There's a lot of excitement surrounding Kerryon Johnson heading into Week 16. After all, he's back from Injured Reserve just in time to play in fantasy football championships. But he has a tough matchup, which should be enough to pump the brakes and consider him as a possible Week 16 bust and not some waiver wire gem or sleeper.
He's joined on our busts list by another young running back in a tough spot, Miles Sanders. We're also young on the QB portion of the list, with Josh Allen and Carson Wentz in difficult spots, too. It's tough to sit a guy like Allen, but the Patriots are one of the few matchups that would make you do just that.
WEEK 16 NON-PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
If you're looking for receiver upside this week, Robby Anderson and Anthony Miller might provide it. But they're just as likely to bust, as we explain below. And the same is true of tight ends Tyler Higbee and Dallas Goedert.
Our busts didn't exactly hit home last week at running back. Raheem Mostert and Adrian Peterson had good enough games, and while Devonta Freeman didn't dominate, he had more success against the 49ers than we expected. Stefon Diggs disappointed somewhat, though, and so did the Steelers' wideouts, Kyle Rudolph, and the surprisingly inactive David Njoku, as we expected.
MORE WEEK 16: Sleepers | Start 'em, sit 'emWeek 16 Fantasy Busts: Running backs
Miles Sanders, Eagles vs. Cowboys (Billy Heyen). The Cowboys have an above-average run defense, and Sanders is now contending with Boston Scott for snaps. The Eagles will probably get Sanders the ball plenty without much receiving help, but don't expect a ton of big plays.
Devin Singletary, Bills @ Patriots (Vinnie Iyer). The Patriots couldn’t stop Joe Mixon last week, but they will make sure to contain Buffalo on the ground with a big rebound.
Kerryon Johnson, Lions @ Broncos (Matt Lutovsky). Johnson hasn't played since Week 7 because of a knee injury, and he was averaging just 3.3 yards per carry when healthy. The Broncos allow just 3.9 yards per carry to RBs, so you can't expect much here despite Johnson's name value.
WEEK 16 PPR RANKINGS: Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
Week 16 Fantasy Football Busts: Quarterbacks
Josh Allen, Bills @ Patriots (Heyen). This one seems pretty self-explanatory: QBs don't perform particularly well against the Patriots. Allen wasn't on his way to a good game the first time against the Pats before getting injured, either.
Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers vs. Rams (Iyer). Jimmy G is a tricky guy to gauge from week to week. This seems more like a grinding and explosive running spot at home for San Francisco.
Carson Wentz, Eagles vs. Cowboys (Lutovsky). It's like pulling teeth for the Eagles to move the ball and score. Wentz often winds up with decent stats, but against a Cowboys defense that dominated him earlier in the year and allows just 16.3 fantasy points per game to QBs, it's tough to expect much.
WEEK 16 DFS LINEUPS:
FD Cash | FD GPP | DK Cash | DK GPP | Y! Cash | Y! GPP
Week 16 Fantasy Football Busts: Wide receivers
Robby Anderson, Jets vs. Steelers (Heyen). Before Jamison Crowder stole two Week 15 touchdowns, Anderson was on a bit of a roll. Don't expect that to continue against a strong Steelers defense, though.
A.J. Brown, Titans vs. Saints (Iyer). He’s an explosive rookie, but he’s still a rookie who’s never seen a cornerback as good as Marshon Lattimore.
Anthony Miller, Bears vs. Chiefs (Lutovsky). Miller has been a receptions macahine lately, but the Chiefs allow the fewest receptions to WRs this season. Considering he's still behind Allen Robinson on the Bears WR hierarchy, there won't be much leftover for Miller on Sunday night.
MORE WEEK 16 DFS: Stacks | Values | Lineup Builder
Week 16 Fantasy Football Busts: Tight ends
Tyler Higbee, Rams @ 49ers (Heyen). I don't know what to do with Higbee this week. Three straight 100-yard games almost make him seem matchup proof, but this is also a very difficult matchup. If you have a more rock-solid play, go with that. But if it's choosing between Higbee and the waiver wire, he'll probably at least get targets.
Jack Doyle, Colts vs. Panthers (Iyer). You can’t go here with their passing game sputtering and Carolina’s coverage at linebacker and safety being pretty good.
Dallas Goedert, Eagles vs. Cowboys (Lutovsky). Goedert is getting more targets with all of Philadelphia's wide receivers injured, but he's not really producing all that much (average of 5.3 catches and 48.5 yards per game with zero overall TDs in his past four games). He has more upside than a lot of waiver wire TEs, but this play sounds better than it really is.
MORE WEEK 16:
Waiver pickups | FAAB planning | Stock watch | Snap counts | Fantasy playoff tips
Week 16 Fantasy Busts: Defenses
Kansas City Chiefs @ Bears (Heyen). This is me betting on Tarik Cohen and David Montgomery having ground success and freeing up Mitchell Trubisky to work through the air to his talented duo of Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller.
Minnesota Vikings vs. Packers (Iyer). They won’t be repeating what they did against the Chargers because the Packers don’t give up many sacks and provide few takeaways with Aaron Rodgers.
Buffalo Bills @ Patriots (Lutovsky). Sure, Tom Brady is a statue and the Patriots haven't been scoring much lately, but they still don't give up many sacks or turn it over often. Buffalo has a decent floor and low ceiling this week.