NFL DFS picks: Sunday's Week 16 bargain bin for the main slate

Ooof! Last week was tough for the old bargain bin. At least our cover boy, Aaron Rodgers, continued to put up usable numbers, but we cannot say the same for Will Levis. Wowza, he was awful. Thankfully Rudolph was there to save him from continued embarrassment. That Rudolph, he's always there to help out this time of the year.

We also lost Jaleel McLaughlin to an injury and Adam Thielen decided he was just being too consistent and needed to change things up a bit. So, we move on to Week 16 to find some more possible bargain plays from this week's main slate.

Quarterbacks

Michael Penix Jr., Falcons vs. Giants ($4.5K)

Kirk Cousins wasn't getting the job done unless they were playing Tampa Bay, so it was time to turn to Penix. There are of course varying evaluations of Penix, but we do know he gets a good matchup at home and has some strong offensive pieces around him. The team isn't bringing him in to see what he has as they finish out the season because they are still in the NFC South race. They need wins and they believe Penix gives them a better chance than Cousins right now. He is an unknown, but his price and situation are worthy of giving him a go in some lineups this week.

Caleb Williams, Bears vs. Lions ($5.5K)

Williams is extremely risky, but he gets a Lions defense that has been decimated by injuries this season. We saw the Bills put up points on them at will last week and in Week 13 Williams threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns in Detroit. As with Penix, this is a wobbly base for your DFS team, but unlike Penix, we know he can do it, as he did it just a few weeks ago.

Running backs

Tyjae Spears, Titans at Colts ($4.9K)

Spears went off last week for 92 yards on 10 touches, scoring a rushing and a receiving touchdown as Tony Pollard appeared to tweak his ankle injury. At this point, we don't know if Pollard is playing or not, but if he does sit, Spears makes for a great play, as the Colts give up the second-most overall yards per game to running backs. If Pollard does end up playing, there is still upside for Spears as a receiver in a good matchup, but it gets much riskier.

Patrick Taylor Jr., 49ers at Dolphins ($5.2K)

Taylor needed multiple injuries to get his shot this week, but it appears he will get his shot, as Isaac Guerendo won't play and Christian McCarthy and Jordan Mason are on IR. Taylor came in for Guerendo in Week 14 and scored a touchdown as his main backup. All signs point to him getting the start this week, but we can't know if he'll split work with someone else. The good news is that the Dolphins are worse against the run and Kyle Shanahan can create space for just about any level of running back. On the season, the Dolphins rank 24th in rush defense DVOA.

Wide receivers

Keenan Allen, Bears vs. Lions ($5.3K)

Allen hasn't been consistent, but there's no doubt Caleb Williams likes targeting him. Allen has averaged nine targets a game since Week 8 and the last time he faced the Lions, he caught 9-of-15 targets for 86 yards and a touchdown. That's the kind of PPR production we like over at DraftKings full PPR scoring.

Tim Patrick, Lions at Bears ($4.5K)

Patrick has seen his snap count and targets go up over the last two games into startable fantasy levels. It helps that he has three touchdown receptions over his last two games, but his 8 and 7 targets in each are an even better sign. We know this Lions offense can help players into big fantasy points, and now that Patrick is at least in the mix, he's not priced up to that potential just yet.

Tight ends

Brenton Strange, Jaguars at Raiders ($3.5k)

Strange caught 10-of-11 targets for 73 yards last week with Evan Engram done for the season. It seems Mac Jones is a fan of Mr. Strange and at his price on DraftKings, he's hard to pass up. Besides his huge usage last week against the Jets, he also gets an even better matchup against the Raiders this week. Vegas has given up the fourth-most receptions and yards to the position this season. If we can even get half of his production from last week it would still be worth starting him at his price.

As for another cheap tight end, I'm not a fan of any. There are a few out there, but they'd need to get really lucky to give you the upside Strange does at his cost or the much bigger upside Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, George Kittle and Jonnu Smith bring along with their price.