Fantasy Football 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 rostered in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the roster percentages coming from Yahoo.com.

Quarterbacks

Derek Carr, Saints (39% Rostered): When it comes to using Carr, you’re better off not watching. He’s not an entertaining player to take in, but he’s definitely capable of producing for fantasy managers at times regardless of how it looks. Chances are, if you’re in the playoffs you’re set at QB, but some of us maybe are left to stream after losing Justin Herbert, or are trying to pivot out of a terrible matchup. Carr’s thrown six touchdown passes in his last three games, and totaled three scores on Sunday without the services of Chris Olave. His remaining two games are against the Rams and Bucs, and while both are road tilts, those are some friendly pass defenses.

Joe Flacco, Browns (25% Rostered): Flacco’s usefulness expires after this week, but even in an ugly effort Sunday he managed to post 374 yards and two touchdowns. He’s now thrown seven touchdown passes in three games, topped 300 yards twice and been over 250 yards in each of his starts. Houston is on deck in Week 16, so he’s usable.

Jake Browning, Bengals (47% Rostered): Browning has also performed admirably in replacing Joe Burrow of late, throwing for 275+ in each of his last three games and putting up more than 320 yard  in two of them. He gets dinged moving forward though because is looks like he’ll be without Ja’Marr Chase, who undoubtedly is a big help in boosting Browning’s production. He’ll still have Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd at his disposal, but Chase is the straw that stirs the drink. Losing him hurts.

Running Backs

Justice Hill, Ravens (13% Rostered): Hill felt like he was gone, but even as Keaton Mitchell emerged, Hill was still on the field a nice amount of the time. Now that Mitchell’s season is over, Hill will likely be back on the field for about 50% of snaps, and much more in game scripts where Baltimore has to play from behind. He’s been around long enough for us to know this is not a league-winner. Hill is little more than a FLEX, and Gus Edwards is the preferred back now, but with Mitchell out of the picture Hill will surely produce a big, and he can score from distance on occasion. If you’re hurting, or had been relying on Mitchell, Hill can capably fill in.

Tyjae Spears, Titans (45% Rostered): I’ll keep banging the drum. Derrick Henry managers who made it to the postseason should really have Spears as insurance. If Henry goes down, Spears is a difference-maker.

Tyler Allegeier, Falcons (48% Rostered): Just when it looked like Atlanta realized feeding Bijan Robinson and Drake London was a recipe for success, they give Allgeier a team-high 14 carries, and 50% of the snaps. Allgeier is a nice player, and if Bijan goes down, Allgeier has RB1 upside. That’s why he belongs on rosters. Feeding Allgeier is definitely not what’s best for the Falcons real life offense – they just lost 9-7 to the Panthers! – but this insistence on his involvement means he's not on enough teams.

Chase Brown, Bengals (20% Rostered): Brown didn’t break off any huge plays vs. Minnesota, and still remains an extremely shaky FLEX play as long as Joe Mixon is healthy. He is still worth rostering as a Joe Mixon manager though, because the upside is tremendous with an upgraded workload.

Kenneth Gainwell, Eagles (28% Rostered): Gainwell keeps flirting with taking away valuable scoring opportunities from players that are actually on people’s rosters. He remains a valuable stash for D’Andre Swift managers. 

Rico Dowdle, Cowboys (11% Rostered): Throw this game in the trash for all Cowboys, including Dowdle. This was a reminder that as a standalone play, Dowdle is very low upside and should be viewed strictly as a handcuff. But a good one!

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Chiefs (40% Rostered): Edwards-Helaire actually resembled what the Chiefs thought they were getting in Round 1 in 2020 when he supplemented a modest 37 yards on the ground on 13 carries with four receptions, 40 yards and an acrobatic touchdown. CEH remains playable while Isaiah Pacheco is out, but playable is not the same as reliable. The floor is extremely low for CEH, and I do not believe there’s a very high ceiling in this shockingly low-output Chiefs offense.

Wide Receivers            

Noah Brown, Texans (40% Rostered): Brown has shown flashes of potential to be a legit primary option, and without Tank Dell and Nico Collins, as well as working with backup QB Case Keenum, Brown shrugged off some goose egg games and put up eight receptions, 82 yards and a score. At worst, Brown is the Texans’ WR2 rest of season, and he’ll operate as the top option until Collins can return. He’s a low-end WR2 when Collins is out, but it’s more comfortable to play him as a high-ceiling FLEX.

Rashid Shaheed, Saints (47% Rostered): Shaheed’s boom or bust, but with Olave and Michael Thomas injured, and some good matchups to close out the season, Shaheed should have some chances for big plays. Risky, but some playoff teams need to take chances.

Tight Ends

Hunter Henry, Patriots (24% Rostered): Henry’s floor in any given week is very low, but he’s scored six touchdowns this season, is often a featured part of this admittedly sad pass attack, and, most importantly, faces the Broncos this week. Denver has been the worst defense in the league against TEs, and just served up three touchdowns to Sam LaPorta. Of course, Henry isn’t LaPorta, but he’s got a knack for finding the end zone, and if he’s healthy for this game, is a good bet to score.

Cade Otton, Buccaneers (34% Rostered): Otton’s floor is low, but the matchups are good. If you get a TD, you’re probably fine.

Chigoziem Okonkwo, Titans (34% Rostered): Okonkwo continued to provide better than zero points, which is not easy to lock in week to week when you don’t have an elite TE. It’s unclear how switching back to Ryan Tannehill would affect him, but his production has been modest and should be repeatable regardless of QB.

Possibly Available

Baker Mayfield, QB, Buccaneers (54% Rostered)

Ty Chandler, RB, Vikings (52% Rostered)

Josh Downs, Colts (51% Rostered)

Drop Candidates – HODL or Say Goodbye?  

Sam Howell, QB, Commanders (76% Rostered): Say Goodbye. It’s been a fun, bumpy ride but closing the season vs. the Jets and 49ers ain’t it.

AJ Dillon, RB, Packers (70% Rostered): Say Goodbye. Aaron Jones is back, and even if Dillon’s healthy, the huge workload that allowed him to put up even middling production is about to be halved.

George Pickens, WR, Steelers (80% Rostered): Say Goodbye. Pickens at this point is a one trick pony, and the Steelers’ awful QBs can throw the ball deep enough for him to perform the trick.