Justin Boone provides a weekly look at undervalued fantasy football players to consider starting this week and potential busts you might want to leave on your bench.
For the rest of your lineup decisions, consult his Week 16 rankings.
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Starts
Jacoby Brissett, QB, Cardinals
vs. Falcons
Brissett has finished as a top-12 fantasy quarterback in all nine of his starts for the Cardinals this season, including last week’s matchup with the vaunted Texans defense.
Next up is an easier date with the Falcons, in a game with one of the highest projected point totals on the week at 48.
The Cardinals are also expected to get Marvin Harrison Jr. back in some capacity, giving Brissett even more firepower to work with.
At this point, there’s no reason to avoid starting Brissett, unless you’re lucky enough to have an elite option at the position.
Other QBs to start:
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Jared Goff vs. Steelers – Coming off a 338-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Rams, Goff now heads home to face the Steelers defense that’s allowing the ninth-most fantasy points to QBs. This game is expected to be the highest scoring on the slate at 52 projected points.
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Justin Herbert at Cowboys – The Cowboys are allowing the most fantasy points to quarterbacks, including at least three touchdowns to five of the last seven QBs they’ve faced. Herbert’s offensive line just has to keep him clean long enough to take advantage of this matchup.
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Bucky Irving, RB, Buccaneers
at Panthers
Since returning from injury, Irving has topped 70 scrimmage yards in three straight games and finished as a top-15 fantasy RB twice.
While the Panthers held a banged-up Saints backfield mostly in check last week, they were crushed by running backs prior to that contest. Kyren Williams (72 yards, TD), Blake Corum (81 yards, TD), Christian McCaffrey (142 yards, TD) and Bijan Robinson (143 yards, 2 TDs) all had big days against them over the previous three outings.
Some of Irving’s best performances last season came against Carolina, including 185 scrimmage yards and a touchdown in Week 13 and 190 yards in Week 17.
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Even with Sean Tucker vulturing carries around the goal line and Rachaad White working in as a pass-catcher, Irving still projects as a low-end fantasy RB1 this week.
Other RBs to start:
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TreVeyon Henderson at Ravens – Henderson’s breakout continues with at least 80 yards in six consecutive contests and multiple touchdowns in three of his last five games.
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Kenneth Gainwell at Lions – Gainwell has forced his way into a near 50-50 split with Jaylen Warren and has taken on a major role in the passing game with 13 catches over the last two weeks. While we can’t guarantee another 126-yard performance, you can expect him to be used heavily in a high-scoring affair with the Lions.
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Michael Carter vs. Falcons – Injuries have pushed Carter into the lead back role in Arizona. In the two games where he’s been given at least 15 touches this season, he delivered 73 yards and a score in Week 5 and 94 yards in a tough matchup last week. With the point total at 48, Carter is a very intriguing fantasy start.
DK Metcalf, WR, Steelers
at Lions
After an up-and-down season, Metcalf has put together back-to-back strong fantasy performances with seven catches for 148 yards in Week 14 and 55 yards and a touchdown in Week 15.
The matchup with the Lions should vault him to another strong stat line, given their defense is the second-easiest matchup for fantasy wideouts and this projects to be a high-scoring game in the dome.
Metcalf has also had a lot of success playing in Detroit. Though he wasn’t a member of the Steelers at the time, over the last three seasons, Metcalf put up 104 yards, 75 yards and 149 yards while playing at Ford Field.
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In a game where Aaron Rodgers will likely have to open things up to keep pace with the Lions, Metcalf is someone you want in your fantasy lineup against a banged-up Detroit secondary.
Other WRs to start:
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Jameson Williams vs. Steelers – Williams will be on the other side of the field in that game and is just as attractive as a borderline fantasy WR1. The speedster has at least 96 yards or a touchdown in six of his past seven appearances.
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Jauan Jennings at Colts – Jennings has scored six touchdowns in his last six outings and is coming off a WR11 finish. Now he gets a Colts defense that’s allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to WRs, including a top-12 weekly finisher at the position in four of the previous five games.
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Chris Olave vs. Jets – Olave has 70 yards or a TD in four of his last five games and there’s even less target competition for him to deal with now that Devaughn Vele is sidelined.
Dallas Goedert, TE, Eagles
at Commanders
Goedert has been heating up with stat lines of 8-78-0 and 6-70-2 over the last two weeks, resulting in top-eight weekly finishes at his position.
He’s a streaking player that can disappear from the box score at any moment, but that’s unlikely to happen versus a Commanders defense that’s permitting the fourth-most fantasy points to TEs.
You can confidently start Goedert as a mid-range fantasy TE1 in your semifinal matchup.
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Other TEs to start:
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Colston Loveland vs. Packers – The rookie has passed the eye test and has become a consistent contributor in the Bears offense. Now, he’ll be asked to take on an even bigger role in the passing game with both Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III ruled out for Saturday’s game.
