Fantasy Football Week 16: Award Roundup for Busts and MVPs

We establish the MVPs and busts at each position, as each week in fantasy football is defined by peerless performances and underwhelming outings. Week 16 in the NFL is defined by playoff-clinching games in real football and championship climates in fantasy football.

As is annual tradition, we find some surprising names dominating the fantasy leaderboard

Did a certain star save your season with a big game? Or were you sunk by injuries and underwhelming production? The spectrum of outcomes each week offers insight into the wins and losses we endure and the season still ahead.

Please join us in discussing the biggest performances and busts from Week 16. As always, feel free to share your picks for fantasy MVPs and busts at each position.

Fantasy QB MVP: Kirk Cousins Dominates En Route to Division Title

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The Washington Redskins' Kirk Cousins set career highs in completions, attempts and touchdowns on passes traveling more than 10 yards downfield Saturday, per an ESPN database. Cousins has completed almost 75 percent of deep passes (at least 10 yards downfield) over the past three games, this after completing less than half of them during the first 12 games.

For his awesomely productive Saturday night in South Philly, we deem Cousins the Week 16 QB MVP in fantasy football. 

It's also easy to like what Drew Brees and his New Orleans Saints did at home this week, as they drubbed the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Superdome. Brees posted 412 yards and three scores en route to the second-highest fantasy outing at the position. Brees nets the soft Falcons defense next, a group he hit for 312 passing yards in Week 6. 

On the losing end of the real battle, but with a winning fantasy output, the Jags' Blake Bortles is just one behind the New England Patriots' Tom Brady for the touchdown crown with 35 on the season now. That's just further proof we can wait on quarterback in fantasy drafts; it will be intriguing to see Bortles' draft price in the 2016 market. 

Did the New York Jets' Ryan Fitzpatrick's overtime-fueled fantasy feast lead you to glory? Or was it Matthew Stafford's sound stats against the San Francisco 49ers that buoyed your path to a fantasy title? Either way, we saw some sound performances from the borderline QB crew, while the upper crust actually proved quite disappointing, as we discuss next.

Fantasy QB Bust: Big Ben Offers a Small Box Score in Baltimore

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With imaginary glory on the line for so many fantasy investors, the Pittsburgh Steelers passing game was unimaginably bad in Baltimore on Sunday against the Ravens. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger earns the bust of the week given no scores and two interceptions in a game projected for huge performances from Roethlisberger and his wideouts. 

It wasn't just "Big Ben" who came up small, however, as a fairly brutal upper tier at the position unfolded in Week 16, as the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers tallied only 151 passing yards. 

An ESPN database finds Rodgers was pressured for half of his dropbacks in Week 16, the third-highest pressure rate he's endured this season. This means he's the only signal-caller in the league to have been pressured on at least half of his dropbacks in three games this year, per ESPN Stats & Information. 

Such persistent pressure will also put pressure on the front office to provide Rodgers with better protection, as these years of his prime should be considered precious. For those playing in Week 17, the Minnesota Vikings' aggressive (as in blitzing the A-gaps) and newly healthy defense offers another fade angle for Rodgers and this passing game.

Tom Brady of the New England Patriots tallied just one touchdown and a modest 231 passing yards and is ranked 21st in fantasy points among signal-callers in ESPN leagues this week. Home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs hasn't been clinched by the Patriots yet, giving Brady and his offense some life in Week 17 against a hapless Miami Dolphins defense.

Fantasy Football's Top Tailbacks for Week 16

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Tim Hightower's fantasy owners reported some second-half injuries after attempting to imitate his leaping touchdown celebration, as seen above. The New Orleans Saints tailback was out of the NFL for multiple years before getting the call to stand in for Mark Ingram, and now in Week 16, he's the fantasy MVP among tailbacks thanks to a brilliant multi-score outing in the Superdome. 

It's waiver-wire warriors like Hightower and the Arizona Cardinals' David Johnson—who also easily topped 100 total yards and posted a score in a conference win this week—who we see lead many managers to fantasy titles each winter.

Erosion is a part of the position, with this year proving quite erosive to the top tier at tailback, something that could swing the marketplace for 2016 toward wideouts in the first round.

The Pittsburgh Steelers' DeAngelo Williams had an absolutely brilliant season in place of LeVeon Bell, proving to be the most valuable handcuff in recent memory. It will be entirely intriguing to see if Bell earns some starts at the beginning of next season as Bell recovers from an ACL injury.

Even as understudy Jerick McKinnon scored more fantasy points, Adrian Peterson finally rewarded his investors in the fantasy playoffs as the Minnesota Vikings absolutely destroyed the New York Giants' soft defense in Week 16.

