Dominate Week 16 with Sal Vetri’s keys to fantasy football victory.
Pick Up & Play: Brenton Strange @ LV
Evan Engram was removed from the season before Week 15. This opened up the starting spot for Strange, who has been solid this season, given more opportunities. In the first four games of this season when Engram was out, Strange was a top-10 tight end in three of the four starts.
Strange is a big, athletic tight end from Penn State University who was drafted by the Jaguars in the second round last year, but he was buried behind Evan Engram in depth as a rookie. Jacksonville has integrated him more into the offense this season, especially since Christian Kirk went down with a season-ending injury in Week 8. In Week 15, in his first start with Mac Jones under center, Strange caught a career-high 11 passes. There are 12 targets. He scored a total of 12.8 fantasy points and finished as a top-5 TE for the week.
Additionally, Jacksonville’s starting tight ends, along with Mac Jones, are averaging 8.4 targets per game this season. Now, Strange will play in Week 16 against the Raiders, who have allowed the fourth-most yards and third-most fantasy points to tight ends. The Jaguars’ second-year tight end can be picked up and played this week.
Best Spot of the Week: James Conner @ CAR
Don’t look now, but Conner is on pace to play all 17 games for the first time in his career. He continues to be one of the Cardinals’ best players this season, once again threatening a top-12 finish at the position. According to Player Profiler, Conner ranks first in breakaway tackle percentage and fifth in breakaway runs despite his nearly 30 years of age. As an aging back, you would think he would slow down to finish the season, but the opposite is happening. Conner is coming off his best two fantasy days of the season, finishing as RB1 overall in Week 15 against the Patriots with 138 total yards and two touchdowns.
Conor will have another strong matchup this week. He will face a Panthers team that has allowed the most rushing yards and second-most touchdowns per game this season. Carolina just gave up a career-high 149 rushing yards to Rico Doodle in Week 15 and 124 rushing yards to Saquon Barkley in Week 14. In fact, the starting running back has averaged 125 rushing yards over the past six weeks against the Panthers. Conor returned to the top five with this great matchup.
This week’s sketchy spot: Najee Harris @ BAL
Harris is showing an alarming performance. In Week 15 against the Eagles, he only gained 21 total yards on seven touches. We knew this matchup would be difficult, but it turned out to be a worst-case scenario. Harris committed a nasty fumble in the third quarter and didn’t play any snaps after that. He’s now shot less than 50 percent from snaps in four straight games, losing carries to not only Jalen Warren but also Cordarrelle Patterson in every game during that span.
This week’s matchup gets even worse, as Harris plays the Ravens on the road, where they trail the Steelers by six points. Baltimore is allowing just 3.5 rushing yards per play, the fewest in the NFL. Other than Saquon Barkley, no other running back has had more than 65 rushing yards against the Ravens this season, and only three backs have had more than 50 rushing yards against Baltimore. If there is a viable replacement, Harris will likely sit this week.
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Sleeper of the Week: Alexander Mattison vs. Jax
Mattison returned from injury in Week 15 and played in 32% of the Raiders’ snaps, earning 11 chances. He turned those chances into just nine touches and 24 yards in a game in which Las Vegas had only 249 yards of total offense. This isn’t the most appealing offense to target, but there are a few things that work in Mattison’s favor.
First, Cynthia McCormick was placed on IR on Wednesday and will miss the remainder of the season. McCormick has taken over the Raiders’ backfield in recent weeks, even starting in place of Mattison in Week 15. But with McCormick out, Mattison is expected to be the team’s early-down back. Another positive for Mattison is that QB Aidan O’Connell is likely to play this week. This is important because Desmond Ridder started in Week 15 and wasn’t very good. Ridder averaged just 5.3 yards per attempt on 39 passes, including two interceptions.
Mattison is scheduled to start this week in Las Vegas and should be a good matchup. In fact, the Raiders are favorites to win against the Jaguars at home. Jacksonville had the ninth-most rushing yards per game this season and the fifth-most explosive runs of 10 or more yards. If you’re in a tight spot this week, Mattison might be a FLEX option worth considering.
A must-have to start your week: Bucky Irving @ DAL
Irving had a strong performance in Week 15 while battling multiple injuries. Irving missed practice Wednesday and Thursday before Week 15 due to a back injury, but was able to suit up and had 17 strong chances. Irving surpassed 100 rushing yards for the second time this season and continued to be efficient, averaging 7.8 yards per touch. The Bucs rookie currently ranks fifth in the NFL in yards per touch and sixth in broken tackle percentage. He’s already one of the most dynamic backs in the league.
Irving will be heading into a strong matchup against the Cowboys this week as the favorite to win the championship. Since earning a larger role in Week 6, Irving has appeared in four games as a championship favorite, averaging 95 yards on 16.8 touches per game in those contests, according to RotoViz’s Game Splits tool. have been acquired. This accomplishment translates to 17.5 fantasy points per game during this period, which would rank him sixth among all running backs after Week 6. His matchup this week is great, as Dallas has allowed the fifth-most rushing yards per play and the most rushing touchdowns this season. Irving will continue to be the starter this week.
This week in review: Tuba Hubbard vs. CAR
In Week 15, Hubbard played his first game of the season without Miles Sanders or Jonathon Brooks. Lacking reliable running back depth, the Panthers relied on Hubbard even more than usual. Hubbard played 94% of the team’s snaps and handled 15 of 17 running back opportunities (88%). This was one of the strongest usage games Hubbard has seen this season, but it went under the radar as the Panthers lost by 16 points and were trailed by the Cowboys for most of the game. Hubbard only gained 49 total yards on 14 touches. But he’s ready to redeem himself with a solid matchup this week.
Hubbard and the Panthers will face the Cardinals in Week 16. The Panthers are the home favorites with four points. This game is set to be close and should help Hubbard get more carries in the second half. Arizona ranks at the bottom of the league this season in rushing yards and explosive runs of 10 yards or more allowed per game. Hubbard is expected to be an elite player again and threaten for a top-12 finish this week, something he has done in seven of his 14 starts this year.
Tennessee Titans RB Tyjay Spears to watch
On the surface, the Titans’ backfield in Week 15 may have looked like the status quo. Tony Pollard had 17 carries while Tyjay Spears had just four. But Spears played eight more snaps and ran 27 routes than Pollard, while Pollard only ran seven routes, so we’ll have to take a closer look. Pollard left the game with an ankle injury but was able to return. However, it is unclear how much this injury affected his efficiency. In the second half of the game, when the Titans were trailing by multiple scores, Spears was primarily successful as a pass catcher, catching six balls for 87 yards and two total TDs.
Spears has been on a roll for most of this season. He has been on the injury report for six weeks and has missed four games this year with a concussion and a hamstring injury. In addition to a poor offense and O-line, Spears’ efficiency has dropped to 4.7 yards per touch during his rookie season, compared to an impressive 5.5 yards per touch last season.
We will have to closely track this Pollard injury heading into Week 16. In the past, we’ve seen players return to action with ankle injuries only to miss the following week’s game. One big example of that was Joe Mixon earlier this season. He injured his ankle in the second week, but was able to return to the game. However, the injury worsened after the game and he was forced to miss the next three games in Houston.
For now, Spears is moving up the RB stash rankings, especially in a week where Zach Charbonnet was added all over the place and Trey Benson banged his ankle for the Cardinals. Spears is now a top-five stash for the final two weeks of the fantasy season, with even more potential if Pollard misses time.