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Travis Kelce at Titans – With Rashee Rice out due to a concussion, Kelce becomes one of the last men standing in the Chiefs offense. Even with Patrick Mahomes out, Kelce is positioned for a solid game against a Titans defense that’s given up 114 yards and a TD to Harold Fannin Jr. and 88 yards and a score to George Kittle over the last two weeks.
Sits
Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jaguars
at Broncos
Lawrence had a massive six-touchdown effort last week and is now the No. 1 scoring fantasy quarterback over the last month — ahead of Josh Allen.
However, he’s done it against easier opponents like the Cardinals, Titans, Colts and Jets.
The Broncos defense is a different story. Denver is giving up the sixth-fewest fantasy points to passers and has only allowed one QB to reach 15 fantasy points against it in the last seven outings.
While it might feel odd to sit Lawrence coming off of Week 15’s dominant performance, the Broncos defense has a humbling effect on most quarterbacks.
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Given the matchup, I’m keeping Lawrence outside my top-12 QBs this week.
Other QBs to sit:
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Caleb Williams vs. Packers – Williams had a very average fantasy day (QB16) just two weeks ago against Green Bay. While the Packers have lost Micah Parsons since then, the Bears will be without two of their top pass-catchers in Odunze and Burden.
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Marcus Mariota vs. Eagles – Mariota is normally a solid streaming option, but not in this matchup against an Eagles defense giving up the seventh-fewest fantasy points to QBs.
Kareem Hunt, RB, Chiefs
at Titans
The fantasy environment in Kansas City isn’t nearly as exciting with Patrick Mahomes done for the rest of the season and Rashee Rice out with a concussion.
Gardner Minshew is a capable backup and the matchup with the Titans would normally be a favorable one, but the oddsmakers aren’t expecting a lot of scoring in this game with the point total set at just 37.5.
We’ve also seen Isiah Pacheco quietly turning this backfield into more of a 50-50 split with his snap percentage rising each week since he returned, up to 46% in Week 15.
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Both Hunt and Pacheco have been fairly ineffective the last couple weeks and are low-ceiling, TD-or-bust flex types in a Mahomes-less version of this offense.
Other RBs to sit:
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Kyle Monangai vs. Packers – The rookie has had a couple of quieter weeks after his string of four straight outings with a touchdown. One of those down games was against Green Bay’s defense that allows the eighth-fewest fantasy points to the position.
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Chris Rodriguez Jr./Jacory Croskey-Merritt vs. Eagles – It’s not ideal when you don’t have a role in the passing attack and your team is heavy underdogs. It’s even worse when you’re in the situation and potentially splitting carries.
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Rhamondre Stevenson at Ravens – Stevenson has been lucky to break some big plays against easy opponents the last couple games, but in his current role, he’s not seeing enough volume to be a trusted fantasy option.
Jaylen Waddle, WR, Dolphins
vs. Bengals
Waddle hasn’t topped 55 yards in four straight outings. Now, he has the uncertainty that comes with a quarterback change.
While the Dolphins may have felt compelled to try a different approach that didn’t involve Tua Tagovailoa, Quinn Ewers could actually be a downgrade for this passing attack.
Focusing on Waddle’s fantasy outlook, the Bengals are allowing the fifth-fewest points to opposing wideouts and have been a particularly tough matchup for No. 1 receivers, thanks to cornerback DJ Turner.
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Waddle is a borderline WR2/3 for fantasy this week, whom I’d prefer to not be relying on at the most important time of the season.
Other WRs to sit:
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Brian Thomas Jr. at Broncos – Thomas has posted double-digit fantasy points in back-to-back games, but now gets Patrick Surtain II and the Broncos defense that is the sixth-most difficult matchup for wideouts.
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Deebo Samuel Sr. vs. Eagles – Samuel was held under 45 yards each of the last two weeks and has a looming date with the Eagles defense that’s giving up the seventh-fewest fantasy points to receivers.
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Khalil Shakir at Browns – Shakir has a fairly low fantasy ceiling to begin with and this doesn’t seem like a potential spike week versus the Browns’ top-10 defense.
Hunter Henry, TE, Patriots
at Ravens
Henry is coming off one of his worst outputs of the season with just one catch for 18 yards against a Bills defense known for shutting down tight ends.
Things won’t get much easier against Kyle Hamilton (who is expected to play) and the Ravens defense, which is allowing the sixth-fewest fantasy points to the position.
Baltimore hasn’t let a tight end reach 30 yards in the last six games and only one tight end has topped 50 yards against them this season.
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Henry is a TD-or-bust streamer to avoid this week.
Other TEs to sit:
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Mark Andrews at Patriots – Speaking of TD-or-bust streamers, Andrews has been limited to 18 yards or less in three of his last four outings and hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 10.
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Brenton Strange at Broncos – With Jakobi Meyers, Brian Thomas Jr. and Parker Washington all healthy in the receiving corps, Strange has managed just 26 and 27 yards in the last two games. The Broncos won’t make it easy to bounce back this week.