Tastefully Curated Every Wednesday by LineStar Fantasy Experts.

Week 16 Top Plays - MAIN SLATE 😀

QB:

• Philip Rivers, LAC (@NYJ) [CASH]The Jets haven't been able to stop any Quarterbacks all year and it's not likely to start this week against Rivers and the Chargers who are looking to secure a playoff spot. On the year the Jets are ranked 27th against opposing QBs and 30th over the last 4 games as they've pretty much given up. The Chargers have a slim chance to make the playoffs but for that to happen they have to get a win here and Rivers isn't going to mess around.Cam Newton, CAR (vs TB) [TOURNAMENT]

• Cam Newton will have his 2nd straight week as our Tournament pick. The Panthers still have something to play for, with a chance to win their division if they win and other things go right. Tampa Bay is still playing hard and the Panthers defense hasn't been great which will allow Winston to put up points and Newton will have to follow suit. This game has one of the higher point totals on the week at 46.5 points and the Panthers being favored by 10 points. Without much of a running game, the majority of those points will need to be handled by Cam.

• Drew Stanton, ARI (vs NYG) [CONTRARIAN]The Giants defense has just been just awful all season. They're ranked 31st over the year against QBs and 29th over the last 4 games. Stanton certainly isn't an elite level QB but the Giants defense may just make him look like one this week. You can get him at an extremely low salary and the Cardinals may be without Kerwynn Williams leaving a hole in the running game which means Stanton may have to throw it a bunch. Eli may be playing for his future career as well, so the Giants offense is still going to put up some points.

Other QBs to consider:

• Blake Bortles, JAX (@SF): Continue to ride the Bortles express to cash town. SF is 29th on the season against QBs, but only 19th over the last 4.

• Jameis Winston, TB (@CAR): He's continuing to play hard to get more practice for next season. Panthers are ranked 31st against QBs over the last 4 weeks.

• Dak Prescott, DAL (vs SEA): With Zeke, he's averaging around 22 fp a game. He's got a chance to surprise this week.

Saturday Special:

• Joe Flacco, BAL (vs IND): Yes, Keenum is the obvious pick. However if you're looking to be a bit different, Flacco has been picking it as of late and the Ravens have a good chance to make the playoffs.

RB:

• Kenyan Drake, MIA (@KC) [CASH]It's really easy to see why Miami was willing to part ways with Jay Ajayi, when you have Drake in your back pocket. As long as Damien Williams remains sidelined, Drake will continue to get a heavy workload. The Chiefs are ranked 20th against running backs over the last 4 games, giving up 91 yards and .8 touchdowns per game. Miami has the slimmest of hopes to make the playoffs so they may as well play for a win here.

• Ezekiel Elliott, DAL (vs SEA) [TOURNAMENT]Elliot has a huge chip on his shoulders and is going to come out running like a mad man. The Cowboys have a slim chance to play for, but trying to keep Seattle out of the playoffs could work as incentive as well. Elliot is going to have much fresher legs than everyone chasing him which will give him a good chance to break out for some big runs. Playing against Seattle should keep Elliots ownership in check.

• LeSean McCoy, BUF (@NE) [CONTRARIAN]Buffalo's playoff hopes are still alive and the Patriots have looked like an average football team over the last few weeks. Buffalo has to be thinking they actually have a shot at a win here, regardless of the Patriots being favored by 12 points here. In their last 4 meetings Shady had seen 2 touchdowns and averaged 6.25 targets and 83.5 rushing yards per contest. He's a back who is capable of breaking a long touchdown on any given play.

Other RBs to consider:

• Dion Lewis, NE (vs BUF): Lewis has a good chance to pickup the goal line job now that Burkhead is gone. Buffalo is dead last against RBs on the season.

• Jonathan Stewart, CAR (vs TB): He's hard to trust, but it's one of the best matchups of the week. If they get an early lead they may give Stewart a heavy workload.

• Elijah McGuire, NYJ (vs LAC): The Jets have nothing left to play for, they may as well test out McGuire some more.

Saturday Special:

• Latavius Murray, MIN (@GB): The Packers are 29th against RBs on the season and they just missed out on the playoffs, they could likely look quite defeated this week.

TE

• Rob Gronkowski, NE (v.BUF) [CASH] Brady is leaning heavily on Gronk the last 3 games he was in the lineup. Over that stretch he has 23 catches on 31 targets for 397 yards and 2 TDs, including a game against Buffalo. He also could have done even better, he didn’t score in his last two games despite 3 redzone targets. Buffalo doesn’t have the best matchup data for TEs, they rank 24th against TEs over the last 5 weeks, but the only TE they allowed to get close to their average was when Gronk went off against them, and the other TEs they faced were good. That said, Gronk isn’t stoppable when Brady locks in on him, and that’s the case right now. The price is a lot too pay, but he is worth it value-wise.

