Flex Options for Week 16 (Fantasy Football)

Congratulations if you’ve advanced to the semifinal round of playoffs—especially those of you who followed last week’s flex advice and managed to advance despite a pair of geese from Jaylen Waddle and Darnell Mooney and an early injury to Sincere “Disingenuous” McCormick. On the bright side, Jameson Williams managed to get into the end zone (more to come on that later), and Adam Thielen wasn’t an awful play, despite the pumpkin-ing of his quarterback Bryce Young. We’ll once again look to identify some fringe starting options who you can feel confident putting into your lineup this week and hope for a little better luck this time around. These players are all ranked outside the top 24 in the Fantasy Footballers’ rankings, but that doesn’t mean they can’t help you earn a spot in the championship in your leagues. Here are the names:

Tyrone Tracy Jr.

Tracy is coming off a down performance last week as the Giants got routed 35-14 by Baltimore. It falls in line with the trend for Tracy, as negative game scripts tend to limit his production considerably. It’s not that he can’t succeed in a losing game script, because the Giants always lose, but he needs the game to at least stay competitive in order to see enough work to produce for fantasy. Since taking over as the starter, his three worst games have come in games when New York loses by 21 points or more, as outlined in the table below. 

The Giants enter this week as 8.5-point underdogs against Atlanta, but I actually expect them to cover that spread with rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. making his first career start. He could even turn the ball over a couple of times, leaving New York with short fields. Tracy should see plenty of opportunities in this one, and I think he’s a good play for fantasy this week. 

Marvin Harrison Jr.

Frankly, I’d be a little surprised if you made it this far having burned your second-round pick on Marvin “Starvin” Harrison Jr. If you’ve managed to weather the storm, I think you can throw him back in your lineup this week. He’s been extremely boom or bust this year, but I think he could be sitting on one more boom performance against a Carolina defense that just got torched by Cooper Rush and CeeDee Lamb last week. The Cardinals have a respectable implied team total of 25.5 in this game, and they’re fighting for their playoff lives, sitting a game back of the Rams and Seahawks in the NFC West. Harrison Jr. has more upside than any other flex option in this range, so don’t try to get cute with your lineup this week. If you’ve got him, start him. 

DK Metcalf

You might need to contact a blacksmith for this one, which is wild when we’re talking about a talented player like Metcalf who’s seemingly in the prime of their career. Similar to Marvin Harrison Jr., I bet Metcalf’s roster percentage on teams still alive in the playoffs is relatively low, but I’d still start him over names like Jerry Jeudy, Darnell Mooney, and Keenan Allen. As bad as it’s been for Metcalf (zero finishes inside the top 30 since Week 7), I still think he’s got a better floor than waiver-wire options, especially this week against a Minnesota defense that’s actually been surprisingly soft against opposing wide receivers. They rank dead last against wide receivers for fantasy, allowing 6.5 points above expected to the position. You’ll need to make sure Geno Smith (ankle) is active before putting DK into your lineup, but I think he’s a fine flex play this week if his quarterback is healthy. 

Jayden Reed

So it turns out that the theme this week is to play the guys you drafted to start. Much like the rest of this list, it hasn’t been pretty for Reed as of late. He straight-up goosed against Detroit in Week 14, earning just one target in a shoot-out of a game, and then he posted a pedestrian 8.6 fantasy points in last week’s drubbing of Seattle. Josh Jacobs has been dominating the touches in Green Bay’s offense lately, resulting in a reduction of work for Reed, but if you’ve got the stomach, Reed can be inserted back into lineups this week in a game where Green Bay once again figures to score a lot of points. He’s got seven total touchdowns on the year, and he should have the second-best odds of getting into the end zone in this game behind Josh Jacobs. Flex him and hope he finds paydirt.  

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Jameson Williams

Here’s a player who actually hasn’t been struggling lately. He hasn’t exactly been lighting up the stat sheet either, but he’s got four finishes inside the top 31 at the position over the last five weeks. With David Montgomery on IR, the Lions could be forced to take to the air more than usual in this game with a nice 48-point over/under. The quintessential flex option wide receiver, Williams currently ranks as the WR31 in points per game at the wide receiver position. He’s made this list several times this year, and you can continue to lean on his services in your flex spot this week.