Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 16: Choosing Top Fantasy Football Locks and Flops

It's championship week in most fantasy football leagues, and if you're ever going to set a perfect lineup, this is the time to do it. However, that's never an easy feat.

Here's a familiar inquiry asked by many owners at this time of year: "Should I start Wide Receiver A over Wide Receiver B, or should I start both and just move one into the flex position over Running Back A?"

While not every single starting position will be in question—you're not going to start anyone over Aaron Rodgers against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16—most owners will be digging around for any possible analysis that can help them make the right decision over which player to plug in at one or more starting slots.

Well, if you happen to fall into that category, you've come to the right place.

While it's nearly impossible to comb over every single scenario you may come across, below you'll find three solid examples of a player to start over two others at their respective position.

Hopefully, this small amount of insight will prove to be valuable on your journey to a league title.

Quarterback: Start Matthew Stafford over Joe Flacco and Ryan Tannehill

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The return of wide receiver Calvin Johnson really helped Stafford's recent production. Prior to a difficult matchup against a very good Minnesota Vikings defense in Week 15, Detroit's quarterback posted two consecutive 300-yard, multitouchdown performances.

He's likely to see similar numbers again in Week 16.

Stafford and Co. are set to face off against a Chicago Bears secondary that has been dreadful in recent weeks.

Over their last three contests, the Bears have allowed at least 20 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks—one of those was Stafford, with 21 on Thanksgiving Day—and are now allowing an average of 19.6 fantasy points to the position on the season.

The Bears haven't been able to contain Detroit's offense, especially Johnson, and wide receiver Golden Tate expects more of the same in Week 16, according to his interview with Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press:

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I don't see a team going 15 weeks into the season and changing who they are. They might have something special to do for Calvin here and there, but we're going to continue to call the same plays we've been calling, that have been working, and we're going to need guys like Reggie (Bush), myself, Joique (Bell), Theo (Riddick), Calvin, (Eric) Ebron, (Brandon Pettigrew) to step up and make plays and win the ballgame.

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Also, don't worry about Johnson's questionable status. He's already talking about what he expects to see from the Bears on Sunday, via the Lions' official Twitter account:

Chicago's inability to keep any of Detroit's targets in check means one thing: huge fantasy points for Stafford.

One quarterback who may not see big numbers this week is Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens.

While he's posted a couple of 20-point fantasy performances in his last three games, he's coming off an average showing against the Jacksonville Jaguars that marks his sixth outing with fewer than 20 fantasy points in his last eight games.

Making matters worse, the Houston Texans haven't exactly been kind to quarterbacks this season. They've allowed just one signal-caller—Andrew Luck in Week 6—to score more than 20 fantasy points in a game this year.

Expect that trend to continue against Flacco. If you need about 15 fantasy points out of your quarterback, he's your guy. If you need more, look elsewhere.

Miami Dolphins signal-caller Ryan Tannehill just hasn't been reliable this season. While he's had four outbursts of scoring at least 20 fantasy points, they've been surrounded by 10 contests in which he's scored 17 or fewer fantasy points.

Unfortunately, that's likely to continue in Week 16, as Tannehill is set to face a Vikings defense that hasn't allowed more than 15 fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks in any of its last three games and in nine of 14 games this season.

Running Back: Start Mark Ingram over LeSean McCoy and Andre Williams

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There are plenty of reasons why Ingram is in for a huge day in Week 16, and we'll get to them all.

When the New Orleans Saints took on the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1, Ingram rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns, netting 18 fantasy points.

While that's reason enough to start him in the rematch, it gets even better. He was only given 13 carries in that contest—nowhere near the workload he's been receiving of late.

Why should you be so confident he'll get plenty of touches? Ask yourself this question: Do you think Saints coach Sean Payton wants a resurgent Matt Ryan on the field often? The answer is no, and the best way to keep the opposing signal-caller on the sidelines is by sustaining longer drives. The best way to do that is by running Ingram early and often.

Don't worry about Ingram finding room to run, either.

