Fantasy Football: 4 Unexpectedly Great Week 16 Performances

Giovani Bernard, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

NFL.com Start Percentage: 7.3%
Week 16 Fantasy Points: 22.8

Giovani Bernard turned 116 yards rushing, a touchdown, and 52 receiving into a top-three fantasy running back performance last week.

For those with Week 17 title games, Bernard is a top waiver-wire add, and if you were one of the few who started Bernard in Week 16, congratulations. Over the past few weeks, as Joe Mixon has been ailing, Bernard has seen double-digit rushing attempts. In Week 16, he cleared 20 attempts and set a season high with 7 pass targets.

At the running back position, opportunity matters a lot, and Bernard demonstrated that he's still a useful fantasy asset when he gets opportunity. He's the fantasy RB10 over the last four weeks of the season (NFL.com scoring). In PPR fantasy leagues, he's the RB6 over the past three weeks, which coincides with the fantasy playoffs in most leagues.

There are a few takeaways here.

First, always pay attention to opportunity. Second, this is going to be an interesting offseason for Bernard. His contract is in the top 10 for average salary at the running back position, and in the top 12 for total value. If the Cincinnati Bengals want Mixon to take the lead at running back, they may decide that they shouldn't be paying Bernard lead-back money. With a coaching change likely coming, Bernard could be a player on the move. Playing for a different team might give him more opportunity in 2018.