Welcome to the Monday edition of the Daily Dose newsletter, our “Fantasy Fallout” day. In this article, you will get a quick rundown of the relevant things we learned from the week’s games from Thursday through Sunday. 

We won’t talk about every single player and we usually won’t spend time on studs who go nuts (no one needs to be told to start Saquon Barkley right now!), but rather, the idea is to update you on usage trends, injuries, and other relevant things to help your decisions with your teams.

Rams at 49ers

• A week after winning the highest-scoring game of the season, the Rams squeaked out a 12-6 victory in the only game of 2024 without a touchdown.
• Kyren Williams completely dominated the backfield, turning 31 touches into 112 total yards. Blake Corum only saw three carries to go along with two receptions and remains strictly a handcuff.
• Puka Nacua led the team in receiving yards for the sixth straight game. He has 97 or more yards in six of the last eight games and should continue to be started no matter the matchup. 
• Isaac Guerendo turned 20 touches into 75 total yards. In what appears to be a lost season for the 49ers, I would expect the rookie RB to continue to see extensive usage. 

Commanders at Saints

These are the top players to consider adding from waivers as we head into the fantasy playoff semi-finals this week. Unless otherwise noted, all players below are available in greater than 50% of Yahoo leagues (as of Sunday evening).

QB Streamer of the Week

Drake Maye, NE, Week 16 at BUF

• Last week, Maye completed over 80% of his passes, passed for a TD, and ran in another. He’s accounted for at least one TD in each of his nine career starts and has added a useful 359/2 rushing line this season, providing a reasonable floor for his weekly fantasy production.
• Low-priority add. I’m optimistic that most managers, even those who regularly stream QBs, will have already made arrangements at the position for their semi-final matchups. If not, Maye is my favorite of the widely available QB options. I think he has a chance for an uptick in passing volume while playing on the road as a two-TD underdog this week and makes for an interesting streamer.
• 5% or less of FAAB.

RB Pickups

At this point in the season, most trade deadlines have passed so the “Buy Low, Sell High” article no longer makes sense! In its place, on Wednesdays we will give you a quick summary of each game’s important information to know and pay attention to as you get ready for your lineup decisions in these key weeks to end the season and into the playoffs.

Broncos @ Chargers

• Spread/Total: LAC -3, 42
• Weather: Dome
• Key Injuries to Monitor:
  • Chargers WR Quentin Johnston and TE Will Dissly missed practice to start the week. WR Joshua Palmer would see increased work if Johnston misses the game, while TE Stone Smartt would get another start if Dissly misses again.
  • Broncos RB Jaleel McLaughlin picked up a quad injury in Week 15. If he were to miss, Javonte Williams would have a bigger role and take all the passing down work.
• Matchup Notes:
  • This is the second meeting between these teams, with the Chargers winning the first one, 23-16.
  • The Chargers’ offense has been unable to run the ball since J.K. Dobbins went down with a knee injury, while the Broncos have one of the best secondaries in the league.

Texans @ Chiefs

This article is intended to highlight some players who may have a positive or negative weekly outlook relative to their baseline value. 

“Starts” are players who might generally be on fantasy benches but might have a terrific perceived matchup or game script/environment, or the potential for an expanded role.

“Fades” are players who were likely drafted as fantasy starters or have performed as automatic starters recently, but face a particularly tough week due to a poor matchup or a lack of short-term role clarity due to an injury, etc. 

Here are a few of my notable starts and fades for Week 16 of the 2024 NFL season, with some notes on my thought process included:

QB

Start: Drake Maye, NEP (at BUF)

• As noted in Mike’s “First Look” yesterday, Maye has at least 18 fantasy points in six of his nine starts. He’s accounted for at least one TD in every career start and shown a solid floor for a rookie QB while playing with a fairly anonymous supporting cast on offense.
• The Pats head to Buffalo this week to take on MVP favorite Josh Allen and a Bills team that has tied an NFL record, scoring 30+ points in eight straight games. The Bills are two-touchdown favorites in a game with an implied point total of 46.5. The 11-3 Bills play from ahead often, and their opponents attempt over 34 passes per game against them, the seventh most in the league.
• Maye gets his first career shot at the class of the AFC East in Allen and the Bills this week as a huge road underdog. If you’re in a semi-final matchup with a pocket-passing QB who is banged up or in a challenging matchup, I like Maye as a streamer who can provide a nice spot start.

