2025 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 16: Marcus Mariota, Michael Carter, Darren Waller Top Picks

Welcome to the 2025 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 16. We all know what time it is in fantasy football land. “You can’t hold anything back now." That’s why, this week in the semi-finals of fantasy football playoffs, you will see higher numbers than ever for our FAAB and waiver wire priority recommendations. You can’t take it with you. And, if you lose this week, the season is done. Keep that in mind as you check out this week's best waiver wire picks.

Unfortunately, there are many moving parts for the 2025 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 16, regarding injuries that could change who we are targeting throughout the day. Or, I guess, since you are reading this and you care more than the rest of the field, maybe that’s a good thing for us. We’re going to do our best to keep this updated throughout the day and will be discussing it in the Fantasy Alarm Discord, on the 1 PM ET Fantasy Alarm YouTube show, and on the 6-8 PM ET Fantasy Alarm Sirius XM show, so you will always have the latest info from us leading up to waiver time. So just make sure you are following the news - especially for the running backs. But here are our thoughts on the best waiver wire picks as of this morning.

2025 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 16 Top Targets

As always, our 2025 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 16 discussion will be split into two articles. This is the main article, which covers the top players to add at each position as well as an update to our Yin & Yang Tight End strategy. The second article is our Streamers and Stashes article that covers the deeper, more nuanced plays for Fantasy Alarm Members! 

Also, now more than ever, is the time to take advantage of our League Sync Tool to directly connect YOUR league to our systems for customized waiver wire/free agent advice based on YOUR league! Can’t take any chances now that the playoffs are here! Let's now get to the 2025 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 16 and snag the best waiver wire picks before it's too late. 

NFL Week 16 Waiver Wire Quarterbacks

Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders 

Yahoo: 10% | ESPN: 19% | Sleeper: 22% 

Check and see if maybe Jacoby Brissett or Trevor Lawrence were dropped. If they were, prioritize them in that order. But they are both rostered in over 60% of Yahoo leagues, so they probably aren’t out there in competitive leagues. Marcus Mariota, on the other hand, should be.

Week 14 obviously saw Jayden Daniels attempt a comeback. And that didn’t work. In the games sandwiching that one, Marcus Mariota started and has been playing hard. In both games, he actually ran 10 times. And threw for over 200 yards. The running alone is enough for us to be interested in fantasy football, given how broken QB running can be. So Mariota is not a bad option vs. the Eagles this week. And he’s a great option vs. Dallas in Week 17. It might be smart to add him just to make sure no one can use him against you. 

• Waiver Priority: Low Priority
• FAAB: 0-5% (more if he starts for you right away)

Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints 

Yahoo: 9% | ESPN: 7% | Sleeper: 18% 

Speaking or running quarterbacks, Tyler Shough has also quietly now run 6 or more times in four straight games. He’s also thrown for 239+ yards in four of the last five games - including 272 this week. And his final two games are against the Jets (who Trevor Lawrence just tee’d off on) and the Titans, who everyone is tee’ing off on. I mean, the Jets traded away their two best defensive players, and the Titans have one of the most injured secondaries I’ve seen in awhile, they are starting safeties at corner. Hard to find better matchups. 

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: J.J. McCarthy, Shedeur Sanders, Philip Rivers

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Running Backs

Michael Carter, Arizona Cardinals 

Yahoo: 6% | ESPN: 9% | Sleeper: 10%

It’s fitting that we get this kind of crazy waiver week in fantasy playoffs. Because you need to pay VERY close attention to the news. Multiple backs left with injury this week, which not only means you need replacements, but it also opens the door for guys to take over in key spots. As I mentioned in the intro, my rankings could change throughout the day, so check back in here and on the Fantasy Alarm Discord.

Right now, we are looking at Michael Carter as the top RB add. James Conner is done. Trey Benson is done. And Bam Knight was carted off this week with an ankle injury. We don’t know the severity, but “carted off” is never good, and he sounds unlikely to play as of now. That could change, but Carter got virtually all the work this week and has two premium matchups coming up against the Falcons and Bengals. I’m not sure what else you would hold your FAAB for in these final weeks - even if you don’t need him, block your opponents. 

• Waiver Priority: High Priority
• FAAB: 50%+ 

Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams

Yahoo: 41% | ESPN: 30% | Sleeper: 59%

Now, if you absolutely need to have someone as safe as possible and you can’t possibly risk a situation where the starter seems hurt, then ends up playing, this is the safe bet. Corum had been carving out more and more of a role lately, but never cracked 35% of the snaps. That changed this week. This week, they split down the middle.

