Biggest Championship Weekend Studs & Stinkers (Fantasy Football) – SPECIAL EDITION
With Week 16 mostly in the books, The Fantasy Footballers review and react to the Studs & Stinkers performances on the latest episode. Here, I highlight the best and worst fantasy finishes from Week 16. Note that all fantasy points are in the 0.5-point scoring format. To get the full breakdown of Week 16 performances, don’t miss Championship Studs & Stinkers + #FootClanTitles! (+ Week 17 Waivers)
Special Edition of Studs & Stinkers
Championship week weekend was electric! In this week’s special edition of Studs & Stinkers, I’ll discuss league winners and league losers.
I broke down Studs into the players that gave you the greatest advantage relative to others at their position. This was calculated by comparing player production versus the average top-12 performance across the skill positions (QB, RB, WR, & TE). By doing this, we can compare all skill position players on an even playing field. For example, Alvin Kamara was the RB4 overall on the week with 26 fantasy points. The top-12 running backs on the week averaged 23.9 fantasy points. Therefore, Kamara gave owners a positional advantage of 2.1 points.
Similarly, I broke down Stinkers into the players that gave you the largest disadvantage relative to others at their position. This was calculated by comparing player production versus the average production of players in their tier based on their weekly ranking. For example, Allen Robinson was ranked as a WR1 this week and only scored 8.3 fantasy points. The average production from the top-12 wide receivers this week was 20.2 points, which means Robinson had a positional disadvantage of -11.9 fantasy points. Conversely, D.K. Metcalf’s goose egg (0 pts) equates to a -13.1 point positional disadvantage because he was ranked as a WR2 (avg 13.1 pts). Therefore, Robinson hurt owners more than Metcalf because expectations were higher for Robinson.
For reference, here are the average points scored by position. The columns are broken down by top-12 finish, finish 13-24, and finish 25-36 for each skill position. This table illustrates the fantasy production landscape for Week 16 skill position players. Obviously the QB3 and TE3 columns carry little meaning…
[lptw_table id=”162539″ style=”default”]
REMINDER: This article considers Week 16 weekend games only, as it was published on 12/23/2019 before the Monday night game.
Hopefully you got that #FootClanTitle. Good luck tonight for fantasy owners with Vikings or Packers!
Biggest Studs – League Winners
The table below shows the players who gave fantasy owners the biggest advantage in Championship Weekend, in order.
[lptw_table id=”162540″ style=”default”]
Saquon Barkley, RB Giants
Week 16 at WAS: 22 rushes for 189 yards & 1 TD | 4 rec for 90 yards & 1 TD on 4 tgts
Upcoming Schedule: PHI
Saquon Barkley leads the list of league winners for the 2019 fantasy championship weekend! Saquon is one of the best players in the league, but he disappointed fantasy owners this year with injuries and inefficiencies at the running back position. If you survived until this weekend, you were probably rewarded with a #FootClanTitle.
Tyler Boyd, WR Bengals
Week 16 at MIA: 9 receptions for 128 yards and 2 TD on 15 targets
Upcoming Schedule: CLE
Tyler Boyd rewarded risky owners with the best fantasy performance of his career (29.3 points). Boyd was up and down throughout the season but he has been great since Dalton has been back (excluding Week 15 vs NE). The targets have always been there for Boyd (6th among WR on the season with 140), but his production has been lower than other WR who were top-12 in targets. Boyd will be a difficult player to project in 2020 with variables in QB and competition around him (A.J. Green may or may not return to Cincinnati). For now, enjoy the boom performance.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB Dolphins
Week 16 vs CIN: 31/52 for 419 passing yards, 4 TD, & 1 INT | 5 rushes for 9 yards
Upcoming Schedule: @NE
The bearded wonder delivered in the most important fantasy matchup of the year. Mike Wright called this back in November: “My body is ready for Ryan Fitzpatrick to be a league winning streamer”. For those taking the QB streamer approach, your hard work paid off with Fitzpatrick.
Getty Images / Mark Brown
Mark Andrews, TE Ravens
Week 16 at CLE: 6 receptions for 93 yards & 2 TD on 9 targets
Upcoming Schedule: PIT
Mark Andrews was a beast this year. He was one of the greatest values of any fantasy player this season, as he has been consistently excellent compared to other tight ends…and you probably drafted him in double digit rounds or grabbed him off the waiver wire. Mark Andrews was Editor-in-Chief Kyle Borgognoni’s #MyGuy this season and he was spot on.
Week 16 at TEN: 12 receptions for 136 yards & 1 TD on 17 targets
Upcoming Schedule: @CAR
Michael Thomas does Michael Thomas things. He broke the NFL’s single-season receptions record this weekend (145). Michael Thomas deserves to be in the fantasy MVP discussion. He scored below 12 fantasy points once this season. He scored over 20 points in seven of his last eight games. And he delivered at least 24 fantasy points every week during the fantasy playoffs (Week 14 – Week 16). The guy is a freak.
Biggest Stinkers – League Losers
The table below shows the players who gave fantasy owners the largest disadvantage in Championship Weekend, in order.
[lptw_table id=”162541″ style=”default”]
If you had one of the above players, I feel for you. Every seasoned fantasy player has experienced a heart-breaking loss. If this is your first time with a gut-wrenching loss, just know that it is a right of passage. I won’t go into detail on the above players…But I will say that you got unlucky – there’s no doubt about that. Unfortunately, this is what makes fantasy so addicting – the high highs and the low lows. I believe that fantasy is broken down by 34% luck, 33% draft success, and 33% in-season moves. Better luck next year, and don’t forget to tune in to The Fantasy Footballers Podcast throughout the offseason to fine-tune your skills and get an advantage over your league mates.
