If disaster struck you at the quarterback position in Week 15, you're not alone. Patrick Mahomes and Geno Smith left with injuries. Jameis Winston and Will Levis were benched. Justin Herbert and Tua Tagovailoa, amongst others, failed to live up to expectations. If you survived and moved on, congratulations. You may just have to lower your expectations for Week 16.
In my early Week 16 projections, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, and Baker Mayfield are the only quarterbacks projected for more than 20 Fantasy points. Only eight quarterbacks are projected to score 19 Fantasy points, and only 12 are projected to score 18. One of those guys is available in more than half of leagues; he's the star of the waiver wire section below.
For those of you in Superflex leagues, you may have questions about the replacement QBs. I don't expect any of them to matter in one-QB leagues, but Carson Wentz and Mason Rudolph are my favorite options in deep Superflex leagues if you need them. That's only because I assume Cooper Rush is already rostered in those leagues. Rush is coming off a three-touchdown game and faces the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; he's a top-20 option for me in Week 16 and a good QB2 in Superflex.
Let's get to the rest of the preview:
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Rodgers tops this list for the second week in a row, and we can only hope it goes as well as last week. He's a top-12 option in Week 16 partially because of recent play and partially because of the landscape of the position this week. Rodgers is QB14 with an average of 20.5 FPPG since Davante Adams joined the team, and he's averaged 26.8 in his last two.
Whereas I actually want to start Rodgers, Rush is more of a "break glass in case of emergency." I would start him over Kirk Cousins, Bo Nix, CJ Stroud, and Russell Wilson this week. Tampa Bay has been one of the very best matchups for QBs, and Rush has thrown multiple touchdown passes in three of his last four games.
Looking for a Week 17 streamer? I hope you can get Aaron Rodgers this week. If the situation is more bleak than that, you should consider Mason Rudolph. Rudolph has produced multiple touchdowns in three straight outings, and he'll face Jacksonville, who has given up the most Fantasy points to opposing QBs this year. Rudolph could be a good start in the Fantasy Championship of a Superflex league.
Baker Mayfield has re-emerged as a top-five QB this week, and he's my favorite value on the slate at QB. Stack him with Mike Evans and CeeDee Lamb and find somewhere else to go contrarian (more on that below).
Yes, Kyler Murray has been awful lately. Thankfully, it's become quite clear that Murray's recent production is not predictive of his future production. He's facing the best QB matchup on the slate, he always has 30-point upside, and his team is an easy one to stack. I wouldn't touch him in cash games, but he's my favorite contrarian QB.
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Heath's projections
My full set of Week 16 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. You'll find them here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 16. Projected stats for all starting running backs are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.
