The fantasy football playoffs are upon us in most of our standard leagues, so it now becomes more imperative than ever for us to be extremely prepared. Our Week 16 waiver wire watchlist will pinpoint the players at each position who we believe will yield the greatest value, both next week and for the remainder of the fantasy playoffs.
Yours truly has highlighted studs before their breakouts all season, a big reason why most of my fantasy teams have enjoyed strong campaigns despite myriad injuries. Our watchlist has pointed readers in the direction of C.J. Stroud, Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua, Isaiah Likely, and countless other elite producers when they were all under 50-percent rostered. Now, those guys look like league-winners — not bad for speculative adds that cost $0 in FAAB and didn't use up a waiver priority.
We've been telling you all year: make the most of your open roster spots, or one of your opponents will. Try to anticipate who will be Week 16's top pickups after strong performances this weekend. Be proactive about your injury issues and bad matchups by choosing your upcoming streamers now. By adding potential boom players as free agents before they break out, you find solid production without burning a valuable waiver claim or FAAB money.
WEEK 15 FANTASY ADVICE:
Sleepers | Busts | Projections | Start-sit
One big positive: the bye weeks are a thing of the past. However, many fantasy owners still find themselves battling the ubiquitous injury bug. If you're in that camp, it's smart to plan ahead and get your first streaming choices for the following weekend, before the masses clamor to the wire. Our waiver-wire watchlist helps you think about the future while the rest of your league is thinking about the present.
Some shallower leagues don't feature enough roster spots to really take advantage of "planning ahead" — but for those in leagues that do, our week-ahead watchlist will continue to be as helpful the rest of the way as it's been all season. Even though you won't pick up most (or in some cases, all) of these players, it's at least worth watching their snap counts and target shares to file away for later.
WEEK 15 DFS:
DK lineup | FD lineup | Best values | Best stacks
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Watchlist
Reminder: This list was put together in the lead-in to Week 14, looking forward to the players who could be popular waiver wire targets ahead of Week 15. If you have a roster spot to play with, these are free agent options you could grab early to beat the waiver buzz.
All these players are below 50 percent ownership on Yahoo unless otherwise specified.
Week 16 Fantasy Waiver Wire Watchlist: QB
Baker Mayfield, Buccaneers vs. Jaguars in Week 16 (50 percent rostered)
Mayfield put up 24 fantasy points in Week 14 against Atlanta, a reminder that the veteran QB can still come up big in plus matchups. The Jaguars' defense has been horrendous as of late, so we will be all over the Baker wherever we need to cook up a spot QB stream in the second round of the playoffs. Only two teams this season have given up more fantasy points to QBs than Jacksonville, who have surrendered an insane 27.2 points per game to signal-callers since Week 10. Fire up the oven and let Baker cook next weekend, but don't wait until the Week 15 waivers to try to grab him or you might be the one who ends up cooked.
MORE POTENTIAL WEEK 16 QB STREAMS: Gardner Minshew, Colts at Falcons (26%); Joe Flacco, Browns at Texans (19%); Tommy DeVito, Giants at Eagles (7%); Nick Mullens, Vikings vs. Lions (3%)
WEEK 15 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Week 16 Fantasy Waiver Wire Watchlist: RB
Jerick McKinnon (40 percent rostered) and Clyde Edwards-Helaire (37%), Chiefs
Andy Reid and the Chiefs have been somewhat hush-hush about the injury status of stud second-year back Isiah Pacheco (shoulder), but we're stashing both of his backups regardless. McKinnon went nuclear between Weeks 13 and 18 last season, scoring more fantasy points than every running back except Christian McCaffrey. The veteran already found the end zone in Week 14 against the Bills, finishing with 12.7 PPR points. CEH saw more opportunities — 15 compared to JMC's seven — but we still think McKinnon will emerge as the points leader if Pacheco continues to miss time, which he very well could because the injured shoulder is the same one he had offseason surgery on. We won't feel super confident starting JMC or CEH in Week 15 at New England, but we also can't imagine leaving either back on the wire with a generous Raiders run D on the schedule for Week 16.
Zamir White (7%) and Ameer Abdullah (1%), Raiders
You don't have to be a Josh Jacobs owner to proactively grab White and Abdullah, who should each see huge upticks in usage with the reigning rushing champ dealing with a quadriceps injury. Las Vegas draws the Chargers, Chiefs, and Colts in the fantasy playoffs -- not exactly a murderer's row of rushing defenses. If the 5-8 Raiders decide to shut Jacobs down, whichever backup becomes the leader of the backfield could prove quite useful for some injury-ravaged fantasy playoff teams.
MORE POTENTIAL RB PICKUPS: D'Onta Foreman, Bears (43%); Chase Brown, Bengals (17%); Rico Dowdle, Cowboys (11%); Ty Chandler, Vikings (33%); Miles Sanders, Panthers (43%); Khalil Herbert, Bears (50 percent rostered); Tyler Allgeier, Falcons (49%); Tyjae Spears, Titans (46%); Kenneth Gainwell, Eagles (29%); Samaje Perine, Broncos (26%); Joshua Kelley, Chargers (16%); Chris Rodriguez Jr., Commanders (1%)
WEEK 15 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Week 16 Fantasy Waiver Wire Watchlist: WR
Zay Jones, Jaguars (30 percent rostered)
With Christian Kirk (core) on the IR and Calvin Ridley as inconsistent as ever, Jones has once again emerged as Trevor Lawrence's favorite target in Jacksonville. The veteran receiver caught five-of-eight targets for 78 yards in Week 13 against the Bengals, then hauled in five of his unfathomable 14 targets in Week 14 against a brutal Browns defense. Jones is a no-go this weekend against the Ravens, but he's a fantastic stash for Week 16 against an awful Buccaneers secondary that has surrendered the fifth-most PPR points to wideouts this season. When volume and talent meet opportunity, we often strike fantasy playoff gold.
