What’s up everyone! Tera Roberts here with your Free Agency Deep Cuts for week 16! Before we get started be sure to like this video and subscribe to fantasy alarm.
At quarterback this week, we’ll go with Tyler Huntley. This one is very simple…Lamar Jackson is out and Huntley has been fantastic and aligns perfectly with what we love the most in fantasy football quarterbacks…RUSHING upside. Cincinnati isn’t exactly an easy matchup but he is still in QB1 range. Last week Huntley completed 28 of 40 attempts for 215 yards, 2 touchdowns, and added 13 carries for 73 yards and 2 more touchdowns. He’s a fantastic streaming option.
At running back, the pickings are slim because the best streaming options were snatched up already. But if you couldn’t yourself a Ronald Jones or Justin Jackson, it’s not the worst option in the world to pivot to Duke Johnson. It’s risky…because he’ll be splitting carries with Myles Gaskin. And the matchup against New Orleans is pretty much about the worst you can get. But Johnson is coming off a fantastic game and that level of production is going to earn him a role in the Dolphins offense. Johnson had 22 carries for 107 yards. And while he only had 1 reception for 20 yards, he’s been a very capable pass catching back in the past if the Dolphins opt to avoid heavy ground work.
Craig Reynolds is another option. Jamaal Williams is coming off the COVID list. D’Andre Swift is questionable. If Swift can’t go, I’m still comfortable going with Reynolds. The matchup is fantastic. Atlanta is 26th in DVOA against the run. And while I do love Jamaal Williams, the highest number of carries he’s had all season was 17 in week 13 and it’s been 3 weeks since he’s been on the field. Reynolds saw 26 carries last week. Williams returning to a lead back role with Swift out does make sense…but Atlanta is a team that Detroit can lean on the run against meaning that both Williams and Reynolds can be viable fantasy options this week.
Moving on to wide receivers…
Marquez Valdes-Scanting is out with COVID and that means the WR2 role falls right into the lap of Allen Lazard. Lazard has had the edge in snap count over MVS but targets and yardage have tilted towards MVS. And that’s important because over the past 5 weeks, Aaron Rodgers has the highest average fantasy points for quarterbacks. The Packers are pushing heavy volume through the air and it’s working so I don’t expect things to slow down. Lazard is a low rostered viable asset this week.
Another player bumped up due to injuries is Tyler Johnson. Chris Godwin is down for the year and Mike Evans is out for this week. Johnson caught 4 of his 7 targets last week for 41 yards. Antonio Brown is coming back and will lead the way. Gronk will certainly have a big role as well. But Johnson will have the opportunity served as the third option in what is typically a VERY strong, pass heavy offense.
If you’re looking for a guy who doesn’t necessarily have high upside but a pretty stable floor, you can go with Laquon Treadwell. Treadwell has averaged 10.9 fantasy points in PPR over the past 3 weeks. And there’s no boom or bust to it…that’s literally what you can expect each week. No more. No less. And oddly enough, that 10.9 points gets you the right to call yourself the WR1 of that Jags offense. But, in this crazy week, we might just need a guy we know will get us a very specific floor and Treadwell can be your guy for that very specific purpose.
Another option is Josh Reynolds. the Lions are technically on a roll winning 2 of their last 3 games. Jared Goff has scored the NINTH most fantasy points for quarterbacks over that time period. WILD…but true. And Josh Reynolds has been WR19 in full point PPR over that time period. Somehow even Wilder. Unfortunately Jared Goff is out with COVID and Tim Boyle will likely be getting the start. So this is definitely less than ideal. But given the fact that they face Atlanta, I’m still ok with pulling Reynolds off waivers if you really need to.
And at tight end we go with Cole Kmet. I have zero faith Kmet will get a touchdown…although Nick Foles is in line to get the start for Chicago so maybe he has some Zach Ertz flashbacks and defies Matt Nagy’s gameplan of fading Cole Kmet in the redzone. But even without the touchdown, the target share has been good for Kmet making him a viable play in PPR. He’s had a total of 32 targets over the past 4 weeks and has a fantastic matchup against Seattle who has been very poor at defending tight ends.
And that wraps things up for this week’s Free Agency Deep Cuts. As always be sure to like this video and subscribe to Fantasy Alarm and come back next week for another round of Deep Cuts.