Team of the Week
QB: Jayden Daniels, WAS
Daniels appeared to be in a tougher spot for Week 16 with the stout Philadelphia defense coming to town, but he was able to put up big-time numbers—throwing for 258 yards and five touchdowns (plus two interceptions) through the air with another 81 yards on the ground. After a midseason lull, Daniels has re-emerged as a fantasy force at the perfect time with point totals of 30.4, 27.64, 23.64, and 34.42 over his past four games.
RB: Jonathan Taylor, IND
Many fantasy owners watched in horror as Taylor dropped a ball at the goal-line to erase a would-be touchdown last week, but he did more than make up for the mistake in a win over Tennessee—rushing 29 times for 218 yards and three touchdowns. It was the first rushing score for Taylor since Week 8, and his home-run ability was on full display with touchdown runs of 65 and 70 yards.
RB: Chuba Hubbard, CAR
Hubbard had cooled off with a couple of disappointing showings this month, but he went off in an overtime win yesterday—including the game-ending 21-yard touchdown to knock Arizona out of playoff contention. Overall, Hubbard turned 29 touches into 165 yards, and he should be in for another heavy workload next week as Carolina looks to play spoiler again in Tampa Bay.
WR: Justin Jefferson, MIN
After a dip in production last month, Jefferson has caught fire with lines of 7/132/2, 7/73/1, and 10/144/2 over the past three weeks—with the 31.4 fantasy points against Seattle being a new season-high for the All-Pro wideout. The matchup versus the Packers next week will be a bigger challenge if Jaire Alexander is close to 100% health, but Jefferson is now the overall WR2 on the season and has reached double-digit scores for the first time since 2021.
WR: Keenan Allen, CHI
The connection between Caleb Williams and Allen took some time—but the duo has been on the same page in recent weeks with a season-long pace of 109 receptions, 1,401 yards, and 17 touchdowns for the veteran wideout over the past five games. Heavy target totals with 13+ opportunities in three of those outings has been a big boost, and Allen will try to stay hot versus the Seahawks on a short week.
TE: Brock Bowers, LV
Bowers kept pace as the overall TE1 this season with another 11 receptions for 99 yards in a hard-fought win over Jacksonville—and he’s up to a 101/1,067/4 line on 137 targets this season. We would expect the rookie to finish the fantasy campaign with another huge game next week versus a New Orleans defense that has often struggled in coverage this year.
FLEX: De’Von Achane, MIA
Achane was having another strong game this week with six receptions for 70 yards in addition to 70 rushing yards—but the highlight was a 50-yard touchdown run to seal the game and boost him to 17 carries for 120 yards on the day. The explosive second-year weapon now has 1,340 total yards and 11 total touchdowns this season and will remain a clear RB1 next week in Cleveland.
D/ST: Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were powered by their defense in a blowout win over the Giants this week—totaling two touchdowns, three takeaways, and three sacks while limiting New York to seven points. Fantasy owners will probably want to look elsewhere next week for a trip to Washington, but Atlanta has more than paid dividends with 21.0 and 26.0 fantasy points so far in the fantasy playoffs.
K: Brandon Aubrey, DAL
Aubrey again showed he’s an absolute machine last night, and he easily hit field goals of 58, 58, and 53 yards (plus a 49-yarder) to boost Dallas in an upset win over the Bucs. In the process, Aubrey set the NFL record for makes of 50+ yards in a season (14) with two games left to play.
Surprise of the Week: Deebo Samuel Sr.
This season has been an extreme disappointment for Samuel—particularly in recent weeks with no more than 4.5 fantasy points in five consecutive outings. It seemed the struggles reaching a new low a couple of weeks ago re-unlocked the potential, though, as Deebo ran extremely hard with a 7/96/1 receiving line and five carries for 25 yards against Miami; and he’s now suddenly back in low-end WR2/FLEX for Week 17.
Disappointment of the Week: Jalen Hurts
There are a few disappointments that could have been chosen here, but injuries are always the most frustrating—and Hurts appeared on his way to a monster day with three carries for 41 yards before a concussion knocked him out of the game. The absence of Hurts also allowed Washington to bottle up Saquon Barkley as the game progressed (despite two long touchdown runs early), and Hurts is on the clock to be cleared for next Sunday against the Cowboys.
Rookie of the Week: Jayden Daniels
Philadelphia had a late interception of Daniels that could have sealed the game if not for a very uncharacteristic drop by DeVonta Smith—but Washington got the ball back and had no problems moving the ball downfield to get a 36-33 victory. The No. 2 overall pick was already having a huge fantasy performance before the game-winning drive, but the 34.42 fantasy points ended up being a new season high, and he’ll get a showcase opportunity next Sunday night against the Falcons.
Week 16 MVP: Jonathan Taylor
The only negative about Taylor’s 39.8-point performance yesterday was that some might have watched it happen after being eliminated due to the fumble in Week 15—but he again showed he’s one of the NFL’s all-time best late-season performers with the 218 rushing yards being the second-most in his career (the most being Week 17 of 2020 with 253 yards). Taylor gets another blow-up spot next week against the last-place Giants as arguably the overall RB1 for the fantasy championship.