NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 16: Wide receivers

McLaurin had more than 75 receiving yards for the first time since Week 12 at Dallas and was coming off back-to-back games with fewer than 25 receiving yards. The Seahawks revamped defense is no joke. And McLaurin wasn’t bad enough to sink any of your fantasy teams, so that’s great. I would start him because of the matchup. The Panthers have allowed a lot of production over the last month to receivers. McLaurin gets a higher grade with Dwayne Haskins, who targets him more frequently than Alex Smith. Having Alex start isn’t enough to bench McLaurin (unless you have great options), but it is a difference.

The good news is I’m not starting him, so you won’t have to worry about that. I like D.J., but we’ve had a bad fantasy football relationship, so I don’t want to ruin that for everyone else. Moore had six receptions for 131 yards against the Packers. His fourth consecutive game with double-digits. He’s got another nice matchup against the Football Team this week in a Ron Rivera REVENGE GAME. The FT has allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to receivers over the past month.

Speaking of REVENGE GAMES, I’m not about to skip over my guy Allen Robinson going up against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Robinson put in another good game against the Vikings. He finished with four receptions for 83 yards (12.30 points) and it’s worth pointing out that he has scored in double-digits in every game since the James Bradberry game in Week 2. I really hope the Bears figure out a way to bring him back next season. Because it’s absolutely ridiculous that he hasn’t been extended. It’s not too late Ryan Pace. I know you’re going to have to franchise Trubisky. But let’s get this done.

The Jets have been good against running backs, you might have been shocked to find out. But they struggle against opposing receivers. The Jets have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to wide outs over the last month. Jarvis Landry is an obvious call, seeing that he’s averaged 7.3 receptions per game, 80 receiving yards and three touchdowns in his past four games. But let’s not overlook Higgins, either. Hollywood Higgins has 30 receptions for 491 yards in eight games since Week 7, the week OBJ had his season-ending injury. If you scrambled to the finals last week without Michael Thomas and you need a replacement, this is the guy who can do it.

I was going to suggest sitting Kupp or Robert Woods against the Seahawks this week, given that the Rams are still starting Jared Goff and the Seahawks defense has allowed the fewest points to receivers over the past four games. Here’s my thing, though. Kupp has averaged 16.2 fantasy points against the Seahawks since 2018 and has three touchdowns in his past five games. Bobby Trees has 15.3 fantasy points in seven games against the Seahawks. Here’s my thing, and this is important. The last time the Rams had an embarrassing loss (against the 49ers), they rallied to score 38 points the following week against the Cardinals. Goff had 351 yards and a touchdown. I know I have Goff as a sit this week. Mostly because there are a bunch of good quarterbacks out there. I still would go with these receivers.

The good thing about Jalen Hurts playing quarterback for the Eagles is that it speeds up the game on both sides. I’m looking for the Cowboys to try to keep pace with the Eagles and this is a good one for the receivers. The Eagles have allowed the second-most fantasy points to receivers this season. Cooper had a touchdown streak of three games snapped against the 49ers. Cooper had just three targets. But I’m not going to chase the CeeDee Lamb targets from last week and look for Andy Dalton to go back to Cooper this week. He was shut down by the Eagles earlier this year, but I won’t let that deter me. 

Hilton has been great over the past few weeks. And he once again got over double-digits against the Texans, like he always does. Philip Rivers has a 152.0 passer rating when he targets Hilton, so the two have formed a valuable connection. I’m fading it this week against the Steelers. Obviously, not everyone has the luxury of sitting players of Hilton’s caliber. But I do like some of the above options a little bit better. And the Steelers have allowed the sixth-fewest fantasy points to receivers over the past month.

The Giants defense looks so different without James Bradberry, you would almost think he should win defensive player of the year now. And that might be a stretch. But Bradberry has been a dominant force. And Jarvis Landry was out there running around like people goofing off at work on the day before Christmas break. But with Bradberry expected to return this week, I’m going to expect the Ravens to focus more on running the football this week. And despite all of that, the Giants have allowed the third-fewest fantasy points to receivers over the past month.