The Perfect Lineup: Week 16's Fantasy Score Team
Out of playoff contention in your season long fantasy league? Well, at FantasyScore.com, you can continue to play for the rest of the season without worrying about whether or not you will make the playoffs, all while playing weekly fantasy football for cash prizes.
If you've never played before and aren't sure who to pick, our fancy algorithms have you covered for Week 16. Take a look at this week's FantasyScore Perfect Lineup.
Quarterback
Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars
As I've mentioned time and again in this column, the Saints are the best defense to target in daily fantasy. They rank dead last in the NFL in both our schedule-adjusted Defensive Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) metric (176.51) and overall schedule-adjusted Defensive NEP (211.47) by wide margins, and have allowed 30.9 points per game, a full three points per game more than any other team in the league. Meanwhile, the Jaguars sophomore quarterback comes into Week 16 scorching hot, averaging 288 yards per game with 12 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions over his last five games. He's also added 102 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns over that span. With Jacksonville's offense clicking on all cylinders right now and the Saints defense continuing their historically bad campaign, Bortles makes an excellent play in what is expected to be the highest scoring game on this week's slate.
Running Back
David Johnson, Arizona Cardinals
Ever since stepping into the starting lineup in the absence of Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington, the Cardinals' rookie running back has been on fire. Johnson looked impressive while eclipsing 100 yards from scrimmage on 24 touches in each of his first two starts of the season, but it was this week's 33-touch, 229-yard, 3-touchdown explosion on Sunday night that really turned heads. This week, the talented rookie gets another plus matchup against a Packers' rush defense that ranks 27th in the NFL in schedule-adjusted Defensive Rushing NEP, making him a spectacular play once again. Johnson should be incredibly high owned following his career-day on Sunday, but he is as close to a must-start as it gets at the running back position for cash games.
Tim Hightower, New Orleans Saints
With Mark Ingram out for the remainder of the season, Hightower has stepped into the starting running back role for the Saints and done an admirable job. The Saints' veteran running back toted the rock 28 times for 85 yards and a touchdown with the Saints ahead for most of Week 14 against the Buccaneers, while adding another 54 rushing yards and 31 receiving yards this past week playing from behind against the Lions. Hightower is now clearly the workhorse for the New Orleans offense and could see another massive workload with the Saints 3.5-point favorites against the Jaguars this week. He provides a very high floor given the pure volume he should see and, at just $4,800, should give you tremendous cap relief to spend on a few stud receivers.
Wide Receiver
Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers
Brown has been one of, if not the best wide receiver in football over the past few seasons, and he's put together another outstanding campaign this season. Following his 16-catch, 189-yard, 2-touchdown outburst against a stingy Broncos defense, the Steelers' star now leads the league in receiving yards (1,586) while ranking second in receptions at 116 behind only Julio Jones. He has also added nine touchdowns on the year and currently sits second among all wide receivers in our player power rankings with a 131.05 total NEP. Brown should have little trouble taking advantage of a dream matchup against the rival Ravens who have allowed the third most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers on the year and makes an excellent play in all formats this week.
Allen Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars
As I mentioned earlier, the Saints' secondary simply can't cover anyone. They've given up the third most passing yards per game (276) and allowed the most passing touchdowns in the league (39) by a massive amount. Meanwhile, the Jaguars' sophomore has been one of the hardest receivers in the NFL to slow down all season long. Robinson has already surpassed the 1,000 receiving yard mark with 1,141 yards through 15 games and is actually tied for the league-lead with 13 receiving touchdowns on the year. He also ranks sixth among all wide receivers in Reception NEP at 105.28. Look for Bortles to target Robinson early and often this week against the Saints en route to a huge fantasy outing from both the quarterback and his favorite target.
Kamar Aiken, Baltimore Ravens
Aiken has quietly been a target monster ever since Steven Smith was lost for the season with an Achilles injury. Since Smith's Week 8 injury, the Ravens new number one wideout has averaged a whopping 9.71 targets per game, securing at least five catches in every single game over that span. Aiken is coming off of his best game of the season, hauling in 8 catches for 128 yards and a touchdown against the Chiefs and draws a tasty matchup this week against a Steelers' secondary that has allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers on the year. The Ravens' young receiver has a high floor with solid upside and can be had for just $6,100.
Tight End
Will Tye, New York Giants
With Larry Donnell out of the Giants' lineup with a neck injury, Tye has done an admirable job filling in as New York's starting tight end. Over the last five weeks, Tye has averaged 4.8 catches for 54.6 yards per game while adding two touchdowns. He's eclipsed 10 PPR fantasy points in every single game over that span and should see a massive boost in targets this week with Odell Beckham suspended for this week's matchup against the Vikings. At just $3,200 this week, Tye makes a perfect inexpensive option at tight end so that you can pay up for guys like Johnson, Brown and Robinson.
Flex
Donald Brown, San Diego Chargers
Speaking of inexpensive options, Melvin Gordon has been ruled out for the Chargers' last two games of the season and Brown seems to have slid into the early down running back role. After just 13 touches through the first 14 weeks of the season, Brown carried the ball 12 times for 90 yards while adding 2 receptions for 14 yards in week 15 against Miami. Brown should continue to see early down work with Danny Woodhead handling passing downs for the remainder of the season and should see more than enough action to exceed value at his minuscule price of just $2,200. Brown is an absolute steal this week.
Defense
The Steelers' defense has quietly been among the best in all of football this season, ranking ninth in overall Defensive NEP and first in Defensive Rushing NEP on the year. Meanwhile, the Ravens have dealt with a plethora of injuries on the offense end and now find themselves as one of the worst offenses in all of football. Baltimore currently ranks in the bottom five in both rushing and receiving according to our metrics and will either start Matt Schaub or Jimmy Clausen at quarterback this week. The Pittsburgh defense makes a tremendous play at just $2,000 against the banged-up Ravens.
