Fantasy football Week 16 sleepers: 11 streamers to target

Fantasy football Week 16 quarterbacks to stream

*Streamers are players who are rostered in 50% or fewer of Yahoo! leagues.

Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints

Shough gets to face the New York Jets, the same team that just allowed Trevor Lawrence to have one of the greatest quarterback performances of all time.

Shough has been the QB12 since Week 10 by average points per game. His only dud game was in Week 12 against the Atlanta Falcons. Outside of that, he has put up 18.1 fantasy points or more.

Don’t expect a Lawrence-type day, but Shough can be right in the mix to be a top-12 QB this week.

J.J. McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings

It is hard to trust McCarthy following the abysmal few weeks he had after returning from injury. However, you can’t ignore how well he has been for fantasy leagues the last two weeks, taking advantage of subpar defenses in the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders.

This week, he gets the New York Giants, who, on a fantasy points allowed per game basis, are fifth-worst this season.

Fantasy football Week 16 running backs to stream

Michael Carter, Arizona Cardinals

Bam Knight is out for the rest of the season, so the Cardinals backfield is down to two, Michael Carter and Emari Demercado.

Last week, Knight left the game after just one carry, and Carter wound up playing 79% of the snaps and handling 70% of the carries. Demercado, on the other hand, played 11% of the snaps and handled 5% of the carries.

It will likely be a bit more of a shared backfield than that, but Carter appears to have jumped Demercado on the depth chart and is the one to trust.

Audric Estime, New Orleans Saints

Keep an eye on Alvin Kamara’s availability, as he is potentially returning this week (although he has not practiced as of Thursday). If he is not able to go, then Estime is the likely lead back for the Saints now that Devin Neal has been ruled out.

Evan Hull will be involved as well, so this is not a sure thing. However, a reminder that the Saints play the Jets, so even if it is a 60-40 split in favor of Estime over Hull, he can still do damage.

Emmanuel Wilson, Green Bay Packers

Josh Jacobs has not practiced all week, and with the Packers playing on Saturday, that gives him a little less time to get ready. If Jacobs misses this game, Wilson would immediately jump to a high-end RB2 in rankings.

In case you forgot, the last game Jacobs did not play, Wilson ran 28 times for 107 yards and two touchdowns.

Fantasy football Week 16 wide receivers to stream

Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers

Reed is tough to project each week because he is not on the field as often, due to playing primarily in the slot and only in three wide receiver sets. That said, Christian Watson is banged up, and even though it is looking like Watson will suit up, questions about how effective he will be still loom.

As mentioned earlier, Jacobs is also dealing with an injury, so the Packers could lean on Reed and Romeo Doubs more in the passing game to help keep the offense going in a very important divisional game.

Adonai Mitchell, New York Jets

Quarterback Brady Cook looked terrible last week, but at the very least, he looked Mitchell’s way often.

This led to Mitchell seeing nine total targets. He caught six for just 58 yards but did score a touchdown. Expect a similar game script where the Jets get down and are forced to pass quite a bit, with Mitchell seeing most of those targets.

Jalen Coker, Carolina Panthers

Coker did it again last week, out-targeting and out-producing Tetairoa McMillan. It seems as though teams are focusing on stopping McMillan, which is giving Coker a lot more space to operate.

Coker does not have the ceiling that the other streamer options have, but if you need a safer play, this is the way to go.

Fantasy football Week 16 tight ends to stream

Oronde Gadsden, Los Angeles Chargers

Gadsden appears to be bouncing back after a few down weeks. Last week, he had his best game in five weeks, catching four of five targets for 61 yards. This came against the Kansas City Chiefs, who are one of the best defenses against tight ends.

This week, he gets to face the Dallas Cowboys, who are more middle-of-the-road against tight ends in terms of fantasy points allowed. However, they rank 25th in DVOA against the position and have been one of the worst overall defenses in the NFL.

Dawson Knox, Buffalo Bills

Knox is an interesting case. On the depth chart, he is the backup to Dalton Kincaid. However, over the last two weeks, Knox has been on the field almost twice as much.

He is running fewer routes but is actually seeing more targets. He has more receptions and yards. On top of that, he has scored twice, both coming last game, compared to Kincaid’s one score.

That type of production makes him an intriguing streamer on its own. Add in the fact that Kincaid may not play due to a knee injury, and if that happens, Knox jumps into the TE1 conversation for the week.

Fantasy football Week 16 defenses to stream

New Orleans Saints

By now, you know the Saints are playing the Jets, who are starting third-string quarterback Brady Cook.

In the two games Cook has played this season, he has thrown five interceptions, taken nine sacks, and thrown just one touchdown. One of those games came against the Miami Dolphins defense, which has been largely ineffective this season.

If the Dolphins defense, which ranks among the worst in DVOA, can have that kind of game against the Jets, the Saints should be able to as well.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fantasy football top Week 16 sleepers, rankings at every position