Fantasy football Week 16 rankings: Who to start and sit
Start and sit decisions can make or break a team and the difference in Week 16 is a fantasy title.
It’s finally the week that fantasy owners have worked towards for months. It’s championship week and this is generally not the time to be starting fringe players. Matchups remain important but there are also some that are just matchup proof. A prime example of that is Texans receiver, DeAndre Hopkins.
Despite being a “Sit” in this article last week, he caught four passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. That came against the best defense in the league with a third-string quarterback. The flip side of the “start your studs” argument reared its ugly head in the performance of Bengals receiver A.J. Green. He faced a stout Minnesota defense and crushed any lineup he was in.
In that vein, this week doesn’t feature a ton of fantasy royalty. This week is mostly about finding an RB2 or a WR3 type player that owners can lock in and feel confident when they hit submit. There’s a heavier focus on running backs since most owners would take their chances on 12-15 touches from a back than 4-6 receptions from a receiver. In addition, there’s a super sneaky tight end option for any owner who is hurting at that spot.
Start: Alex Collins, RB – Baltimore Ravens
It’s a pretty safe bet that no fantasy player or analyst figured on starting Alex Collins in the championship week but that’s the kind of thing that happens in the NFL every year. Waiver wire heroes come from all places and Collins definitely qualifies as one and not only for fantasy. The Ravens actually picked him up from NFL waivers and Collins has taken over the Baltimore backfield.
Collins gets one of the best matchups on the board when the Indianapolis Colts come into Baltimore this week. Indy is in the bottom 10 against the run and just gave up a whopping 158 yards to Broncos running back C.J. Anderson. Collins saw his hot streak come to a halt in Cleveland this past week, but it appears like it’s more of a bump in the road.
There was a lot of noise made about Danny Woodhead coming back and taking over a healthy share of the backfield touches. Collins has steadfastly refused to show any cracks in his production to let Woodhead into the rotation in any meaningful way. The Ravens offense has actually been putting points on the board as of late and Collins is the main reason why. There’s no reason why fantasy owners should shy away at this stage and Collins should put up low-end RB1 production this week.