Fantasy Football Week 16 Rankings: Flex and PPR Outlook for Each Position

It's a busy season around the holidays for fantasy football owners, but Thursday Night Football between the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders provided another example of why preparation is so important.

There, oft-overlooked Raiders running back Latavius Murray posted a day-high 16 points and hot pickup commodity Dontrelle Inman of the Chargers posted 14.

Going into Week 16, one looking littered with blowouts and explosive performances, owners have to be on top of every decision, right on down to the flex play.

Of course, owners still alive this time of year know as much. Below, let's help out by taking a look at flex rankings based on scoring in points-per-reception (PPR) leagues.

Running Backs

Rank	Player
1	Doug Martin
2	David Johnson
3	Charcandrick West
4	Adrian Peterson*
5	DeAngelo Williams
6	Jonathan Stewart*
7	Karlos Williams
8	Devonta Freeman
9	Lamar Miller*
10	Tim Hightower
11	T.J. Yeldon*
12	Darren McFadden
13	Javorius Allen
14	Ryan Mathews
15	Frank Gore
16	Chris Ivory
17	Christine Michael
18	Matt Forte
19	Eddie Lacy
20	Spencer Ware
21	Shaun Draughn*
22	Todd Gurley
23	Matt Jones*
24	Jeremy Langford
25	C.J. Anderson
26	Ameer Abdullah
27	Joique Bell
28	Giovani Bernard
29	Antonio Andrews
30	Darren Sproles

This time of year is always quite difficult on owners with injuries piling up and committees forming at running back.

David Johnson personifies this problem, which doubles as a potential solution, for owners. Now the Arizona Cardinals lead back thanks to injuries to Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington, the Northern Iowa product looks like one of the best PPR starts around on a week-to-week basis.

This isn't just a reaction to Johnson posting major numbers last week, either, though he did rush for 187 yards and three touchdowns with another four catches for 42 yards through the air.

No, this has more to do with Johnson's consistent usage through the air, making him a valuable PPR commodity. He's caught at least two passes in each of his past five outings going into what should be a shootout with plenty of chances for more against the Green Bay Packers.

Someone who doesn't get enough credit as a PPR gold mine? Try Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams, who has five or more catches in three out of his last four outings.

It doesn't get talked about much, perhaps because Williams does sexier stuff like, say, boast four touchdowns over his past four outings.

Given the usage—plus arguably the best matchup of the week against the woeful Baltimore Ravens—Williams will be one of the top PPR monsters of the week.

Wide Receivers

Rank	Player
1	Antonio Brown
2	Allen Robinson
3	Brandon Marshall
4	DeAndre Hopkins
5	Jeremy Maclin
6	Calvin Johnson
7	Alshon Jeffery*
8	Julio Jones
9	DeSean Jackson
10	Martavis Bryant
11	Eric Decker
12	Kamar Aiken
13	Doug Baldwin
14	Larry Fitzgerald
15	Jarvis Landry
16	Randall Cobb
17	Julian Edelman*
18	A.J. Green
19	Mike Evans
20	Brandin Cooks
21	John Brown
22	Travis Benjamin
23	Stevie Johnson*
24	Golden Tate
25	Sammy Watkins
26	Michael Floyd
27	T.Y. Hilton
28	Rueben Randle
29	Allen Hurns
30	Anquan Boldin
31	Demaryius Thomas
32	Emmanuel Sanders
33	Jordan Matthews
34	Pierre Garcon
35	Willie Snead

Based on trends and a targets-equal-production mentality, Kansas City Chiefs wideout Jeremy Maclin is in for a huge Week 16.

Maclin's been on absolute fire as of late, catching six or more passes in four consecutive games and garnering some lofty target shares, as explained by Rotoworld's Graham Barfield:

These numbers would suggest Maclin is a great play no matter what.

Making Maclin all the more appealing, though, is the fact he now gets to beat up on the Cleveland Browns. The Joe Haden-less secondary has allowed 10 or more catches to opposing wideout corps in seven consecutive games, a number that isn't so outlandish for Maclin on his own.

Washington's DeSean Jackson sits in a similar boat now that he's healthy. Jackson has six or more catches in two of his last three games and a touchdown in four of his last five.

Storylines aside, Philadelphia has allowed 12 or more catches to wideout corps in seven games and running with at least one touchdown allowed in each game.

Tight Ends

Rank	Player
1	Greg Olsen
2	Rob Gronkowski
3	Julius Thomas
4	Jordan Reed
5	Benjamin Watson
6	Delanie Walker
7	Gary Barnidge
8	Richard Rodgers
9	Travis Kelce
10	Tyler Eifert*
11	Austin Seferian-Jenkins
12	Coby Fleener

Outside of the usual names, owners have to take a look at Julius Thomas of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The man's one of the most underrated target hogs in the game today with Blake Bortles looking his way often. So often, in fact, that Thomas has at least five targets in all but one game he's appeared in this year and has five or more catches in four of his last five with four scores.

Thomas gets to beat up on the New Orleans Saints next, one of the league's worst defenses against the position while riding the usual volume-heavy approach.

Given the way things have been going in Washington, tight end Jordan Reed should have a monster outing right alongside Jackson.

Reed also happens to be a target hog with seven or more catches in each of his past five games. In that span he's caught six or more four times with three scores.

Now, Reed has a tough matchup against the Eagles, who rank well against the position because, frankly, teams are too busy roasting the unit on the outside. Washington will do that with Jackson, but a team with a top-five tight end won't just ignore him in such an incredible matchup.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats as of December 24.