Fantasy Football Week 16 Rankings: Targets for This Week's Injured Stars

If you're still alive for Week 16, congratulations—you made something of the 2018 fantasy football season.

But we have some less-than-ideal news for you. The injury report looks more like a minefield, capable ofturning matchups at the whim of the injury bug.

We know that Cam Newton, Carson Wentz, Odell Beckham Jr., James Conner and Tyler Boyd aren't playing. We aren't as sure about Julio Jones, DeAndre Hopkins, Todd Gurley or JuJu Smith-Schuster, who will all take the questionable tag into the gameweek.

Just like in the real world, though, it's next man up. After giving our top-10 rankings at the skill positions, we'll spotlight a waiver-wire target—available in at least 50 percent of Yahoo Sports leagues—at every spot.

Quarterbacks

1. Patrick Mahomes, KC (at SEA)

2. Drew Brees, NO (vs. PIT)

3. Ben Roethlisberger, PIT (at NO)

4. Deshaun Watson, HOU (at PHI)

5. Andrew Luck, IND (vs. NYG)

6. Russell Wilson, SEA (vs. KC)

7. Baker Mayfield, CLE (vs. CIN)

8. Dak Prescott, DAL (vs. TB)

9. Aaron Rodgers, GB (at NYJ)

10. Matt Ryan, ATL (at CAR)

Waiver-Wire Target: Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (27 Percent Owned)

Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

Accurate passing is overrated. At least for quarterbacks who can run like Josh Allen, that is.

"It's not always pretty, but over the past four weeks, the No. 1 QB in fantasy is...Josh Allen," ESPN.com's Matthew Berry wrote. "He has at least 99 rushing yards or a rushing TD in each of those games."

Allen has completed just 50 percent of his passes in three of his past four games—54.5 percent in the other—but he has cleared 200 yards through the air in each of the past three. That doesn't sound like much in today's pass-happy game, but it's sufficient when paired with his rushing stats.

It's admittedly nerve-racking to recommend an inconsistent rookie passer against Bill Belichick, but the stat sheet says this isn't a scary matchup. New England has allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks, ranking among the bottom half in both rushing (17th) and passing (23rd) yards against.

Running Backs

1. Todd Gurley, LAR (at ARI)

2. Christian McCaffrey, CAR (vs. ATL)

3. Ezekiel Elliott, DAL (vs. TB)

4. Saquon Barkley, NYG (at IND)

5. Melvin Gordon, LAC (vs. BAL)

6. Nick Chubb, CLE (vs. CIN)

7. Alvin Kamara, NO (vs. PIT)

8. Marlon Mack, IND (vs. NYG)

9. Dalvin Cook, MIN (at DET)

10. Joe Mixon, CIN (at CLE)

Waiver-Wire Target: Kalen Ballage, Miami Dolphins (35 Percent Owned)

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Recommending Kalen Ballage for championship week might be unusual, especially against a stingy Jacksonville Jaguars defense. The rookie out of Arizona State had all of eight carries and five receptions to show for the first 14 weeks of the season.

But after Frank Gore exited on Sunday, it was Ballage—not Kenyan Drake—who handled the lion's share of the running back duties. Ballage out-touched Drake 13-4 and outgained him from scrimmage 121-34, an advantage highlighted by a 75-yard touchdown run to open the second half.

With Gore done for the year, it looks like Ballage might be Miami's feature back for the final stretch. He seems to have a big fan in head coach Adam Gase.

"That long run he had, that's how he runs every day" Gase told reporters. "That's how he finishes every day. There's a reason why he's able to do that and was confident to just gas it and run by everybody because every day in practice, we watch the same thing. When he gets a carry with the offense, he finishes in the end zone."

Wide Receivers

1. Julio Jones, ATL (at CAR)

2. DeAndre Hopkins, HOU (at PHI)

3. Davante Adams, GB (at NYJ)

4. Antonio Brown, PIT (at NO)

5. Michael Thomas, NO (vs. PIT)

6. Keenan Allen, LAC (vs. BAL)

7. Tyreek Hill, KC (at SEA)

8. JuJu Smith-Schuster, PIT (at NO)

9. Amari Cooper, DAL (vs. TB)

10. T.Y. Hilton, IND (vs. NYG)

Waiver-Wire Target: Robert Foster, Buffalo Bills (31 Percent Owned)

Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

OK, now we're just getting weird. Two rookie recommendations against New England?

But production is production, people, and Robert Foster is one of the hottest receivers in football.

He's not a volume play by any stretch. Following his promotion from the practice squad in Week 10, Foster has averaged just 3.4 receptions on 4.6 targets in the five games since. But he tallied between 104 and 108 yards in three of them. He had 94 yards and a score in an another.

Feel free to wager on this hot stretch continuing because New England's pass defense is beatable. Yes, even by a freshman duo from Buffalo.

Tight Ends

1. Travis Kelce, KC (at SEA)

2. Zach Ertz, PHI (vs. HOU)

3. George Kittle, SF (vs. CHI)

4. Eric Ebron, IND (vs. NYG)

5. Jared Cook, OAK (vs. DEN)

6. Rob Gronkowski, NE (vs. BUF)

7. Jimmy Graham, GB (at NYJ)

8. Austin Hooper, ATL (at CAR)

9. Evan Engram, NYG (at IND)

10. David Njoku, CLE (vs. CIN)

Waiver-Wire Target: Chris Herndon, New York Jets (13 Percent Owned)

Mark Brown/Getty Images

This position's sub-50 percent-ownership group offers little in the way of volume, so why not gamble on an occasional big hitter?

Chris Herndon rarely catches a lot of passes and doesn't always have many come in his direction. But when he is involved, he does enough with his receptions to give him streaming consideration if you're in a bind.

"He has had a 20-plus yard reception in five of his past six games," Alvin Zeidenfeld noted for ESPN.com. "He also currently has the sixth-highest TE yards-per-target average."

Don't expect too much from Herndon, but he has had three games with a touchdown and four with 50-plus receiving yards. He could do either Sunday.

Statistics used courtesy of NFL.com and ESPN.com. Fantasy scoring obtained via Yahoo Sports.