Week 15 is wrapping up and chaos continues to roll on. Backfields continue to turn over and the new realities the NFL reveals constantly remind us not to cling to our conceived notions. It's a reminder that pain is always present in the joy that is fantasy football. Now we must look forward to options to assist in beefing up our fake teams to move forward, whether it be long-term replacements or a streamer just to get by.
It's just those sort of symptoms that the Deep Dive is prescribed to help alleviate. NFL Fantasy's editorial overlord Alex Gelhar dutifully attacks the waiver wire to give you the top adds for the coming week in hopes of bolstering your roster. However, in this arena, we'll look at options to help those of you looking to go a little bit further down the rabbit hole, whether you play in a deeper format or are at the mercy of your incredibly sharp league-mates who scour the waiver wire relentlessly. A player can only qualify for the deep dive if they're owned in less than 10 percent of NFL.com leagues. With that, here are 11 players you can consider adding before Week 16 either as deep FLEX plays or simply as bench stashes.
The Colts just ceded a three-total touchdown effort to Brock Osweiler, who didn't even start the game, last Thursday night. Joe Flacco will draw a matchup with the Colts in Week 16. After brutal performances for most of the year, the Ravens quarterback has stabilized his play of late. Over his last three games, Flacco sports a 5:1 touchdown to interception ratio and has cleared 260 yards in each contest. He's earned consideration as a low-end steamer when searching for a floor play at the position.
Drew Stanton was re-gifted the
Cardinals starting job by head coach Bruce Arians Monday afternoon and comes back to a dream matchup. The
Giants just allowed a four-touchdown performance to another replacement quarterback in
Nick Foles and have been torched through the air all year. If you're in a 2QB league championship, at least Stanton is an option on the board.
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As of this writing, Peyton Barber has not played in Week 15, but it was announced prior to Monday night's kickoff that he will earn the start for Tampa Bay. He's outperformed Doug Martin this year by a decent margin, so this news isn't much of a surprise. As long as he holds onto that role, he'll be in volume play consideration in Week 16.
Wayne Gallman's usage boost from Week 14 held up for yet another game, as he totaled 14 touches against the
Eagles on Sunday. His passing game usage remains intriguing with 16 combined targets over the last two weeks. That will boost his floor and keep him on the low-end flex radar for fantasy championship week. The
Giants travel to Arizona in Week 16, who has a defense that encourages you to pass rather than run on their tough front.
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The intriguing speedster looks to have a secure role in the Panthers thin receiver corps locked down. Damiere Byrd has seen his snap rate rise in each of the last three weeks with 40.4, 59.4 and 68 percent. He made his presence felt with a pair of scores in Week 15 against the Packers. While he's not a high-volume player (nine targets over the last two weeks), he does have the big play ability to make up for that and snagged both of his scores in the red zone last week. Byrd and the Panthers welcome Tampa Bay, who has been whipped by wideouts all year, in Week 16.
Kendall Wright followed up his seemingly random 10-catch, 100-yard performance in Week 15 with a more than acceptable encore. The
Bears slot receiver racked up a whopping 13 targets and posted 81 yards. He's combined for 24 targets over his last two games, which simply can't be ignored. Wright will be on the deep flex radar in Week 16, as the
Bears face off with the
Browns in fantasy championship week.
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Keelan Cole should have been on the radar going into Week 15, as he was seeing plenty of air yards and had scored touchdowns in back-to-back games. He put it all together against the
Texans, drawing nine targets with
Marqise Lee out and clearing 180 yards with a score. Many were willing to chase
Dede Westbrook's usage in this passing game and the truth is, the two rookie receivers' usage isn't all that different. Cole will be on the radar once again in Week 16 with a matchup against the
49ers defense.
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Jeremy Maclin will likely
miss Week 16 with yet another injury and that would move
Chris Moore into the No. 2 receiver role across from
Mike Wallace. Moore has been running ahead of former first round pick
Breshad Perriman as the third wideout. He's a longshot through and through, but Moore does have a good matchup against a generous
Colts defense.
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Garrett Celek has cleared 60 yards and scored a touchdown in back-to-back games heading into Week 16. He was on the field for 83 and 66 percent of the snaps in those contests, emerging as the clear lead tight end in San Francisco. As Jimmy Garopplo's excellent play continues to raise all tides in the offense, Celek climbs the board of tight end streamers.
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The Cardinals get the Giants in Week 16, who have allowed league-highs in yards (941) and touchdowns (13) to tight ends. Troy Niklas and Ricky Seals-Jones both saw six targets in Week 15, creating a murky rotation at the position. However, the matchup makes them appealing. Seals-Jones has shown more receiving upside of late.
The Chargers exciting young tight end Hunter Henry has a lacerated kidney and may miss each of the next two games. Los Angeles will finish the season with matchups against the Jets and Raiders, neither of whom come with an intimidating stop unit. If Henry is out, that will bring veteran Antonio Gates back into a prominent role. Gates collected a red zone touchdown just last week and will have touchdown upside in any game he starts.
Matt Harmon is a writer/editor for NFL.com, and the creator of #ReceptionPerception, who you can follow on Twitter _@MattHarmonBYB_ or like on Facebook.
