Fantasy Football Week 16 Cheat Sheet: Deep Sleepers for Fantasy Playoffs

Championship dreams are now within reach.

In many fantasy leagues, Week 16 gives many fantasy players to earn their championship. It comes after tons of hard work by fantasy owners who have tooled and retooled rosters throughout the season.

Many fantasy owners will look at their rosters and realize they look almost nothing like the ones that they drafted in August. 

That's what it takes to make it to the fantasy playoffs and championship game. Standing pat is the fastest route to disaster, especially in this year of the big injury.

There's no standing on ceremony, even in championship week. There are moves to be made to strengthen rosters.

For our purposes, we are looking for a deep sleeper or two that can upgrade a team's chances of winning. A deep sleeper is defined as a player who has less than 50 percent ownership in Yahoo fantasy leagues.

Deep Sleepers

(Parenthetical numbers indicates percentage owned) 

• QB Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills (38 percent)
• QB Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers (30 percent)
• QB Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears (6 percent)
• RB Tarik Cohen, Chicago Bears (45 percent)
• RB Danny Woodhead, Baltimore Ravens (39 percent)
• RB Javorius Allen, Baltimore Ravens (16 percent)
• WR Corey Coleman, Cleveland Browns (28 percent)
• WR Travis Benjamin, Los Angeles Chargers (14 percent)
• WR Will Fuller, Houston Texans (41 percent)
• TE Vernon Davis, Washington Redskins (49 percent)
• TE Garrett Celek, San Francisco 49ers (2 percent)

QB Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears

The Bears have double-digit losses once again, and it's another disappointing year for head coach John Fox, who is likely coaching the final two games of his run in Chicago.

While the Bears struggle, the team has been playing hard to stay in games. This tells fantasy owners that a couple of Chicago players could give them a fighting chance this week, especially since the Bears are hosting the winless Cleveland Browns.

We expect Trubisky to have his best game against the Browns. The Bears have been an improved defensive team this year, and we expect defensive end Akiem Hicks and his teammates to force several turnovers out of Cleveland quarterback DeShone Kizer. That will give Trubisky plenty of opportunities to move the ball and score.

Trubisky is starting to get more comfortable as the Bears' leader, and he has made 10 starts since taking over for Mike Glennon. Trubisky has completed 162 of 271 passes for 1,822 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. 

Trubisky threw for 314 yards and one touchdown in the Week 15 loss at Detroit, and he put the ball in the air 46 times. Look for Trubisky to exceed the 300-yard mark again this week and throw at least two TD passes for the first time in his NFL career.

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

RB Javorius Allen, Baltimore Ravens

Allen is a workmanlike back who has been contributing for the Ravens, and he figures to have a productive game Saturday as the Ravens host the Indianapolis Colts.

Allen has been getting the job done as a runner and a receiver. He has 140 carries for 517 yards with four touchdowns. While Allen is not a breakaway threat, he is not going down after the first hit. Allen has also caught 45 passes for 240 yards and two TDs.

Allen is coming off one of his more productive games as he had 13 carries for 70 yards in Week 15 against Cleveland. Head coach John Harbaugh let Allen have the final 10 carries in the game once the Ravens had a comfortable lead in their 27-10 victory. Since the Ravens are going up against an Indianapolis team that is not likely to stay in the game, look for Allen to take on a similar role this week.

Alex Gallardo/Associated Press

WR Travis Benjamin, Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers lost a vital game against the Kansas City Chiefs that would have put them in first place last week, but all is not lost for Los Angeles.

If the 7-7 Chargers can beat the New York Jets Sunday and the Oakland Raiders in the season finale, they will have a decent chance of reaching the playoffs. The Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills are both one game ahead of the Chargers, but both have difficult closing schedules and it may be difficult for either team to win one of their remaining games.

The Chargers cannot relax and Benjamin could figure prominently in the offensive game plan. Keenan Allen had to leave the game against the Chiefs with a back injury, and while he is expected to play against New York, the Chargers could try to spread the ball around.

Benjamin has caught 30 passes for 471 yards and three touchdowns, and eight of his receptions have been for 20 yards or more. 

Benjamin's top receiving game this year saw him catch five passes for 105 yards, and we see him approaching those figures against the Jets.

TE Garrett Celek, San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers are a different team since Jimmy Garoppolo became the starting quarterback. Jimmy G has led the Niners to three consecutive victories, and he is spreading the ball around quite a bit.

Celek has caught 20 passes for 308 yards and four touchdowns, with five receptions of 20 yards or more. Celek has been much more involved in the offense with Garoppolo at quarterback as he caught two passes for 67 yards and a touchdown in Week 14 against the Houston Texans and three passes for 63 yards and a TD against the Tennessee Titans.

The Niners host a defensively powerful Jacksonville Jaguars team, but we expect Celek to continue to contribute.