Fantasy Football: 2019 week 16 Saturday preview

With three Saturday games, how should fantasy football owners prepare their lineups for the championship week?

Week 16, or fantasy football championship week, starts on Saturday with three games on the slate. It starts with the Texans taking on the Buccaneers and then the Bills and Patriots facing off in an AFC East battle, then capped off with the Rams and 49ers. With three big games on Saturday, how should fantasy football owners prepare for the final week of the season?

With little known about some injured players and their status for the week as of this writing, fantasy owners had their waiver claims go through and now the waiting game starts. There are some players listed as questionable for their Saturday game.

But, there is a benefit of playing on Saturday compared to playing on Thursday. Having those two extra days of practice will help the coaches assess the player’s injuries to see if they would be able to play. If there were games on Thursday, some of these players would likely not be active.

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Looking at last year’s schedule, there were two games on Saturday for week 16. We saw the Titans defeat the Redskins and Ravens beat the Chargers. Back in 2017, there was a Thursday game as well as two Saturday games. In those five games, no team scored more than 30 points.

That may not bode well for fantasy scoring in the championship round. But, in this post, I will preview all three games and what you can expect from a fantasy aspect as you prepare to win your league’s championship.

Texans/Buccaneers

This game could be the highest-scoring of the three. The Texans are dealing with a couple of injuries. Will Fuller is dealing with a hamstring and was limited in Tuesday’s practice. He was on the field for 94 percent of Houston’s snaps in week 15. Fuller is expected to be ready for this game.

Running back Carlos Hyde was limited with an ankle injury. He had 26 carries for 104 yards last week. If he can’t go, the job will go to Duke Johnson. Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins are locks. Kenny Stills is a flex play.

Tampa Bay’s offense suffered two major injuries over the last couple of weeks. First was Mike Evans suffering a hamstring injury and was eventually placed on the IR. The second was Chris Godwin and his own hamstring injury. He is unlikely to play in this game. That leaves Breshad Perriman and Justin Watson as the top receivers. If you own a Bucs tight end, they should get a lot of targets in this game.

Bills/Patriots

The Bills have a tough matchup in week 16. Looking at the rankings, the Patriots offense rank in the top-seven against every position. This Bills offense is not deep with fantasy-relevant players. Owners have relied on Josh Allen, Devin Singletary, John Brown and Cole Beasley as backups or flex plays.

If you have another quarterback or running back, use them. Allen and Singletary did not play well the last time these two teams placed. Brown and Beasley scored at least 14 PPR points in the week 4 matchup.

The Patriots offense also has a tough matchup against the Bills defense. They rank no worse than 12th against a position. The Patriots wide receivers have not played well in recent weeks. Outside of N’Keal Harry‘s touchdown, no receiver scored more than five fantasy points last week.

Rex Burkhead reemerged with a 13.9-point performance. I don’t expect that to happen again. But I do think James White and Sony Michel have big games. Stay away from Tom Brady and whatever tight end takes the field.

Rams/49ers

The Rams offense was shut down for most of their week 15 game against the Cowboys. Still, with garbage time, Tyler Higbee finished with 23 points, Todd Gurley had 20.8, Jared Goff had 17.6 and Cooper Kupp scored 16.1. This week, the matchup is even tougher against the 49ers as they are a top-five defense.

I’d start Gurley, Kupp and Robert Woods without hesitation. If you’re in a bind at tight end, Tyler Higbee is a good play. Brandin Cooks hasn’t scored 10 fantasy points since week 4. Goff had four bad games after the bye week before his 23.7 combined points in his last two. Unless you’re in the deepest of leagues, Goff belongs on the bench.

With San Francisco, the starters are clear-cut. You’re starting Jimmy Garoppolo, Raheem Mostert, George Kittle and Emmanuel Sanders. Deebo Samuel is a deep cut if you’re looking for a flex play. The Rams defense can be scored on and I expect the stars to find the end zone.

The NFL picked a great set of games to have on Saturday. For fantasy football, it gives an early jump to the week but not too early as it allows owners to make some last-minute changes for injuries. This is it. You made it to the end. Good luck!