Passing on Le'Veon Bell and David Johnson in daily fantasy football contests each week in December hasn't been easy, yet it's worked out fine when the pivot is LeSean McCoy for cheaper. We'll build on hitting green in four of the past five weeks with our Week 16 picks for DraftKings cash games, focusing on the Saturday Christmas Eve schedule.
Our primary strategy for this lineup leans on getting McCoy and a couple underpriced players who should rebound from last week.
For more tips, values, and lineups, bookmark the Sporting News Fantasy DFS page.
WEEK 16 DFS: FanDuel tournament lineup | DK GPP | Values | DFS lineup builder
Week 16 Daily Fantasy Football Picks: DraftKings cash games
QB Marcus Mariota, TEN at JAX ($6,000): Mariota comes at a massive discount given his $7200 tag prior to the Week 13 bye. Poor fantasy outings against Denver's top pass D and in single-digit KC drop Mariota in time for 70s in Florida. Jacksonville allows the fifth-fewest DK QB points but just got hit for 260 yards in less than three quarters by Tom Savage.
RB LeSean McCoy, BUF vs. MIA ($9,000): McCoy's price creeps closer to Le'Veon and DJ, making it a tougher call than the last couple weeks. We'll hit McCoy once more due to Baltimore and Seattle presenting brutal matchups for Bell and Johnson, respectively. McCoy's the only back in this trio to top 22 points each of the past four weeks.
RB Jordan Howard, CHI vs. WAS ($6,300): Howard just broke 20 for the second time in three weeks to stretch his double-digit streak to seven games. Washington's bottom-five D in RB scoring just let J-Stew roll in at 3.6 yards per carry, before hitting 132 yards on 5.3 per clip Monday night.
WEEK 16 RANKINGS
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
WR Michael Thomas, NO vs. TB ($6,000): Thomas bounced back from injury against Arizona to cement him for cash consideration going forward, but we'll monitor into Saturday for any setbacks. The rookie now ranks second among all players in touchdown receptions from inside the 10, where he's clearly a fixture.
WR Cameron Meredith, CHI vs. WAS ($4,700): The Bears stumbled upon a QB playing better than half the NFL in the month of December. Matt Barkley supported Meredith in Alshon Jeffery's return, as Meredith led all receivers in catches last week and ranks top 10 over the past three.
WR Chris Hogan, NE vs. NYJ ($4,200): Hogan's snap count and production dropped against the league's top pass D, while New England astutely hit Denver with a run-heavy game plan. Expect New England's attack for the funnel-pass Jets to more resemble the recent Monday nighter against Baltimore, when Hogan led all Pats receivers in snaps.
TE Cameron Brate, TB at NO ($3,900): No tight end has received more targets inside the 10 this year than Brate. Red-zone usage is critical for this volatile position, though coverage on Mike Evans has also raised Brate's floor to a top-five TE in targets and yards since Week 13.
MORE: Build your perfect lineup with RotoQL
FLEX Ty Montgomery, GB vs. MIN ($5,900): A hobbled Aaron Rodgers means a downtick in scrambles and rushing yards for the QB — production that's already filtering to the backfield. Montgomery only complemented his 16-for-162 on the ground Sunday with two receiving yards, but his unique usage indicates that will probably be the low.
DST Patriots, NE vs. NYJ ($3,600): Bryce Petty rallied against a legally dead Niners defense two weeks ago, then came crashing to Earth with three turnovers on 6.5 yards per attempt at home. New England's D showed it still suffocates limited offenses in dealing Denver the three-spot and stands a decent chance of hitting 2.5x value on Saturday.