Fantasy Football 2020 Week 16 Waiver Wire Pickup Advice
Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be owned in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the ownership percentage coming from Yahoo.com.
Quarterbacks
Baker Mayfield, Browns (47% Owned): Mayfield is a scary name for people in their championship, but if you’ve been streaming QBs all year you’ve likely got the iron stomach to fire him up. He’s been on fire, throwing at least two touchdown passes in four straight games, and topping 250 yards in all of them as well. He’s taken advantage of shootout situations vs. Tennessee and Baltimore, and been hyper-efficient in cake matchups vs. the Jaguars and James Bradberry-less Giants. This week he gets the Jets, the NFL’s worst pass defense. Don’t let last week’s weird win fool you, Gang Green can’t stop a nosebleed. Mayfield should be a Top 10 QB on the week.
Jalen Hurts, Eagles (38% Owned): Hurts went absolutely nuts last week, throwing for 338 yards and three touchdowns while adding 63 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. After a week like that, most would probably be comfortable starting him. I would be too, especially with a good matchup across from him in the Dallas Cowboys. I don’t want to read too much into last week though, as we don’t have much to go on with Hurts. He’s playable, but I do trust Mayfield more.
Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins (21% Owned): Tagovailoa is shaky for fantasy, as the Dolphins clearly are not putting too much on his plate. That leads to low passing yardage at times, and requires multiple touchdowns to save the day. Tua hasn’t topped two passing touchdowns in a game yet, but he has been able to score three rushing touchdowns in the last two weeks. His mobility can save the day, and he should throw a bit vs. the Raiders, but he’s a notch or two below Hurts and Mayfield this week.
Running Backs
Salvon Amed, Dolphins (34% Owned): Amed is a must-play this week if Myles Gaskin remains out. Amed has proven capable, and last week went off for 122 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots. Amed is good enough to chew up soft matchups, and the Raiders are the softest in the NFL against the run. Enjoy the points if Gaskin isn’t active; if he is, look elsewhere.
Tony Pollard, Cowboys (46% Owned): Pollard got an opportunity to have the Dallas backfield all to himself, and despite their porous offensive line and lack of Dak Prescott, he shined. Pollard lit up San Francisco for 132 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. It’s likely Ezekiel Elliott is back this week, but even still, Pollard will be playable in a pinch as he had to have earned more work. If Elliott misses again, Pollard should be a solid RB2 play.
Darrel Williams, Chiefs (2% Owned): Williams is a “break glass in case of emergency” option with Clyde Edwards-Helaire likely to miss Week 16. Le’Veon Bell is probably getting the bulk of Kansas City’s rushing work in his absence, but Williams at times has run ahead of Bell. If CEH is out, both players will touch the ball, and Williams will have a puncher’s chance of finding the end zone. It’s desperate, and low-floor, but with no CEH he’s unlikely to goose you.
Wide Receivers
Darnell Mooney, Bears (10% Owned): Mooney has scored in two straight games, and looks to have established himself as the No. 2 target in this offense. Now it’s a low-volume passing offense with an inaccurate QB, so take that nomination with a grain of salt, but he can make plays down the field and is proving he has a nose for the end zone. Jacksonville has the NFL’s second-worst pass defense so Mooney is playable.
Rashard Higgins, Browns (25% Owned): Higgins has scored in two of his last three games, and while Jarvis Landry is clearly the top target for Mayfield, Higgins is very playable in a matchup with the Jets. Higgins is a good receiver, and there is enough for multiple pass-catchers to eat in every game vs. the Jets.
Tight Ends
Austin Hooper, Browns (48% Owned): Hooper looked like himself last week with five receptions, 41 yards and a touchdown on six targets. It was just the second time since Week 10 – when he returned from an appendectomy – that he had seen at least five targets. As has been the theme of this week, you want pass-catchers and QBs facing the Jets this year. Hooper’s proven he has a low floor, but so does every TE not named Travis Kelce or Darren Waller this year. You can play Hooper if you’ve been a TE streamer.