Five Week 16 Storylines
Ravens’ disastrous year reaches its inevitable finish line. Stop me if you have heard this one before this season — Lamar Jackson got hurt, and the Ravens blew a must-win game. A project running low on good vibes and seemingly out of new ideas was at its uninspired zenith against a Patriots team that didn’t play well enough to win but did so anyways. That used to be a “Ravens thing,” otherwise known as “championship football.” Baltimore was already fading from that conversation last year and is now gone from it entirely. The young building blocks are few and far between. The coaching staff is out of gas. The quarterback is something of a mystery. A reset is needed. Don’t be surprised if one is granted two Mondays from now.
Trevor Lawrence becomes a dark horse MVP candidate? “Everyone” entered Week 16 in agreement on two points: Lawrence was playing the best football of his career, but the hot streak was going to end against the Broncos. Instead, Lawrence finished as the QB1 overall in fantasy and kept the Jaguars alive for the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC. Simply breaking out as he settles into Liam Coen’s new system and makes the most of a deeper skill corps, Lawrence is suddenly “making the throws” that had eluded him for so long. The timing is better, and the talent is finally there to bail him out even when it isn’t. Many had given up hope this day would ever arrive. It’s here, and Lawrence is a must start for the fantasy finals in Indy.
Quinshon Judkins’ season ends with a broken leg and dislocated ankle. Judkins had quite the rookie arc. Unsigned when the Eagles and Cowboys kicked off the season on September 4, Judkins was already a “lone bright spot” for the Browns’ offense in Week 2. For a while he rose above his awful offensive environment, handling massive workloads and producing high-end RB2 returns. The workloads remained, but the production eventually ceased. Then as so often happens in these dismal setups, something that couldn’t possibly get worse did. Judkins’ injury is an ugly exclamation point on a promising rookie year, but surprisingly comes with “just” a 4-5 month timeline. That would have him ready for training camp with time to spare. Still only 22 years old, Judkins should be one of the more valuable backs in dynasty leagues for the next 3-4 seasons.
Chiefs remove themselves from fantasy consideration for the stretch run. The Chiefs didn’t want to be in Nashville. That much was clear. Now without Gardner Minshew (knee), they would rather be anywhere else in the world than hosting the Broncos on Christmas night. They have to be there. You don’t. Even if Rashee Rice (concussion) gets cleared, he will be a highly volatile WR3 operating with his QB3. If he doesn’t, none of Travis Kelce, Xavier Worthy or Isiah Pacheco will be playable. The Broncos’ defense is too good, and the Chiefs’ offense too fractured. This can be easier said than done this time of year, but if you’ve made it to the fantasy finals, you need to be looking elsewhere for your WR4s and second FLEXes.
Cam Ward quietly strings together three straight strong starts. We’re talking real quiet, but it is happening. Ward has provided multiple scores each of the past three weeks, doing so with zero turnovers the past two. A sack machine the first two-plus months of the season, he’s gone down just six times over his past four appearances. He’s building chemistry with a host of young skill players, and doing so despite an interim coaching staff that will be on Linkedin two weeks from today. This is what happens when talent takes over, with Ward reminding why he was a No. 1 overall pick. The Titans need to get their next hire right, deepen the skill corps, etc., but this remains a player worth betting on.
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Five More Week 16 Storylines
Ashton Jeanty shows what might have been in a functional offense. It’s amazing what is possible when you aren’t getting hit behind the line of scrimmage every play. One of the season’s biggest busts finished as the RB2 overall for the fantasy semifinals. This, as many of us were saying it was time to finally consider benching him if you had survived his lack of production to reach this point. With a 50-plus yard gain both on the ground and through the air, Jeanty led all running backs in yards from scrimmage. He provided the “fifth most rush yards over expected,” which is actually fewer than you maybe imagined and also extremely encouraging. It showed that with even an ordinary or average day up front from his blocking, Jeanty can do big things. Like Ward, it was a needed reminder of why he was such a high pick in the first place, and why he will remain hyped heading into 2026.
Tyler Shough keeps showing them something down in the Big Easy. If Trevor Lawrence is making loud progress at the quarterback position while Cam Ward does so quietly, Shough is somewhere in the middle. Although he has more than defied his bare minimum expectations, he still has only seven passing scores in eight starts, and is getting walloped for sacks at a fairly alarming rate. That’s the bad. It just wasn’t expected to be accompanied by anything good. It has as Shough keeps getting the ball to the players who need it. They have rewarded him with big box scores and probably enough good film to get a chance to start next Week 1. It could be a trap. One of the knocks on Shough is that he was probably close to a finished product at age 26. If this is all there is, it indeed won’t be enough. But the fact that Shough has us asking the question at all is a better than expected outcome.
