by Dominate in Week 16 with Sal Vetri’s keys to a fantasy football victory.
Pick-up and play: Brenton Strange @ LV
Evan Engram was ruled out for the season prior to Week 15. This opened up a starting spot for Strange, who has performed solidly this season when given more opportunities. In four games earlier this season when Engram was out, Strange was a top-10 TE in three of those four starts.
Strange is a tall, athletic TE out of Penn State who was drafted in the second round by the Jaguars last year but was buried on the depth chart behind Evan Engram as a rookie. Jacksonville has incorporated him more into the offense this season, especially since Christian Kirk was sidelined 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 on 12 targets. He totaled 12.8 fantasy points and finished the week as a top-five TE. He has now finished in the top 10 weekly TE in four of his five starts without Engram this year.
Additionally, Jacksonville’s starting TEs have averaged 8.4 goals per game with Mac Jones this season. Now Strange faces the Raiders in Week 16, who are allowing the fourth-most yards and third-most fantasy points to TEs. They can start and play the Jaguars’ second-year TE this week unless there is something serious about his shoulder injury, although head coach Doug Pederson said the tight end will be good to go.
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 continued to be one of the Cardinals’ best players this season and is in danger of another top-12 finish at the position. Despite being nearly 30 years old, Conner ranks first in broken tackle rate and fifth in breakaway runs, according to Player Profiler. You would think that as an older defenseman he would slow down at the end of the season, but the opposite is true. Conner is coming off his two best fantasy days of the season, finishing Week 15 as the RB1 overall with 138 total yards and two touchdowns against the Patriots.
This week Conner gets another strong matchup. He faces the Panthers, who are allowing the most rushing yards per game and the second-most rushing touchdowns this season. Carolina allowed just a career-high 149 rushing yards to Rico Dowdle in Week 15 and 124 yards to Saquon Barkley in Week 14. In fact, starting RBs have averaged 125 rushing yards against the Panthers over the last six weeks. Conner is in the top five in this great duel.
Sketchy Spot of the Week: Najee Harris @ BAL
Harris put in a worrying performance. In Week 15 against the Eagles, he only managed 21 total yards on seven touches. We knew this match would be difficult, but it turned out to be the worst case scenario. Harris had a bad fumble in the third quarter and didn’t play another snap after that. He has now played 50% or fewer snaps in four straight games, losing carries to not only Jaylen Warren but also Cordarrelle Patterson in every game during that span.
This week’s matchup goes from bad to worse as Harris takes on the Ravens on the road, with the Steelers a six-point underdog. Baltimore allows just 3.5 rushing yards per play, the fewest in the NFL. Other than Saquon Barkley, no 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. Harris won’t be there this week if you have viable replacements.
This embedded content is not available in your region.
Subscribe Yahoo Fantasy Prediction To Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
Sleeper of the Week: Alexander Mattison vs. JAX
Mattison returned from injury in Week 15 and played 32% of the Raiders’ snaps, earning 11 opportunities. He converted those opportunities into just nine touches for 24 yards in a game in which Las Vegas managed just 249 total yards on offense. This isn’t exactly the most enticing offense to target, but Mattison has a few things working in his favor.
First, Sincere McCormick was placed on IR on Wednesday and will miss the remainder of the season. McCormick had taken over the Raiders’ backfield in recent weeks and even started against Mattison in Week 15. But with McCormick out, Mattison is considered the team’s early-down back. Another plus for Mattison is that QB Aidan O’Connell is trending to play this week. This is important because Desmond Ridder started in Week 15 and wasn’t great. Ridder averaged just 5.3 yards per attempt on his 39 passes, including two interceptions.
Mattison will start for Las Vegas this week and it’s a good matchup. The Raiders are actually the favorites at home against the Jaguars. Jacksonville is allowing the ninth-most rushing yards per game and the fifth-most explosive runs of over 10 yards this season. If you’re in a pinch this week, Mattison could be a FLEX option worth considering.
A must-see of the week: Bucky Irving @ DAL
Irving had a strong performance in Week 15 despite battling multiple injuries. Irving missed practice on the Wednesday and Thursday prior to Week 15 with a back injury, but was able to get back to fitness and create a strong 17 chances. Irving reached 100 rushing yards for the second time this season and continued to be efficient, averaging 7.8 yards per touch. The Bucs rookie now ranks fifth in the NFL in yards per touch and sixth in broken tackle rate. He is already one of the most dynamic defenders in the league.
This week, Irving finds himself in a strong matchup as the favorite against the Cowboys. Since gaining a larger role in Week 6, Irving has played four games as the favorite, and in those contests he is averaging 95 yards with 16.8 touchdowns per game, according to the RotoViz Game Splits tool. That performance has translated to 17.5 fantasy points per game in this stretch, which would rank sixth among all RBs since Week 6. His matchup this week is great as Dallas is allowing the fifth-most rushing yards per game and the most rushing touchdowns this season. Keep starting with Irving this week.
Upturn of the Week: Chuba Hubbard vs. CAR
In Week 15, Hubbard played his first game of the season without Miles Sanders or Jonathon Brooks. The lack of trustworthy RB depth led the Panthers to lean on Hubbard more than usual. Hubbard played 94% of the team’s snaps and processed 15 of 17 RB chances (88%). This was one of the highest usage games Hubbard has seen this season, but it went under the radar as the Panthers lost by 16 points and trailed the Cowboys for most of the game. Hubbard only managed 49 total yards on his 14 touches. But he’s ready to bounce back in a solid matchup this week.
Hubbard and the Panthers face the Cardinals in Week 16. The Panthers are four-point favorites at home. The game should be close, which should help Hubbard get more carries in the second half. Arizona ranks in the bottom half of the league in rushing yards allowed per game and explosive runs of more than 10 yards allowed this season. Expect Hubbard to see elite action again, threatening a top-12 finish this week, something he has done in seven of his 14 starts this year.
Trending: Tennessee Titans RB Tyjae Spears
On the surface, the Titans backfield may have looked like the status quo in Week 15. Tony Pollard had 17 carries, Tyjae Spears only had four. But we have to look closer because Spears played eight more snaps than Pollard and ran 27 routes while Pollard only ran seven of them. Pollard left that game with an ankle injury but was able to return. However, it is unclear to what extent this injury may have affected his performance. Spears took over later in the game when the Titans trailed by several points and found success primarily as a pass catcher, catching six balls for 87 yards and scoring two total touchdowns.
Spears has spent most of this season completely insane. He has been on the injury report for six weeks and missed four games this year due to a concussion and a hamstring injury. This, coupled with a poor offense and O-line, has reduced Spears’ efficiency to 4.7 yards per touch, compared to his impressive rookie season of 5.5 yards per touch last season.
As we enter Week 16, we need to keep a close eye on this Pollard injury. We’ve seen in the past guys come back into action with ankle injuries and then miss games in the following weeks. A big example of this was Joe Mixon earlier this season. He suffered an ankle injury in Week 2 but was able to return to the game. However, after the game, the injury worsened and he missed the next three games for Houston.
For now, Spears is moving up the RB stash rankings, especially in a week where Zach Charbonnet was added everywhere and Trey Benson injured his ankle for the Cardinals. Spears is now a top-five prospect heading into the final two weeks of the fantasy season, with even more upside if Pollard misses time.
