Fantasy Football Week 16: Biggest Takeaways from Sunday

Week 16 of the 2015 fantasy football season is coming to a close, which means many of you will either be celebrating a victory or moping around in defeat. In any event, this article will take a look at some of the biggest takeaways from Sunday’s action.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles cemented himself as a fantasy stud in Week 16, while Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel proved he still has a lot to work on before he can be trusted in fantasy circles.

Sitting somewhere in the middle of Bortles and Manziel is Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston. The rookie signal-caller has the look of a tail-end QB1.

At the running back position, Pittsburgh Steelers backup DeAngelo Williams has been thriving while filling in for the injured Le’Veon Bell. That’s obviously been good news for Williams owners in 2015, but it also means that Bell should be considered the early favorite for the 1.01 spot in 2016 fantasy football drafts.

We’ll go over all of these takeaways and more, starting with the emergence of Blake Bortles as a must-start fantasy quarterback.

Blake Bortles Is a Fantasy Stud

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Blake Bortles

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles is a fantasy stud. He is somehow still available in about 13 percent of leagues, according to ESPN.com, which is simply asinine.

Bortles is not a great quarterback in real life. But fantasy does not equal reality, and Bortles is the greatest example of this fact.

He has 20-plus fantasy points in five straight games now, and he has tossed an impressive 15 touchdowns in that span. He added a rushing touchdown in there for good measure.

In Week 16, Bortles threw four touchdowns (his fourth game with at least four scores this season) to go along with 368 yards, his second-highest mark of the season. He is not just a QB1—he’s top-five material.

It helps that talented players surround Bortles. Allen Robinson is a star wide receiver already, and Allen Hurns is one of the most underrated players out there. Tight end Julius Thomas is no slouch of a red-zone target, either.

Starting Bortles is, admittedly, a bit of a roller coaster. He had negative-four points at one point in Week 16—he tossed two interceptions before scoring—and had just three points at halftime. But Bortles, ever the garbage-time hero, ended the game with 28 fantasy points.

That’s a long way of saying that it’s not always pretty with Bortles, but he does seem to always get the job done. He should be considered a high-end QB1 in Week 17 and will be a strong QB1 option in 2016 as well.

DeAngelo Williams’ Dominance Makes Le’Veon Bell No. 1 Pick Material in 2016

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Le'Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams

Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams was never supposed to be a fantasy factor in 2015, let alone a top-tier running back, and his success means fantasy players should be chalking in Steelers starter Le’Veon Bell as the No. 1 pick in 2016 drafts.

The Steelers feature a high-flying offense that creates a lot of scoring opportunities for its running back. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will also “dump it off” short to running backs when the longer passing routes fail to develop downfield. This gives Pittsburgh’s running backs a boost in PPR leagues.

Williams has spelled Bell in nine games this season, and in those nine games, he has scored 11 rushing touchdowns. He scored two of those touchdowns in Week 16, giving him four multi-touchdown games in that span.

As good as Williams has been, nobody will argue that he’s a better football player at this stage of his career than the 23-year-old Bell. It’s just not the case. We don’t want to say all of Williams’ success is because he plays in Pittsburgh—that wouldn’t be fair to the 32-year-old Williams—but we can’t deny the influence either.

If a good, but old, running back can put up RB1 numbers in Pittsburgh, then what can arguably the most talented running back in the league—in his prime—do?

Jameis Winston Is Tail-End QB1 Material

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Jameis Winston

Don’t look now, but Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie quarterback Jameis Winston is the 16th-highest scoring quarterback on the season as a whole—and he’s only getting better. He ranked eighth among quarterbacks in terms of fantasy points in Week 16, as of this writing.

Winston has had an incredibly safe floor: He has scored at least 12 points in every game this season. He has yet to blow the roof off—his five-touchdown game in Week 11 netted a strong, but not otherworldly, 29 fantasy points—but he hasn’t been asked to win games with just his arm yet.

