Fantasy Football Week 16: Buy or Sell These Injured Stars Before Thursday Night

This article is pretty tough to write each week. After all, advising fantasy owners to buy or sell injured players depends on a lot of unknowns. How long will the player actually be injured? Is he worth owning even if he's healthy? Is he worth keeping even if he's going to be out of action for quite some time because his upside is so high?

This week, it's a bit easier to write. With most folks in championship weeks, the general advice is this: If a star player like Tyler Eifert or Drew Brees or LeSean McCoy or Alshon Jeffery or any other excellent fantasy option is healthy, buy on them if they are available. If not—and if you aren't in a keeper league—let them go.

With that being said, let's take a look at a few intriguing options for your championship week.

Buy: Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

If for some strange reason somebody in your league got rid of Peterson—or if you were having doubts about starting him this week given his ankle concerns—either nab him or hold onto him. It's pretty hard to imagine he would sit such a crucial game against the New York Giants with the chance to clinch a playoff berth on the line.

"Yeah, I think so," Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said Wednesday when asked if Peterson's prognosis was still positive, per the team's website. "Everything I hear, should be good."

Now, here's the tricky thing. If Atlanta loses, Minnesota will clinch a playoff spot. And if Green Bay loses, Minnesota could lose in Week 16 and still clinch the NFC North with a win over the Packers in Week 17. In essence, winning in Week 16 would be irrelevant since the Week 17 matchup would still determine the division winner (since with a win, Green Bay would be 2-0 against Minnesota and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker).

Are you cross-eyed yet?

In that very specific scenario, Minnesota may choose to rest Peterson. So monitor the situation closely. But since Minnesota doesn't play until Sunday night, you should keep Peterson and add Jerick McKinnon this week, just to be safe.

Buy: Lamar Miller, RB, Miami Dolphins

You might be tempted to ditch Miller even if he's healthy, given his limited usage last week. Avoid that temptation. A healthy Miller is still Miami's most explosive running back and has enough upside to make him worth the risk. 

Sell: Jonathan Stewart, RB, Carolina Panthers

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

There's really no reason for the 14-0 Panthers to rush Stewart back into action, so I'd assume he won't play this week. Even if he does play, he'll probably have a pretty short leash. At this point, you can safely drop Stewart. 

Sell: Eddie Lacy, RB, Green Bay Packers

Whether Lacy is healthy or not doesn't really matter. He's a bust, folks. He has a brutal matchup against a very good Arizona Cardinals team, and this tweet from KC Joyner of ESPN.com pretty much says it all:

When a player needs to be benched to be motivated—and a week later scores just two fantasy points—you can safely give up on that player.

Sell: Matt Jones, RB, Washington

Healthy or not, Jones—or any of Washington's running backs—can't be trusted. If you've been holding onto Jones, hoping he would seize the feature back role, just give up on that notion.

Sell: Danny Amendola, WR, New England Patriots

Steven Senne/Associated Press

Here are just a few reasons I don't like Amendola:

• He may not even play this week.
• He hasn't been all that great even when he's been healthy, at least from a fantasy perspective.
• If Julian Edelman returns, he'll get far more usage. 
• Rob Gronkowski and James White seem to be Tom Brady's preferred targets at the moment.
• The New York Jets have a solid defense.

You can do better than Amendola this week.

Sell: Odell Beckham Jr., WR, New York Giants

Unless your league goes to Week 17, you can safely drop the suspended Beckham. It's a devastating occurrence for his owners who find themselves in the championship this week without their top wideout.

Sell: Tyler Eifert, TE, Cincinnati Bengals

I highly doubt you'll see Eifert again in the regular season. With a playoff berth clinched, the Bengals have little need to rush him back. 

All fantasy stats, ownership percentages and points-against totals via ESPN standard leagues.