There’s no guarantee it’s permanent. But it was so successful that I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. The Rams basically gave Kyren Williams one drive, then Blake Corum one drive for the whole game. If a drive went extra long or there was a big run, they swapped out briefly. But it was done to keep things even. The only reason Williams got more snaps than Corum was that there was an odd number of drives, so he got the first and last. That’s pretty much the only thing keeping Kyren ranked over Corum for us weekly now.

• Waiver Priority: Low to Medium Priority
• FAAB: 15-20% 

Jaleel McLaughlin, Denver Broncos

Yahoo: 1% | ESPN: 1% | Sleeper: 4%

There are a lot of risky options here. But this one seems closest to hitting. Woody Marks left with an injury, but Demeco Ryans said he could have come back in; they were being cautious. Jacory Croskey-Merritt played well with no Chris Rodriguez, as he was fairly close to a game-time decision with the groin; he feels close to being back. Plus, Jeremy McNichols technically started and got the pass snaps. This one isn’t perfect, but you are giving yourself a shot. I’d especially look to add him if you have RJ Harvey.

RJ Harvey has scored 10 touchdowns in this first-place offense. But he left this week with a rib injury. We are looking for news on that, but the Broncos claimed RB Cody Schrader off waivers, which has us nervous. If Harvey were to miss, we’d expect a split between Jaleel McLaughlin and Tyler Badie, with McLaughlin likely starting and Badie helping on pass downs. Again, we need to track the injury news and news of who might start all day today before finalizing our claims. But McLaughlin is the next best high-risk, high-reward move after Carter.

• Waiver Priority: Low to Medium Priority
• FAAB: 10-15% 

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Jacory Croskey-Merritt (monitor Chris Rodriguez news), Jawhar Jordan (monitor Woody Marks news)

NFL Week 16 Waiver Wire Wide Receivers

Jayden Reed, Green Bay Packers 

Yahoo: 41% | ESPN: 46% | Sleeper: 46%

Jayden Reed is the best option if you need to add someone directly into your lineup. He already had a decent floor as the slot/gadget guy for Green Bay. But with Christian Watson suffering a chest injury, Reed played a full-time workload opposite Romeo Doubs this week. Even if they decide to install Dontayvion Wicks or rookie Matthew Golden into that Christian Watson role, I doubt they garner the targets that Reed would. And, without Tucker Kraft, there are more low aDot targets available. 

• Waiver Priority: Medium to High Priority
• FAAB: 20-25% 

Adonai Mitchell, New York Jets 

Yahoo: 16% | ESPN: 29% | Sleeper: 37%

This is obviously a high-risk, high-reward play. But, even with Brady Cook, Mitchell kept his full-time role on the outside. He ran 36 of a possible 41 routes while John Metchie dopped to 26 in favor of Isaiah Williams, who likely has worked more with Brady Cook in practice. That could make Williams a DFS dart throw, but Mitchell is the guy who has the upside for an actual starting lineup if you need the juice. He’s had no less than 6 targets over the last five games, including a game with 12, then 9 this past week. We just can’t promise that he will catch those targets. 

• Waiver Priority: Medium to low Priority
• FAAB: 5-10% 

Jayden Higgins, Houston Texans

Yahoo: 43% | ESPN: 38% | Sleeper: 48%

Sometimes the game script doesn’t favor a particular player. Houston's win over Arizona started with a monster Nico Collins touchdown. And then got pretty quickly out of hand. The Cardinals have also quietly been a bottom-five team in DVOA against the tight end, per FTN Fantasy, and the Texans took advantage of that. Jayden Higgins is not getting the full workload we’d like to see, which isn’t ideal, but one down week doesn’t take away from the role of his body of work as the WR2 behind Nico Collins. I expect a bounce-back week against the Raiders.

• Waiver Priority: Medium to low Priority
• FAAB: 5-10% 

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Luther Burden, Kayshon Boutte, Jalen Coker

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Tight Ends

Darren Waller, Miami Dolphins

Yahoo: 37% | ESPN: 20% | Sleeper: 38%

At tight end this week, you need to decide what your own tolerance level is for risk. Because we have one relatively safe play and one play that is a little riskier but with more upside. My philosophy has always been to lean into the unknown with the upside play if the upside is high enough. And the upside is big here for Darren Waller.