Other Championship Week Studs
QB
- Daniel Jones @WAS — 28/42 for 352/5/0 — 3/12/0 rushing
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- PHI
- Andy Dalton @MIA — 33/56 for 396/4/0 — 1 fumble lost
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- CLE
- Ryan Fitzpatrick vs CIN — 31/52 for 419/4/1 — 5/9/0 rushing
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- @NE
- Lamar Jackson @CLE — 20/31 for 238/3/0 — 17/103/0 rushing — 1 fumble lost
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- PIT
- Patrick Mahomes @CHI — 23/33 for 251/2/0 — 2/14/1 rushing
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- LAC
- Ryan Tannehill vs NO — 17/27 for 272/3/0 — 1/8/0 rushing
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- @HOU
- Drew Brees @TEN — 27/38 for 279/3/0 — 3/-3/0 rushing
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- @CAR
RB
- Saquon Barkley @WAS — 22/189/1 — 4/90/1 on 4 targets
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- PHI
- Kenyan Drake @SEA — 24/166/2 — 3/18/0 on 4 targets
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- @LAR
- Devonta Freeman vs JAX — 13/53/1 — 9/74/1 on 11 targets
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- @TB
- Alvin Kamara @TEN — 11/80/2 — 6/30/0 on 7 targets
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- @CAR
- Christian McCaffrey @IND — 13/54/0 — 15/119/0 on 15 targets
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- NO
- Miles Sanders vs DAL — 20/79/1 — 5/77/0 on 6 targets
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- @NYG
WR
- Steven Sims Jr. vs NYG — 6/64/2 on 10 targets
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- @DAL
- Hunter Renfrow @LAC — 7/107/1 on 9 targets
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- @DEN
- Julio Jones vs JAX — 10/166/0 on 15 targets
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- @TB
- Tajae Sharpe vs NO — 5/69/2 on 6 targets
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- @HOU
- A.J. Brown vs NO — 1/34/0 on 2 targets — 49-yard rushing TD
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- @HOU
- DeVante Parker vs CIN — 5/111/1 on 15 targets
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- @NE
TE
- Jared Cook @TEN — 3/84/2 on 4 targets
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- @CAR
- Mike Gesicki vs CIN — 6/82/2 on 12 targets
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- @NE
- Dallas Goedert vs DAL — 9/91/1 on 12 targets
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- @NYG
- Kaden Smith @WAS — 6/35/2 on 8 targets
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- PHI
- Travis Kelce @CHI — 8/74/1 on 9 targets
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- LAC
- George Kittle vs LAR — 5/79/1 on 8 targets
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- @SEA
Other Championship Week Stinkers
QB
- Deshaun Watson @TB — 19/32 for 184/0/1 — 7/37/0 rushing
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- TEN
- Russell Wilson vs ARI — 16/31 for 169/1/0 — 2/2/0 rushing
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- SF
- Dak Prescott @PHI — 25/44 for 265/0/0 — 1/7/0 rushing
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- WAS
- Jameis Winston vs HOU — 25/48 for 335/1/4 — 2/16/0 rushing
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- ATL
RB
- Nick Chubb vs BAL — 15/45/0 — zero catches on 1 target
- Kareem Hunt vs BAL — 3/0/0 — 4/33/0 on 4 targets
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- @CIN
- James White vs BUF — 3/5/0 for 4/24/0 on 5 targets
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- MIA
- Devin Singletary @NE — 15/46/0 — 1/2/0 on 1 target
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- NYJ
- Austin Ekeler vs OAK — 4/11/0 — 5/58/0 on 6 targets
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- @KC
- Joe Mixon @MIA — 21/50/0 — 2/23/0 on 2 targets
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- CLE
- David Montgomery vs KC — 13/57/0 — 1/2/0 on 1 target
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- @MIN
WR
- Tyler Lockett vs ARI — 1/12/0 on 8 targets
- D.K. Metcalf — GOOSE on 1 target
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- SF
- DeAndre Hopkins @TB — 5/23/0 on 9 targets
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- TEN
- Amari Cooper @PHI — 4/24/0 on 12 targets
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- WAS
- Courtland Sutton vs DET — 5/41/0 on 10 targets
- OAK
- T.Y. Hilton vs CAR — 3/26/0 on 4 targets
- Zach Pascal vs CAR — 1/6/0 on 3 targets
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- @JAX
- JuJu Smith-Schuster @NYJ — 2/22/0 on 4 targets
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- @BAL
- D.J. Chark @ATL — 2/18/0 on 7 targets
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- IND
- Marquise Brown @CLE — 1/6/0 on 2 targets
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- PIT
- Tyreek Hill @CHI — 5/72/0 on 5 targets
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- LAC
- Allen Robinson vs KC — 6/53/0 on 12 targets
- Anthony Miller vs KC — 1/2/0 on 2 targets
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- @MIN
- Keenan Allen vs OAK — 5/71/0 on 10 targets — 1/-5/0 rushing
- Mike Williams vs OAK — 3/51/0 on 4 targets
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- @KC
- Christian Kirk – 0/0/0 on 5 targets — 2/9/0 rushing
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- @LAR
- Darius Slayton – GOOSE on 2 targets
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- PHI
TE
- Darren Waller @LAC — 4/37/0 on 4 targets
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- @DEN
- Hunter Henry vs OAK — 5/45/0 on 7 targets
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- @KC
- Greg Olsen @IND — 2/33/0 on 5 targets
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- NO