Fantasy Football Week 16 Running Back Preview: Projections, waiver adds, DFS plays, and more

It's been a roller coaster ride trying to capture Fantasy points from the Kansas City Chiefs' backfield, but for as long as he stays healthy we now expect Jerick McKinnon to level out as a Fantasy starter.

For what it's worth, the Chiefs have always treated McKinnon like their most valuable back. He's consistently ranked towards the top in terms of red zone snaps, and third-down snaps, and he's played the most whenever a game was in doubt. But we don't receive Fantasy points for snaps played, so outside of a two-game stretch with six catches, he'd mostly been an afterthought, at least until the last three weeks. 

In Week 13 against the Bengals, McKinnon finally scored his first touchdown, but that was easy enough to ignore because he only had 10 touches and 60 total yards. The following week against the Broncos he saw a season-high 13 touches and turned them into 134 yards and two scores. But even heading into last week's game against the Texans there was some reason for doubt, it looked more like an Isiah Pacheco game. 

A Pacheco fumble changed that and may have changed the fortunes for McKinnon's Fantasy managers. He tied a season-high with a 62% snap share, set a season-high with 18 touches, and again scored two touchdowns. This week, you'll see him as a consensus top-20 running back and a must-start option against the Seattle Seahawks. And if he can keep this up for two more weeks, he may be remembered as a league-winning waiver wire add as well.

Now let's get to the rest of the Week 16 RB Preview:

Week 16 RB Preview

The following players are not being projected to play in Week 16 at this time. Here's what it means:

• 145.7 -- Christian McCaffrey is averaging 145 yards from scrimmage in the three games he's played with Brock Purdy.
• 892 -- Derrick Henry has 892 yards rushing in his last four games against the Texans.
• 23 -- Alvin Kamara saw 23 touches in Week 15, his most since Week 5. He could top that number in a terrible weather game in Cleveland.
• 78.6 -- Jerick McKinnon has scored 78.6 PPR Fantasy points over the last three weeks, second only to Christian McCaffrey at running back.
• 4 -- Najee Harris has four catches, for just 27 yards, over his last four games. He's a much better option in non-PPR.
• 37% -- Jamaal Williams hasn't played more than 37% of the snaps since Week 12. He only had one game below 37% from Week 3 through Week 12.