Week 16 brings make-or-break matchups in many leagues. With your entire season potentially coming down to one week, it’s imperative that you make the best roster decisions to put you over the top.
I’ll help you decide which fantasy football waiver wire pickups you should make that could benefit your fantasy teams for the fantasy playoffs.
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 16 Tips & Notes
- Fantasy Football Waiver Wire updates are completed Sunday nights, Mondays, and Tuesdays.
- We generally target players with a roster percentage of lower than 50%, but we’ll make exceptions in urgent cases of priority additions.
- Free-Agent Acquisition Budget dollar bid prices for Week 16 are based on a season-long budget of $100.
- Adjust your percentage and scale accordingly for your league’s FAAB structure and your remaining FAAB dollars.
- Roster % is based on Yahoo! Fantasy leagues information as of 1 p.m. EST on Monday, December 20th.
2021 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 16: Top Pickups
Gabriel Davis, WR, Buffalo Bills (19% rostered)
Gabriel Davis has turned into a consistent receiving option for Josh Allen with scores in three consecutive games, including a pair of touchdowns in Week 15 against a tough Carolina Panthers secondary. Davis has been targeted 15 times over his last two games combined and has topped 40 receiving yards in four of his last six games.
Given his recent run of production, it’s amazing that he’s still available in more than 80% of leagues. There have been too many injuries and COVID cases for your team to be safe, so everyone could use a player like Davis at this stage in the season.
With Allen throwing to him in Buffalo’s high-powered offense, Davis provides fantasy rosters with major upside and a safe floor regardless of opponent.
- Gabriel Davis Waiver Wire FAAB Bid: $21
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Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Detroit Lions (29% rostered)
With T.J. Hockenson and D’Andre Swift suffering injuries, Amon-Ra St. Brown has been the MVP of late for Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions.
St. Brown has racked up at least 11 targets in three straight games, hauling in 26 of 35 targets for 249 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. Those are incredible numbers for a guy who hadn’t caught a receiving touchdown all season prior to Week 13.
It’s safe to say Goff will continue to keep St. Brown heavily involved going forward even when Hockenson and Swift return. After providing WR1 production in three straight weeks, he should be rostered in 100% of fantasy leagues.
- Amon-Ra St. Brown Waiver Wire FAAB Bid: $20
Russell Gage, WR, Atlanta Falcons (50% rostered)
Without Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley, Matt Ryan and Russell Gage have built their chemistry this season. Gage has become Ryan’s go-to option in the passing game and it’s easy to see why.
Gage has been targeted 44 times over his last five games, converting those opportunities into 34 catches for 396 receiving yards and two touchdowns. With Ridley unlikely to return this season, Gage will continue to see a heavy target share down the stretch.
After four straight games with at least 60 receiving yards, look for Gage to continue that trend against the Lions in Week 16.
- Russell Gage Waiver Wire FAAB Bid: $17
Atlanta Falcons WR Russell Gage has emerged as Matt Ryan’s top option in the passing game, making him a worthy waiver wire add for Week 16. (Image: USA TODAY Sports)
Duke Johnson, RB, Miami Dolphins (2% rostered)
What a nice surprise for the Miami Dolphins. Duke Johnson delivered a monster performance against the New York Jets in Week 15, carrying Miami to a come-from-behind 31-24 victory with 107 rushing yards, 20 receiving yards, and two touchdowns.
More importantly, Johnson out-touched Myles Gaskin 23-10, which means Johnson may have overtaken him as the Dolphins’ lead back.
This could have been a fluke game for Johnson, but you don’t want to be the guy to miss out on running back production during fantasy playoffs. He should at least get a decent workload on Monday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints, especially if he sees more involvement in the passing game.
- Duke Johnson Waiver Wire FAAB Bid: $12
2021 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 16: One-Week Streamer Plays
New York Jets Defense D/ST (2% rostered)
The New York Jets are not a good football team, but their defense has been solid for fantasy purposes. Over the last four games, New York’s defense has tallied 11 sacks, three interceptions, a fumble recovery, and a touchdown.
The Jets are thus a great streaming option this week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have given up the most fantasy points to defenses this season. Trevor Lawrence has thrown just one touchdown over his past seven games and leads the NFL with 14 interceptions.
This game will likely be a low-scoring defensive battle based on our NFL gameday odds, making New York a quality play this week.
- New York Jets Defense D/ST Waiver Wire FAAB Bid: $3
Jacksonville Jaguars Defense D/ST (6% rostered)
For the same reasons I like the Jets in Week 16, the Jaguars will have plenty of opportunities to create turnovers and stop Zach Wilson. New York has given up the sixth-most fantasy points to defenses in 2021 largely thanks to Wilson’s 6:11 TD/INT ratio.
If the Jets have already been scooped up in your league, consider rolling with the Jags instead.
- Jacksonville Jaguars Defense D/ST Waiver Wire FAAB Bid: $2