DEFENSE:

• Carolina Panthers (v.TB) [CASH]In the first meeting between these two teams at Tampa Bay, Carolina held Tampa to 3 points while adding 3 sacks, 2 INTs and a fumble recovery. This week is in Carolina, and a similar performance is definitely in the cards. Tampa Bay is averaging 2.3 giveaways and 4 sacks over their last 3 games. Carolina meanwhile is forcing 3.7 sacks and 2.7 turnovers per game in that same stretch. These are two teams going in opposite directions. On top of that, the Buccaneers are facing a short week after they had 10 players get injured on Monday night. They are beat up on both sides of the ball, so this could very well be a route. Vegas agrees as Carolina is a 10 point favorite this week.

• Los Angeles Rams (@TEN) [TOURNAMENT]The Rams defense has proven its ability to put up points many times so far this year. This week they get a matchup with the Titans who are coming off of two losses where they were unable to outscore the Cardinals and the 49ers. This isn’t the best matchup, as the Titans aren’t horrible, but they have the 5th most TOs in the league, and if anyone can take advantage of that it’s the Rams who have the 6th most takeaways in the league, and seem to do so in bunches.

• Kansas City Chiefs (v.MIA) [CONTRARIAN]Choosing the defense against Jay Cutler doesn’t feel like a contrarian pick, but there are several other better defenses and matchups that this certainly counts. The Chiefs defense has put together solid performances in back-to-back weeks against the Chargers and Raiders. They held both teams to 15 points or fewer, forced 7 TOs and had 5 sacks. The temperature in this game should be below freezing, and they’ll be playing against the warm-weather Miami dolphins who are pretty much out of the playoff race and led by Jay Cutler who I am guessing no longer cares (assuming at one point in the season he did care). Last week against the Bills, he was sacked 3 times, threw 3 interceptions and fumbled 4 times (despite losing none).

Other Defenses to consider:

• Chicago Bears (v.CLE) - At home against the Browns in a game projected to have snow flurries. It’s a dream matchup, but the Bears defense hasn’t scored more than 11 fantasy points since week 7.

• Los Angeles Chargers (@NYJ) - Bosa and Ingram get to meet Bryce Petty. I don’t know how the Chargers will react to the cold and rainy weather, but on paper, this is a great setup.

Saturday Special:

• Baltimore Ravens (v.IND) - The obvious choice. I don’t know how you fade this pick. Minnesota in a cold game against GB has potential, but this is a lock. 2nd best fantasy defense at home on a short week against a team allowing the 2nd most fantasy points to defenses.

INJURIES TO WATCH 🤕

• Paxton Lynch, DEN - Ankle, limited practice, could start if healthy

• LeSean McCoy, BUF - Knee, limited practice, expected to play

• Duke Johnson Jr., CLE - Shoulder, limited practice, expected to play

• Tevin Coleman, ATL - Concussion, limited practice, questionable

• Rex Burkhead, NE - Knee, didn’t practice, doubtful to play

• Joe Mixon, CIN - Concussion, full practice, likely to play

• James White, NE - Ankle, limited practice, questionable

• Damien Williams, MIA - Shoulder, limited, questionable

• Kerwynn Williams, ARI - Quad, not practicing, questionable

• Antonio Brown, PIT - leg, ruled out

• Keenan Allen, LAC - back, expected to play

• Davante Adams, GB - Concussion, didn’t practice, unlikely to play

• Julio Jones, ATL - Ankle, thumb, didn’t practice, expected to play

• Devin Funchess, CAR - Shoulder, will play

• Marqise Lee, JAX - Ankle, didn’t practice, questionable

• DeSean Jackson, TB - Ankle, didn’t practice, questionable

• Ted Ginn Jr., NO - Ribs, limited, questionable

• Amari Cooper, OAK - Ankle, questionable

• Chris Hogan, NE - Shoulder, limited, questionable

• Allen Hurns, JAX - Ankle, limited, questionable

• Kelvin Benjamin, BUF - Knee, didn’t practice, questionable

• DeVante Parker, MIA - Ankle, didn’t practice, questionable

• Jeremy Maclin, BAL - Knee, didn’t practice, doubtful

• Travis Kelce, KC - Illness, didn’t practice, expected to play

• Kyle Rudolph, MIN - Ankle, limited, expected to play

• Hunter Henry, LAC - Ab, out for season

• OJ Howard, TB - Ankle, out for season

• Julius Thomas, MIA - Foot, out for season

• Marcedes Lewis, JAX - Shoulder, didn’t practice, questionable

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