The Falcons are the worst NFL team against running backs from a fantasy perspective, allowing an average of 22.4 fantasy points per game to the position and giving up at least 23 in three of their last four games. Get this running back into your starting lineup.

LeSean McCoy may be tough to bench—and this isn't saying you should sit him, it's simply a cautionary measure. After all, with eight single-digit fantasy performances this season, he's not exactly the epitome of consistency.

This week, McCoy will face a Washington Redskins defense that has been surprisingly good against the run. It is allowing an average of 11.7 fantasy points per game to opposing ball-carriers, the third-fewest in the league.

In fact, Washington hasn't allowed more than 13 fantasy points to a backfield in any of its last five games.

Fantasy owners must also be cautious about McCoy's goal-line work. His fantasy owners were horrified in Week 15 when two touchdowns were vultured by Chris Polk and another was poached by Darren Sproles.

According to McCoy, via Around the NFL, he's alright with that trend continuing:

If you must start McCoy this week, go ahead. However, do so at your own risk.

Some fantasy owners may consider starting New York Giants running back Andre Williams in Week 16 against the St. Louis Rams after watching them give up 136 rushing yards to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15. Even more so since the news broke Rashad Jennings is unlikely to suit up on Sunday.

Well, don't act too fast here.

While Williams has enjoyed some success this season, he's a gamble each week due to his inability to gain significant yardage—he's eclipsed 66 rushing yards in a game just once this season.

This means he must score a touchdown to gain a viable amount of fantasy points, and considering the Rams have only allowed one in their last five games, that's not likely.

Wide Receiver: Start Mike Evans over Josh Gordon and Doug Baldwin

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Let's be real: The Buccaneers won't be keeping pace with the Green Bay Packers this week.

With that said, there's a bright side to Tampa Bay's woes. Since the team should be losing by a significant margin throughout the game, wide receiver Mike Evans is poised for plenty of targets and should come away with a nice day for his fantasy owners.

Evans has been a touchdown machine this season, scoring 11 times and falling just 52 yards shy of eclipsing 1,000 yards on the season.

He'll get there on Sunday against a soft Packers secondary that is allowing an average of 23.4 fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this season, the ninth-most in the league.

Before shutting down the Buffalo Bills in Week 15, Green Bay allowed at least one touchdown to the position in its previous eight games. Considering Evans is the go-to target for quarterback Josh McCown, expect him to reap the benefits of this favorable Week 16 matchup.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon appeared ready to dominate the league once again when he returned in Week 12, putting up 12 fantasy points against the Falcons.

Well, he hasn't been able to continue those big showings, combining for 12 fantasy points over his next three games.

Adding to the wide receiver's woes is the change at the quarterback position. Johnny Manziel was dreadful in Week 15 and doesn't appear ready to start in the NFL. His presence under center significantly devalues Gordon from a fantasy perspective.

Here's what one analyst had to say about the quarterback, via the NFL's Twitter account:

That's not going to translate into any sort of fantasy points for Gordon.

It won't get any easier this week, either, as Cleveland is slated to face a Carolina Panthers team that hasn't allowed more than 163 yards to opposing wide receivers in each of its last three games—and that includes Brees and the Saints. Look elsewhere for a starting wide receiver this week.

The Cardinals have given up some yardage to wide receivers at times this season, but not against the Seattle Seahawks.

The last time these teams met, Seattle's receivers only accumulated a total of 83 yards on five receptions. Doug Baldwin caught two passes for a whopping six yards in that contest.

A Week 16 rematch shouldn't yield much different results. Baldwin has remained inconsistent since the last time he faced Arizona, scoring 15 fantasy points against the Eagles but just two and five in his two contests against the San Francisco 49ers.

Baldwin isn't likely to gain significant yardage against the Cardinals, so he'll need a trip to the end zone to generate any kind of value for this fantasy owners.

Considering Arizona has only allowed one touchdown to a wide receiver over its last six games, let's go ahead and assume that's not going to happen.

All fantasy football statistics and rankings courtesy of ESPN.com standard scoring leagues and current as of December 18.