Taysom Hill rises from the fantasy dead vs. Jets. In what amounted to a New Orleans going away party — he acknowledged as much in his post-game press conference — Hill also made sure to score some fantasy points. 15.32 of them to be exact. That was enough to make him the “TE7” and RB18 on the week. It could also remain sticky for Week 17. Saints send-off though Sunday was, it was also something of a necessity in the backfield. Audric Estime and Evan Hull “ain’t it,” and the Saints want to go down swinging as they continue to evaluate Shough. It will feel uncomfortable and maybe even a little immoral to slot Hill into your tight end spot for finals week, but you may have no choice unless you are holstering one of the top 5-6 options at the highly compromised position.
Quinn Ewers does enough to keep Dolphins in fantasy lineups. Unlike Shough, Ewers didn’t show anything on Sunday to suggest he’s the Dolphins’ quarterback of the immediate future. But like Shough, he directed the ball where it was supposed to go, and confirmed fantasy managers can keep playing Jaylen Waddle and De’Von Achane for Week 17. They can keep chasing touchdowns with Darren Waller. Ewers has not enhanced this offensive environment. But the fact he has not further degraded it is a small win we will gladly take at this juncture.
Jawhar Jordan leads Texans’ Woody Marks-less backfield. Although he was on the field for “just” half the snaps, Jordan easily out-handled, as well as out-produced, Nick Chubb. That shouldn’t surprise anyone who has seen Chubb play this season, of course. The real question is if Marks plays Week 17 against the Chargers. With both teams still jockeying for playoff position and Marks seemingly coming close to suiting up against the Raiders, he should have a real chance to return. But if not, Jordan now has two weeks worth of FLEX-level workloads, and sometimes that’s all you can ask for if you find yourself desperate at RB3/WR4.
Questions
1. Did the Giants forget to charge Jaxson Dart’s controller?
2. Who is your favorite third-string Christmas quarterback?
3. Did the Bucs forget to pay their water bill or something?
Early Waivers Look (Players rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)
QB: Tyler Shough (@TEN), Kirk Cousins (vs. LAR), Aaron Rodgers (@CLE), Bryce Young (vs. SEA), Cam Ward (vs. NO)
RB: Michael Carter, Blake Corum, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Dylan Sampson, Jawhar Jordan
WR: Parker Washington, Adonai Mitchell, Luther Burden III, Jalen Coker, Tre Harris
TE: Taysom Hill, Colston Loveland, Colby Parkinson, AJ Barner, Oronde Gadsden, Chig Okonkwo
DEF: Patriots (@NYJ), Bucs (@MIA), Cowboys (@WAS), Giants (@LV)
Stats of the Week
The Titans’ official website on Chimere Dike: “Chimere Dike on Sunday became just the fourth rookie in NFL history with four-plus receiving touchdowns and two-plus punt return touchdowns, joining Tyreek Hill (2016), Dez Bryant (2010), and Eddie Kennison (1996).”
Mike Clay on the Titans’ offensive improvement: “Titans offense, first 12 games: 11 touchdowns. Last three games: 10 touchdowns.”
Davis Mattek on Dalton Kincaid’s frustrating year: “Dalton Kincaid has played the 14th most offensive snaps on the Bills this year. Fewer than Tyrell Shavers and only 60 more than the team’s third offensive tackle.”
Awards Section
Week 16 Fantasy All-Pro Team: QB Trevor Lawrence, RB Chase Brown, RB Ashton Jeanty, WR Puka Nacua, WR Chris Olave, WR George Pickens, TE Harold Fannin
Week 16 All Bank Examiner Squad: QB Lamar Jackson, RB Audric Estime, RB Breece Hall, WR Drake London, WR Emeka Egbuka, WR Marvin Harrison Jr., TE Travis Kelce
The First Quarterback Who Clearly Used Chat GPT To Get Through College Award: J.J. McCarthy.
Most Insane Ref Heel Turn Since The Last Ref Heel Turn: Carl Cheffers announcing a Lions touchdown only to then immediately reveal it was not only not a touchdown, but that the game was over and the Lions had lost.
Get That Paper Award: Me becoming an expert gambler in my now betting-legal state and “taking” the over on the Raiders’ team total.
The Have You Ever Considered Not Doing That Award: Mark Andrews every Sunday, but particularly on last night’s “pitch” to nowhere that instantly resulted in a lost fumble.