Fade: Justin Herbert, LAC (vs DEN)

Some things in fantasy football are easy. We know we should start Ja’Marr Chase and Saquon Barkley. We know we should bench the backup running back who is only on our roster in case of injury. A lot of the decisions are made for us. However, there are a lot of things that are not so simple. All of the “in between” situations are what can make the difference between a few wins and losses, and therefore it can be the difference between a successful season or a failed season. Every Friday, we are here to help!!

I’ll take questions each week in our #fantasy-football channel in our Discord from people looking for Start/Sit advice and give my thoughts. This article on Fridays will feature a few of those questions and responses, so join our Discord to be a part of the conversation or ask questions of your own!!

Question 1:: I’m favored to win by 10-12, so thinking that aiming for a high floor may be best. Need 1:: Anthony Richardson, C.J. Stroud, Matthew Stafford, Drake Maye (Frankiet28_scards)

Answer:: I would roll with Anthony Richardson here. Stroud faces a tough Chiefs defense, Stafford is solid but doesn’t add anything on the ground, and Maye’s team may lose by 20+. Richardson has been up and down as a real-life QB, but barring injury, is a pretty safe bet for 15+ points weekly in a solid matchup like this.

Question 2:: Hey Mike! PPR, I need 3 flex players out of: Marvin Harrion Jr., Brian Thomas Jr., D’Andre Swift, Jerome Ford, and Deebo Samuel. 

I currently have BTJ, Ford, and MHJ in the starting spots – really have no idea what to do with Deebo at this point. (GhostfaceJami)

The weekend is here and it’s time to get our lineups set before Sunday’s full slate of games. Each week, the Saturday edition of the Daily Dose will feature my rankings for all players who have yet to play a game this week. Obviously this will not include the Thursday games, but feel free to hit me up in Discord if you have some tough decisions around guys who play on Thursday. 

Most of the leagues I play in are full-PPR, 12-team leagues and these rankings are designed for those settings – you may need to make some slight adjustments based on your own league settings.

QB :: 

1. Josh Allen
2. Lamar Jackson
3. Jalen Hurts
4. Joe Burrow
5. Jayden Daniels
6. Baker Mayfield
7. Sam Darnold
8. Kyler Murray
9. Anthony Richardson
10. Patrick Mahomes
11. Brock Purdy
12. C.J. Stroud
13. Jordan Love
14. Jared Goff
15. Geno Smith
16. Caleb Williams
17. Matthew Stafford
18. Tua Tagovailoa
19. Michael Penix Jr.
20. Matthew Stafford
21. Aaron Rodgers
22. Cooper Rush
23. Drake Maye
24. Aidan O’Connell
25. Mac Jones

RB :: 

The theme of this article is, “Work smarter, not harder.” Every week we will give you the top Waiver Adds in our Tuesday article. However, you can make things a lot easier and less stressful by getting ahead of things with some players and situations. Doing so in a smart way can help you save FAAB or preserve high waiver priority in your league. 

Every Sunday I will give you a few players who stand out to me as great potential additions that can give you a leg up on your league mates. Look to add these players if you have players you are willing to drop, who get late-week injuries, or who are ruled out of their games and allow you to move them to an IR spot once they are officially inactive on Sunday morning.

Michael Penix Jr., QB, ATL

• Penix is the great unknown and people are always slow to jump on those spots in fantasy, especially at the QB position. But with his draft pedigree, arm talent, and weapons, he could easily smash the Giants in Week 16 and be a top waiver add for Week 17’s championship-round matchup with the Commanders.

BACKUP RBs