondary, ranking 15th in pass yards allowed. Ryan Fitzpatrick’s best game of the year was against the Patriots when he had 269 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in defeat. 

The stage has been set for Anderson to prove his late-season surge has not been a fluke. It’s on him to take advantage of this moment, making fantasy owners look like geniuses in the process. 

                

Tight Ends

Waiver Pickup of the Week: Charles Clay, Buffalo Bills

It’s dangerous to bet on a player because they had a big game against the Cleveland Browns, but there is more to Charles Clay than simply beating up on the NFL’s worst team. 

So even though Clay set season highs in receptions (seven), yards (72) and fantasy points (13) against the Browns, let’s take a step back and examine him over a two-week stretch for a safer sample size. 

Going back to Week 14 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Clay has been targeted a total of 13 times with 10 receptions, 124 yards and two touchdowns. 

There are certainly many arguments to be made against Clay at this point in the season, with Sarah Lewis of Athlon Sports put forth a few of them prior to Week 15:

Sure, he found the end zone in Week 14 and sure, he faces the Browns, but relying on Clay with so much on the line is a hard pill to swallow. He’s failed to have more than five receptions in a game this year. He only has one touchdown, and he is just as likely to have fewer than 20 yards then he is to have more than 50. 

All of those are valid criticisms for Clay, as is the fact he had a total of 27 fantasy points all year before Week 14. 

Tight end is a difficult position to find a true sleeper at this time of year, because injuries to Rob Gronkowski and Zach Miller have already forced owners to do deep research on available options. 

Clay is the definition of a deep sleeper with the potential to bust at any moment. Keep that in mind while looking at the waiver wire, but there have been positive signs lately to believe he is going to keep his upward momentum going. 

Read more Fantasy Football news on NerdyFootball.com

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