Sit/Start Week 16: Reviewing All the Fantasy Relevant Players In Every Single Game

Jaguars@Falcons

 

Game Info

Kickoff: Sunday, December 22nd at 1:00 pm EST

Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA

Betting Odds: ATL -7.5, 45.5 Total via Oddsshark

Network: FOX

Sleeper Spotlight: Leonard Fournette

 

Jacksonville Jaguars

 

Quarterback:

• Gardner Minshew II (QB1 upside)

 

The Gardner Minshew mania lasted just long enough to upset the Raiders in their final Oakland home game. Yes, Atlanta’s pass defense has been bottom-10 this year but I wouldn’t trust Minshew if you’re fortunate enough to still be in your league’s fantasy playoffs. From a fantasy perspective, Minshew’s last four starts have been mediocre or just plain bad. He barely made it to QB1 territory last week but I think he will be right at that line again this week. I have him listed as the overall QB12 for Week 16. 

 

Running Backs:

• Leonard Fournette (Start, RB2)

 

Leonard Fournette has been a pretty darn good running back this year, his only struggle has been finding the end zone. He’s only recorded three touchdowns this year which took place over only two games. I suspect Fournette should have a reliable floor against a neutral Falcons’ rush defense. Be that as it may, Fournette’s ceiling will be as difficult to predict as ever. 

 

Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends:

• DJ Chark (WR2)
• Chris Conley (Sit)
• Dede Westbrook (Sit)

 

It seems like DJ Chark is trending in the right direction towards playing this week. He returned to the practice field on Monday and has a good shot at suiting up. Starting a banged-up Chark in the finals is certainly a risk, no matter how good of a season he’s had. They say fortune favors the bold, but I’d likely have Chark on the bench if I had a shot at the championship. Too much risk for me. 

 

Chris Conley had a pair of touchdowns last week to massively boost his point total. That marked the third time this year he surpassed 20 fantasy points in one game. Be that as it may, Conley is still very boom-or-bust and the return of Chark could mean less valuable targets. Conley simply isn’t the type of guy you want to rely on in Week 16. Dede Westbrook is right there with Conley in the boom-or-bust category as far as I’m concerned. He will go from a healthy target share one week to two targets the next.

 

Atlanta Falcons

 

Quarterback:

• Matt Ryan (QB2)

 

This matchup is pretty neutral for Matt Ryan considering the Jaguars are ranked 14th in the league against the pass. Ryan has been this year’s Blake Bortles in that he’s the king of garbage time. He almost always finds a way to at least salvage a bad game with a mediocre fantasy performance. For what it’s worth, I have Ryan ranked a few slots below Minshew and safely within QB2 territory this week. You could do worse if you want a safe floor from your quarterback, just don’t expect a huge performance. 

 

Running Backs:

• Devonta Freeman (RB2)

 

It will be difficult trusting Devonta Freeman this week mainly because it will be tough predicting his performance. It seems like 19 points are pretty much his ceiling (unless he scores multiple touchdowns) but even then you need to pray he gets meaningful touches. Just last week, Freeman had a touchdown vultured by Qadree Ollison on the latter’s only carry of the game. That resulted in Freeman’s third-worst performance of the year with only 7.5 points. He will certainly be tough to trust in championship lineups this week. 

 

Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends:

• Julio Jones (Start, WR1)
• Austin Hooper (Start, TE1)

 

At this point, I would be crazy to tell anyone to sit Julio Jones. He finally snapped his touchdown drought with two against the 49ers last week and should continue seeing plenty of targets with Calvin Ridley sidelined for the rest of the year. Jones is set-and-forget for the rest of your fantasy season. 

 

Austin Hooper hasn’t been playing as well as he was before his injury but I wouldn’t give up hope quite yet. He’s had six targets in each of the past two weeks and also had two end zone targets at the end of last week’s game against the 49ers. Not to mention, Darren Waller torched the Jags just a few weeks ago. 

-Ryan Kruse (@ryanpkruse)