The concern is that he is not a full-time player. He only played 54% of the snaps and ran 67% of the routes. Now, that was a little higher in the second half when they were throwing heavy, but it’s still scary. The week before, he ran 13 routes to 12 for Greg Dulcich; this week, he ran 24 to 14. Julian Hill also ran 10. But the simple truth here is that the Cincinnati Bengals are arguably the worst NFL team against the tight end that we have ever seen. 

So the upside for Waller is massive if he can go out and capitalize. He just had his second 2 TD game, which gives him 6 TDs, tying him with a bunch of guys for TE4 in that category (including this next guy). The move here might be to put similar amounts on both Parkinson and Waller, then let the chips fall where they may. But if push comes to shove, I’m going to Waller.

• Waiver Priority: Medium Priority
• FAAB: 15-20%

Colby Parkinson, Los Angeles Rams 

Yahoo: 5% | ESPN: 11% | Sleeper: 8%

The safe play here is Colby Parkinson. I know that this is only the second time he’s cracked 50 yards in a game in his six-year career. But, with Davante Adams likely to miss this week, he should offer a pretty decent floor for you in fantasy football. The Rams went heavy on the multiple TE sets this week, leading Parkinson to play 86% of the snaps, which is obviously far higher than Waller.

Now, it’s not all perfect. He does primarily play inline and, when they went with multiple tight end sets this week, Terrance Ferguson actually lined up out wide more. Parkinson was also asked to block on six pass plays, something that has plagued him for parts of the year, with a 29% total pass block rate. That led Ferguson to actually run more routes than him, and Ferg himself was very close to scoring 2 touchdowns. In fact, because of the blocking, Parkinson had a 64% route participation vs. 67% for Darren Waller. 

Plus, now that Julian Love is back up to speed across from stud rookie Nick Emmanwori, the Seahawks aren’t as good a matchup. Matthew Stafford has been so good that he can make things happen, but it’s not the dream setup for Colby Parkinson that some are picturing. Especially if Tyler Higbee can somehow get activated in time for the game this week though early reports are that won't happen for Thursday. 

• Waiver Priority: Medium Priority
• FAAB: 15-20%

**Check the bottom of the article for free rest of season half PPR tight end rankings with our Yin & Yang tight end chart!**

NFL Week 16 Waiver Wire Defenses

New Orleans Saints DST

Yahoo: 18% | ESPN: 10% | Sleeper: 19%

Sometimes you just have to forget about whether the defense itself is truly great and just play the matchups. The Jets are rolling out their third-string quarterback once again here and are likely missing their top wide receiver and top tight end. That puts the Saints squarely on the streaming radar for us. 

Minnesota Vikings DST 

Yahoo: 35% | ESPN: 38% | Sleeper: 31%

In most scoring systems, points allowed really aren’t generating crazy points. It’s sacks and turnovers that do. We’re looking at a blitz happy Brian Flores defense here, going up against a Wild West Jaxson Dart, and that feels like a good place for the chaos that leads to DST scoring. The Vikings have had multiple sacks in multiple weeks in a row now. 

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: New York Giants DST, Atlanta Falcons DST, New York Jets DST

Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Kickers

Eddy Pineiro, San Francisco 49ers

Yahoo: 17% | ESPN: 13% | Sleeper: 15%

Eddy Pineiro was our top add last week. And I’m a little surprised he’s still widely available in leagues. He just went out and got us 15 points this week against the Titans. I guess he did go on bye for Week 14, and half your league was eliminated by the time he got back. We’ll roll him out on Monday Night Football against the Colts this week, why not? Whenever healthy, he’s been great. 

Andy Borregales, New England Patriots 

Yahoo: 14% | ESPN: 38% | Sleeper: 8%

Sure, they lost a tough one against the Buffalo Bills this week. But this New England Patriots team is clearly good. They should be able to move the ball and put some points on the board on Sunday Night Football this week against the Ravens. It always gives you a little bit of extra hope to have a Sunday or Monday night kicker, so why not go here?

NFL Yin & Yang Tight End Rankings

As promised, here are our Yin & Yang tight end rankings. This has been our bread and butter the last few years, and how we find breakout tight ends. Here is how the chart works.

If you have someone in the “standalone” section, then great - you don’t need to roster another tight end outside of injury and bye week. Outside of that, we are rostering two. We are looking for someone “safe” to start while stashing the highest risk, high-reward option, trying to find a breakout. 

The tight ends in red are injured and at risk of missing time. If you can put them in an IR spot, great. If not, you may have to prioritize either a Yin or a Yang tight end ranked above them to start for you.