That could change in 2016. Winston will have an entire season under his belt, and he’ll have a more established rapport with top wideout Mike Evans, who has dropped a fair number of passes this year. Winston will also get tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins back at full strength.

With his full array of targets, Winston has put up strong numbers in back-to-back weeks. He threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns in Week 16. It marked the first time in his career that he threw for multiple touchdowns in two straight games. He also almost broke the 300-yard barrier for the second time this season—the first time was in Week 15.

Don’t sleep on Winston next season if you plan to take a quarterback late.

David Johnson Is a First-Rounder Next Year

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David Johnson

Arizona Cardinals rookie running back David Johnson has been a (fantasy god)send for the playoffs, and he delivered once again in Week 16, putting up the fifth-most points of the week at the position, as of this writing.

And he did that damage while touching the ball just 12 times. We don’t need to look far back to see what happens when the Cardinals give Johnson a full workload; he scored 40 fantasy points in Week 15 when he had 29 carries.

The Arizona backfield figures to be Johnson’s next season, which will make him a legitimate RB1 heading into the season. He will still split touches, which will keep him out of the 1.01 discussion, but there’s little doubt he has earned a spot in the top round of fantasy drafts.

With that said, there will be some hesitation surrounding Johnson, likely fueled by the 2015 flops that were C.J. Anderson and Jeremy Hill. Because of the failures of Anderson and Hill, people will be more vigilant when looking for one-year wonders heading into 2016. Johnson may be a primary target of theirs.

He shouldn’t be. He will be an “easy” target for the one-year wonder hunters because he will only have handled the full load of Arizona’s backfield in a few games. “He didn’t put up big numbers long enough,” will be the argument against Johnson.

But anybody who paid attention all season long knows that Johnson was dynamite anytime he touched the football—not just in the final weeks of the season. He’s simply seeing more opportunities now than he did earlier this season, and if he’s the starter in 2016, he won’t lack opportunities.

Johnny Manziel Not Quite There from a Fantasy Standpoint

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel (2) reacts to an incomplete pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

The idea of Johnny Manziel as a fantasy quarterback is tantalizing. He’s a dual-threat option that’s capable of rushing for over 100 yards any given week. In fact, he had over 100 rushing yards in Week 16.

But saying “dual-threat” might be stretching it, because he still can’t pass the ball all that well. He completed just 13 of 32 attempts on Sunday for a pedestrian 136 yards. He threw an interception and didn’t score.

Additionally, Manziel was clearly running out of gas toward the end of the game. It wasn’t shocking to see him get tired—he appeared to be running for his life at times—but it wasn’t all that motivating either.

We don’t want to knock on the guy too much for getting tired—maybe he was sick, or maybe he just looked really tired and we don’t really know—but if you are looking for a fantasy quarterback, it’s best to look for a player who will produce at a high level for all 60 minutes.

Again, the idea of Johnny Football playing quarterback for your fantasy squad—scoring points both through the air and on the ground—is a nice one, but it’s more of a dream at this point.

DeVante Parker Is a WR1 in the Making

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DeVante Parker

Miami Dolphins rookie wideout DeVante Parker is a rising star, much like Jacksonville Jaguars wideout Allen Robinson was last season. That’s not to say Parker will instantly become one of the top fantasy wideouts next season like Robinson did in 2015, but the potential is certainly there.

Parker caught four of 10 targets for 93 yards in Week 16—all of which were season highs. He didn’t score a touchdown, but we did see him make some nice touchdown grabs in Weeks 12 and 13, so we know he’s capable of winning in the red zone.

Over the past five games, Parker has 17 receptions for 339 yards, giving him a per-catch average of just under 20 yards.

Now imagine if Parker caught more than 40 percent of his passes like he did in Week 16. With each reception good for about 20 yards, Parker is a threat to go for over 100 yards—and score—any given week. Pay attention to him throughout this offseason.