Noah Brown (43%), Robert Woods (5%), and John Metchie III (1%), Texans
This feels like deja vu — how many times have we seen Bobby Trees emerge as a fantasy-relevant streamer deep in a fantasy season or the playoffs!? It's wild. Well, here we go again, and both Brown and Metchie might join in on the fun. Houston has been dealt a cruel hand in terms of late-season injuries, first with a season-ending injury to sensational rookie wideout Tank Dell (fibula), then a calf injury forced stud receiver Nico Collins out of Week 14 against the Jets. With one man's injury comes another man's opportunity, and Brown, Woods, and Metchie have plenty of opportunity if C.J. Stroud becomes the third QB in a brief period to clear the NFL's concussion protocol within a week (hi, Derek Carr and Brock Purdy), owners in deep leagues should gobble up all three of these guys in this order in case one of them goes off this weekend. Brown has lit up secondaries multiple times this season, but he hasn't seemed right since returning from an injury of his own (knee) a few weeks ago. Whoever shows out this weekend in a positive matchup with the Titans could be start-worthy the rest of the way.
MORE POTENTIAL WR STASHES: Elijah Moore, Browns (50%); Tyler Boyd, Bengals (50%); Rashid Shaheed, Saints (39%); Curtis Samuel, Commanders (35%); Joshua Palmer, Chargers (27%); Jameson Williams, Lions (23%); Quentin Johnston, Chargers (21%); K.J. Osborn, Vikings (18%); JuJu Smith-Schuster, Patriots (14%); Parker Washington, Jaguars (5%)
Week 16 Fantasy Waiver Wire Watchlist: TE
Logan Thomas, Commanders at Jets in Week 16 (44 percent rostered)
Thomas should see more looks than usual next week against the Jets, who flaunt a stifling secondary that has surrendered the fewest fantasy points to wide receivers all season. New York has been much more accommodating to tight ends, allowing four different TEs to amass nine-plus PPR points since Week 10. That kind of low-ceiling production won't win you a playoff matchup, but it's a high enough floor that it also won't get you eliminated.
Tucker Kraft, Packers at Panthers (10%)
Kraft has shown flashes of brilliance over Green Bay's past three games, during which his total receptions and yardage totals have risen with every passing week. The rookie found the end zone in Week 12, caught three-of-six targets for 37 yards in Week 13, and hauled in all four of his looks for 64 yards last week. If he continues to elevate his production this week against a very beatable Bucs passing defense, he will be a hot commodity ahead of a Week 16 meeting with Carolina's lowly D.
MORE POTENTIAL WEEK 16 TE STREAMS (last resorts): Tyler Higbee, Rams vs. Saints (39%); Hunter Henry, Patriots at Broncos (25%); Cade Otton, Buccaneers vs. Jaguars (37%); Dawson Knox, Bills at Chargers (9%)
Week 16 fantasy defense streamers and sleepers
Houston Texans vs. Browns in Week 16 (48 percent rostered)
Even with the plethora of injuries Houston has endured on offense, DeMeco Ryans has this Texans team playing inspired football at every level. Throw out the awful rain-soaked Week 14 performance in the Meadowlands when the Jets' defense punched the injury-ravaged Texans in the mouth after C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins got knocked out of the game. Week 16 should see Houston much healthier and in a very high-upside home matchup against Joe Flacco and the Browns.
Indianapolis Colts at Falcons (44%)
The Colts have quietly been one of the more explosive D/STs in fantasy over the past month and a half, averaging 15.6 standard fantasy points per game over their past five games. A matchup against Desmond Ridder and the Falcons seems like a very high-ceiling streaming opportunity to us, especially with the potential of pick-sixes and big sack totals.
Atlanta Falcons vs. Colts (49%)
The Falcons' pass-rush and secondary have improved by leaps and bounds since last season -- so much that we're actually confident in rolling Atlanta out in Week 16 of our fantasy playoff runs. Gardner Minshew has been pretty good, but without Jonathan Taylor (thumb) we still can't fully trust him to go mistake-free against an opportunistic defense on the road.
Denver Broncos vs. Patriots (42%)
What Sean Payton has done for Denver over the past seven weeks is nothing short of amazing. A squad that surrendered 70 points to Miami only a couple of months ago now ranks second in the NFL in takeaways and has won six of its past seven games. The Broncos also have very alluring matchups the rest of the way, including Bailey Zappe and the Patriots next week and Easton Stick and the Chargers in Week 17. Scoop Denver up now and type "LET'S RIDE" into your league chat.
Cincinnati Bengals at Steelers (40%)
Lou Anarumo's defense has been awesome this season despite all the injury-filled bumps in the road on the offensive side of the football. With either Kenny Pickett or Mitch Trubisky under center in Pittsburgh in Week 16, the visiting team will always have a high ceiling (ask the Patriots in Week 14). You can trust Cincy in this one.
Detroit Lions at Vikings (34%)
The Lions' defense has been heinous over the past five games, but the Vikings' offense might be even worse. Minnesota struggled to put even three points on the board against Vegas in Week 14, so Aidan Hutchinson and company should be able to limit the damage Nick Mullens can inflict, especially if Alexander Mattison remains banged up going into Week 16.
