Fantasy football-top waiver wire week 16 pickups

Bilal Powell-New York Jets (31.0%)

Powell is on my list of waiver wire pickups for the second week in a row as he continues to play a growing role for the Jets as they make their playoff push. New York has a chance to be eliminated from the playoffs or virtually guarantee themselves a spot depending on what happens this week, and they’ll be in a tough spot as they host the Patriots in week 16 who beat them 30-23 in week 7.

In that game, the Jets didn’t have Bilal Powell, but I expect the running back to play a big role on Sunday. Powell found the end zone for the second week in a row rushing for 25 yards on six carries and adding 54 yards while hauling in all seven passes thrown his way.

Powell will get more work if the Jets are playing from behind which could be the case on Sunday.  New England shut down Chris Ivory in their previous meeting with the Jets, so I expect Powell to end up with a heave workload and be a solid play this week.  If you can get either of my top two running backs, I’d lean toward Artis-Payne due to matchup and the fact that he could have the backfield to himself.  Powell is lower risk, though, and can definitely be used as a plug-and-play flex option this week.

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