5 biggest Week 16 fantasy football sleepers: Calvin Austin III, Cooper Rush and more

Let's take some accountability. Last week, I called Kirk Cousins a Week 15 sleeper. Instead, he threw for 112 yards against the Raiders and lost his starting job to Michael Penix Jr.

Yikes. And sorry. I guess I didn't realize just how far the bottom has dropped out for Cousins. I'll do my best to make sure none of this week's sleeper picks are players who'll be benched for poor performance.

Below are five sleeper picks for Week 16. To count as a sleeper, quarterbacks and tight ends need to be ranked outside the top 15 at their position on FantasyPros’ weekly rankings, while running backs and wide receivers are ranked outside the top 25.

Cooper Rush, QB, Dallas Cowboys

Week 16 ranking: QB20

Look, I understand why you wouldn't trust Cooper Rush in fantasy.

For one, he's Cooper Rush, a guy wjo has been the Cowboys backup since 2017 and had made six starts before the Dak Prescott injury this season forced him into the Cowboys lineup.

Then there's the fact that beyond CeeDee Lamb, his best receiving options are Brandin Cooks, Jalen Tolbert and Jake Ferguson, which is certainly not a grouping that strikes feat into opponents.

But he has Lamb, and that's been enough to enable Rush to finish as a top 15 fantasy quarterback in three of the past four games, including a finish as the QB9 against Carolina last week.

Now, Rush is set to face a soft Buccaneers defense, which allows the second-most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks. This is a great spot for Rush to finish as a top 10 fantasy quarterback.

Ameer Abdullah, RB, Las Vegas Raiders

Week 16 ranking: RB40

The Raiders backfield has been a disaster this season. The team ranks last in the NFL in rushing yards and it's not particularly close, as the team has jusrt 1,093 yards. Second fewerst are the Jets at 1,256.

It looked like the team might have finally found something with Sincere McCormick, but just as fast as the UTSA product emerged, an ankle injury ended his season, returning us to the Alexander Mattison and Ameer Abdullah backfield.

Neither player has been particularly good this year, but Abdullah has a shot to perform against the Jaguars this week because of his ability to make plays as a receiver out of the backfield.

See, the Jaguars have really struggled against receiving backs, allowing the second-most receiving yards in the league to running backs, behind only Buffalo. And between the ground game and passing game, running backs have 17 touchdowns against this team.

Wan'Dale Robinson, WR, New York Giants

Week 16 ranking: WR57

I'm trying to think of a good metaphor for Wan'Dale Robinson. At first, I was thinking a desert mirage, but the problem is that mirages aren't actually there, and Robinson is there. His targets aren't a mirage. They're just...bad targets, mostly.

Robinson, who was limited in practice Wednesday with a shoulder issue but was a full participant on Thursday, has 20 targets over the past two weeks, but he has identical stat lines in both games: four catches for 38 yards.

Despite having eight or more targets nine times this season, Robinson has 50 or more yards just four times. The opportunities are there, but the production isn't.

So why am I highlighting him this week? Because a matchup with the Falcons should be the kind of matchup where Robinson can string something together.

Atlanta allows the fourth-most fantasy points to the wide receiver position and the fifth-most receptions to the position. The Falcons have allowed the most receiving touchdowns to wideout, allowing 20 scores to the position.

Calvin Austin III, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 16 ranking: WR63

Last week, Calvin Austin III had a strong road showing against the Eagles, catching all five of his targets for 65 yards. It was the third time in the last four games he had either 65 or more yards, a touchdown, or both. He's had three top 40 fanasy finishes in that span.

This week, Austin faces the Ravens. He was shut down by Baltimore in the first meeting, catching one pass for a loss of a yard, but he played jsut 33% of the snaps in that game. He was on the field for 81% last week against the Eagles and looks to have an expanded role, with nine targets over the past two games.

Baltimore has allowed 17 touchdowns to the wide receiver position as well as the fourth-most receiving yards.

Chig Okonkwo, TE, Tennessee Titans

Week 16 ranking: TE20

Last week, Chig Okonkwo entered the week as the TE25 in the consensus rankings despite a very appealing matchup with the Bengals. I wrote about Okonkwo because it seemed he was in line for a strong showing.

And we got that strong showing. Okonkwo was targeted 10 times, catching eight passes for 59 yards and finishing as the overall TE6 for the week.

That performance prompted some movement in this week's rankings, but Okonkwo is still ranked as just the TE20 for the week despite another strong matchup as he faces a Colts team that allows the third-most fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends.

There's definitely a little concern here since the Colts held him to three catches for six yards earlier in the year, but two top 10 fantasy finishes in the past four weeks gives me hope that he won't repeat that Week 6 showing.