Fantasy News & Analysis

PFF's fantasy football cheat sheet for Week 16

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - DECEMBER 05: Wide Receiver Robby Anderson #11 of the New York Jets has a long touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts during their game at MetLife Stadium on December 5, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Pereira/Getty Images)

This is the week. The final week of the fantasy season. (Yes, yes, for *most* people. There are some leagues that carry through Week 17. It’s hard to acknowledge that while still making Week 16 sound dramatic, so we’ll pretend your league ends this week.) If you’re still playing, this is what you’ve been playing for all season long. And if you aren’t still playing … well, you’re probably jealous.

All season long, we’ve been offering our fantasy cheat sheets, summarizing our best advice of the week so people who are low on time can still get the necessary advice and get directed to even more. Read below, see five pieces of our key weekly advice, and click through to get even more. Use our tools, read our rankings, check our projections. Win your league. (If you and your opponent are both PFF readers … well, ties are nice.)

We hope our help has been instrumental in getting you this far. Good luck in your finals, and Merry Christmas.

Season-long fantasy

Add NY Jets WR Robby Anderson
(from Jeff Ratcliffe’s waiver wire check)

Bryce Petty is back under center for the Jets in Week 16, which means his connection with Anderson can be exploited once again. The Patriots will likely devote resources on Brandon Marshall, leaving Anderson (and his sixth-best-in-the-league 28 targets the last three weeks) more open to produce. Anderson is tied with T.Y. Hilton in fantasy production over that three-week span, and as long as he’s out there with Petty, it seems like his target load will continue.

Downgrade Arizona WR Larry Fitzgerald
(from Jeff Ratcliffe’s flex rankings)

Fitzgerald still gets attention (third in the NFL in targets, first in receptions), but his scoring has disappeared — he hasn’t found the end zone since Week 5. He’s put up three of his four lowest-yardage games of the season over the last month. And this week, he draws one of the league’s best pass defenses in the Seahawks, in a game that will be played in Seattle. If you have Fitzgerald, odds are you haven’t had to consider a change in that lineup slot most of the season. But now you do. This might be the time to bench Fitzgerald.

Sit Seattle TE Jimmy Graham
(from Dan Schneier’s start/sit advice)

Graham is right in the running for the No. 1 fantasy tight end for the whole season, but his production has dipped in recent weeks, and now he and the Seahawks draw an Arizona Cardinals team that is just other-worldly against tight ends. The Cardinals have allowed one touchdown to a tight end all year, to Dion Sims in Week 14 in a game that he totaled 6 yards. Graham managed 53 yards (on 10 targets) the last time he faced the Cardinals, and that’s the single most yardage Arizona has allowed to the position all year. Graham’s upside is very limited this week.

Stream Jacksonville QB Blake Bortles
(from Mike Castiglione’s look at QB streamers)

It’s been a down year for Bortles overall, and especially rough of late. In his defense, though, Bortles’ last three opponents (Denver, Minnesota and Houston) have been three of the league’s best defenses all season, so take Bortles’ most recent struggles with a grain of salt. This week, it’s better for Bortles, who draws a Tennessee defense that is PFF’s sixth-worst in pass coverage and fourth-worst in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks.

Use Baltimore RB Kenneth Dixon
(from Tyler Loechner’s breakout candidates)

There was a lot of buzz around Dixon after Week 14, when it seemed he took over the lead role in the Baltimore backfield against New England, only for Terrance West to retake that primary role in Week 15. But this week, Dixon and the Ravens play the Steelers, who have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per opportunity to running backs and the most to the position through the air. Even if West carries the ball most often, Dixon is the clear pass-catcher of the duo, and this game should offer a script conducive to a passing back. Dixon should be back on radars.

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