The first 15 weeks of the fantasy season are in the books, and hopefully you are moving on to your fantasy championship game in Week 16. We'll take a look here at the stock needles of some players to decide whether they're worth starting or sitting in your title game.
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Fantasy Football Stock Watch: Stock up
Breshad Perriman, WR TB: This one was obvious. In the first game without Mike Evans (hamstring), Perriman went absolutely bananas against the Lions, hauling in five receptions for 113 yards and three touchdowns on six targets. He moved into the No. 2 role, as expected, but far exceeded production expectations. Chris Godwin (hamstring) also left this game injured, and if he is forced to miss time, Perriman will see a very hefty target share moving forward. This was his by far his best game of the season, but he also came into this game on a bit of a roll, with 13.7 and 16 PPR fantasy points, respectively, in his two prior games, respectively. He has at least five targets in three straight games, and Winston is clearly throwing the football his way. He will have a nice floor for the remainder of the season because we know Winston is going to sling the rock around a ton, regardless of the score or how he is playing.
MORE WEEK 16:
Waiver pickups | FAAB planning | Snap counts | Fantasy playoff tips
A.J. Brown, WR TEN: Another very obvious choice for this section. This rookie wideout was a bit of a boom-or-bust player early on, but he’s really starting to put it together consistently. He scored 25.4 PPR fantasy points this week, his third game with at least 23.5 points in his past four games. The one dud in there was a 7.5-point effort, which is at least not a lineup killer. He has three 100-plus yard games in that span and just racked up a career-high 13 targets against Houston. Tennessee isn’t a pass-heavy team, but it’s clear that this is their go-to guy when they do pass. It will be tough to bench him in Week 16, despite a semi-tough matchup with the Saints. This rookie is a star in the making, and his dynasty value is sky-high right now, as it should be.
MORE WEEK 16 DFS: Stacks | Values | Lineup Builder
Greg Ward, WR PHI: Ward has risen from the practice squad to being the Eagles' best wide receiver. In fact, he was the only wide receiver to catch a pass for the Eagles on Sunday. (How crazy is that?) He hauled in seven-of-nine targets for 61 yards and the game-winning touchdown, good for 19.1 fantasy points. Wentz really found a rhythm with Ward on the final drive, as the two connected four times for 40 yards, including that game-winner. He now has seven, three, nine, and nine targets, respectively, over the last four games and can be viewed as the Eagles number one wideout for the remainder of the season (as long as Nelson Agholor remains out). It would be a bit risky to start him in seasonal leagues, but he will be an interesting DFS target in Weeks 16 and 17 as the Eagles play the Cowboys and Giants to close out the year.
WEEK 16 NON-PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Fantasy Football Stock Watch: Stock down
Randall Cobb, WR DAL: Cobb had a nice, fun little stretch in Weeks 10-12, but that seems like a distant memory now, and he is completely useless for fantasy. He finished this week with one catch for negative three yards on two targets, good for a whopping 0.7 fantasy points. It was his third straight game fewer than 10 fantasy points, and he hasn’t topped five targets since Week 12. He is behind Zeke, Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, Jason Witten, and even Tony Pollard for touches in this offense and really isn’t that far ahead of Tavon Austin. Yes, Dallas has a solid offense, but it’s hard to be much of a factor when you are behind so many players. He shouldn’t even be owned at this point, and he is nothing more than a deep dart throw in DFS.
WEEK 16 PPR RANKINGS: Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
Phillip Lindsay, RB DEN: It was a snow day in Kansas City, Denver has a rookie quarterback, and the Chiefs are weak against the run, so you would think that would mean nice volume for Lindsay, right? Nope. He was given a season-low seven carries, which he turned into 32 yards, and he failed to catch either of his two targets. How on earth in that situation do you give your lead back just seven carries and two targets? He totaled 3.2 fantasy points, his fourth game with fewer than 10 points in the past five games, and his best game in that span was just 13.5 points. It's getting tougher to start him at this point, even with the Lions on tap this week. He's more interesting in DFS, though. It’s insane that a guy as dynamic as Lindsay is gets so little usage. It makes zero sense.
WEEK 16 DFS LINEUPS:
FD Cash | FD GPP | DK Cash | DK GPP | Y! Cash | Y! GPP
Hunter Henry, TE LAC: Henry was a beast when he made his return off IR, rattling off strong games in five of six outings. His lowest fantasy total in that span was 8.7, but then the Chargers bye week happened and he has been trash ever since. In three games since the bye week, Henry’s best game was 11.9 fantasy points (Week 14), and in the other two games he failed to top three points. He only has nine total targets over the past three games and hasn’t had more than three receptions in any of them. It’s hard to do much with such a low target share, though. It is really difficult to trust him in Week 16 with what we have seen recently, and if you have a different option, it may be best to go that direction. Henry is a talented guy, but Philip Rivers is playing like crap, and Henry isn’t a focal point.