We'd call Frank Gore an ageless wonder, but it's more like an aged wonder, as he was able to produce an awesome fantasy outcome in Miami for the Indianapolis Colts. But with a largely lackluster and inefficient season, it's difficult to envision a feature role for him next season. If this is the end of Gore's run as a full-time feature, it was an awesome way to end his fantasy career.

Which back helped drive you to a title? 

Running Back Busts of Week 16 in Fantasy Football

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The New York Jets' emboldening win over the New England Patriots in Week 16 wasn't fueled by their power running game, as Chris Ivory tallied just 38 yards on the ground. Left with the minority snap and touch share to Bilal Powell in the Jets backfield, Ivory is our bust of the week given such lowly fantasy production. 

It wasn't that bad of a week among the starting crop of fantasy running backs, with arguably Cameron Artis-Payne of the Carolina Panthers leaving points on the field in Atlanta, but he's also an unproven rookie. 

The biggest trend of note from the Ivory-and-Powell scenario is the bullpen nature of backfields in the NFL these days. In baseball, we've seen a wave of one-out and handedness specialists enter the bullpen mix over the past few years, with such specialization part of coaching agenda to mine for matchups and in high-leverage situations. 

In football, we also are finding increased specialization in the backfield, with change-of-pace backs like Powell now serving at least half of meaningful snaps as the league trends no-huddle and pass-happy in so many scenarios.

The days of early-down bruisers like Ivory aren't over, it's just that the days of such players earning every-down exposure could be seriously fading. Just something to think about as we watch the 2016 fantasy football market develop. 

Wonderful Wideout: Brandon Marshall Is Amazing Again

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At this point, we not only consider the New York Jets' Brandon Marshall the top fantasy wideout in Week 16 thanks his multi-score outing, we find a strong angle for him as the overall MVP of fantasy football this season. 

Marshall has at least 67 yards or a touchdown in every game this season and has scored in all but one game since Week 9. As a mid-round pick in drafts this past summer, we'll now see Marshall vault into the second round in 2016. Congratulations to those who enjoyed the massive margins Marshall created this season. 

It's also easy to celebrate Julio Jones' big Week 16 outing, especially versus a stout defensive foe and in the biggest week of the fantasy campaign. The Atlanta Falcons superstar will be a top-five fantasy selection overall next season. 

Huge scoring hauls by Brandin Cooks of the New Orleans Saints or Allen Robinson of the Jacksonville Jaguars led to awesome fantasy results in a shootout in the Superdome. The peerless DeAndre Hopkins, meanwhile, joins the Falcons' Jones in the first round for next summer, as his elite output proved truly impervious to the caliber of quarterback he worked with in a given game.

Wideout Bust in Week 16: Randall Cobb's Suspect Season Continues

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We had to search for quite some time to find the above shot of Randall Cobb about to make a catch in Arizona in Week 16, as the Green Bay Packers wideout was held to just three hauls for 15 yards in another sorry second-page fantasy outing. You see, ESPN's fantasy leaderboard hosts pages of 50 players; for Cobb to be on the second page means he didn't even make the top 50, a sure sign of an awful fantasy outing. 

This lost season for Cobb is somewhat inexplicable. The fantasy industry projected major success as the team's top target sans Jordy Nelson, who was lost in the preseason to injury. Cobb's sorry stock this season, however, opens up real potential for a revival effort next season, with some profit potential in place for those willing to bank on a comeback campaign.

We know the Tampa Bay Bucs' Mike Evans left a lot of points and balls on the field this season with his league-worst drop issues, something that will need to reform for next season in order to reach his production potential.

The Pittsburgh Steelers passing game was unproductive in Baltimore this week, hurting those with heavy shares of Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant. This said, Brown is a good bet for the top overall pick in PPR formats in 2016, while Bryant has earned third-round status, we'd assume. 

The Top Fantasy Football Tight End in Week 16: Jordan Reed Rises

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The Washington Redskins' Jordan Reed had at least seven receptions in three straight outings, and during the team's three-game winning streak, signal-caller Kirk Cousins is 25-of-27 with five touchdowns targeting Reed.

Such awesome production has Reed as our fantasy MVP among tight ends, while he's poised as high-round pick next season, albeit with some real risks given his long injury history. 

The Philadelphia Eagles' Zach Ertz has enjoyed a strong finish to an otherwise lackluster final stretch for the team, as the Stanford product had at least 98 yards or a score in his final four games. We'd be wary, however, of projecting another breakout price point for Ertz next summer, as the Eagles' equal-opportunity offense rarely features their tight end so fully. The return of Sam Bradford, however, would be a boon given the rapport we've witnessed. 

The New England Patriots' Rob Gronkowski was held out of the end zone for the first time in two weeks, but again is poised as a first-round asset in 2016. 

As for the bust crop, Greg Olsen wasn't so great for fantasy investors, as the Carolina Panthers lost their first game. We can't really complain, though, as Olsen was brilliant all season.