It’s Championship Week! Give yourself a pat on the back if you’re still alive in the playoffs. Don’t rest on your laurels though, as one final test still remains. While recent major injuries (like those to Chris Godwin and Dalvin Cook) have complicated things for some owners, now isn’t the time to lose hope.
As the Falcons demonstrated in Week 15, every team has a chance to win on any given Sunday. All it might take is one high-impact pickup to push you to a championship. A.J. Brown would certainly have a high spot on our waiver wire rankings if he wasn’t already so heavily owned, but he’s far from the only impactful player you can add. Our featured pundits have the lowdown on which largely unowned athletes have the most league-winning potential as we enter Week 16.
Import your team to My Playbook for instant Waiver Wire advice 
Featured Experts:
Dan Harris – FantasyPros
Mike Tagliere – FantasyPros
Jon Collins – Fantasy Sports LR
Bobby Sylvester – FantasyPros
View These Expert’s Waiver Rankings
Dan Harris
Mike Tagliere
Jon Collins
Bobby Sylvester
Q1. May you please give us your thoughts on a waiver wire target (or two) you especially like as a pickup?
Mike Boone (RB – MIN)
“If you’re in need of a running back, Boone is obviously your top (and only) choice. With Dalvin Cook leaving early again with a shoulder injury and Alexander Mattison sidelined with an ankle injury, Boone stepped in wonderfully against the Chargers and would do so again against a beatable Green Bay run defense in Week 16 if given the chance. He’s perhaps the only league-winner available and, even though his role next week is entirely dependent on Cook’s and Mattison’s statuses, he’s the clear top target. If you need a receiver, Breshad Perriman would be my top choice given the depleted Bucs wide receiver group, but Anthony Miller is nearly an equally enticing option. Both could slip right into the starting lineup for any championship team.”
– Dan Harris (FantasyPros)
“I understand why people would want to say Perriman is the top pickup this week, but he will merely be a WR3 in everyone’s rankings. If both Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison are out, then Boone has such a great matchup, loads of talent, and is part of strong enough running scheme that he would legitimately be ranked among the top five running backs for the week. That upside alone makes him well worth the number one pickup in my mind.”
– Bobby Sylvester (FantasyPros)
Patrick Laird (RB – MIA)
“The fantasy community has had a little fun with Laird on Twitter and he seems like a standup guy. This week though, it’s time to move beyond the tongue-in-cheek and move toward the back-in-lineup approach. He’s had a minimum of 14 touches over the last three weeks and draws a Bengals team that just made Sony Michel look live again. The Bengals are yielding the sixth-highest FPPG to opposing backs and just allowed both Rex Burkhead and James White to find the endzone while also yielding more than 10 points to Sony Michel.”
– Jon Collins (Fantasy Sports LR)
Breshad Perriman (WR – TB)
“Perriman is the player everyone will be going to the waiver wire to add and rightfully so. He’s now seen at least six targets in each of the last three games and has delivered solid production. In a game against the Texans, he’ll serve as the No. 1 receiver for Jameis Winston, a role that typically nets 10-plus targets. With so many injuries to wide receivers around the league, he’s the most sought after. Anthony Miller and Chris Conley should be your next-best solutions if Perriman is unavailable.”
– Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros)
Q2. For owners renting a D/ST in Week 16, what readily available option (under 40%) should they target and why?
“The Colts’ defense has been putting up some solid numbers over the last month or so, including a six-sack game against the Titans and a three-interception game against the Bucs. Now they take on the Panthers, who will now be led by Will Grier instead of Kyle Allen. The whispers for the switch to the third-round rookie had been getting louder, though both quarterbacks are a plus for an opposing defense. On the year, the Panthers have given up the seventh-most points to the opposing DST, which includes 35 sacks over the last eight games (4.4 per game).”
– Mike Tagliere (FantasyPros)
“The Broncos’ D/ST facing a David Blough-led Detroit offense in Denver is my go-to option as a streamer. The Lions just turned the ball over three times and allowed a touchdown to the Bucs’ D/ST. They will now be traveling across the country. Denver’s defense hasn’t put up a ton of smash performances, but they have three sacks and at least one turnover in each of the last three games. The D/ST should be able to put up plenty of points in an excellent matchup.”
– Dan Harris (FantasyPros)
“We’ve seen more good than bad with Jameis Winston recently and he’s still probably worth firing up as a start this week, but there are very few capable receivers left in Tampa. The Texans average just over a takeaway a game and Winston has only had one game without a turnover this year. He’ll put up some points, but if you’re swinging for the fences in your championship this week, bet on the Texans grabbing a ball or two and hope that they can turn one into six.”
– Jon Collins (Fantasy Sports LR)
“Like most everyone else here, I believe Indy is the best D/ST streamer, but if you can’t get them, Denver makes plenty of sense as well. We saw David Blough turn Tampa Bay’s D/ST into one of the top units in Week 15, so we can certainly expect Detroit to do the same for Denver, who already has one of the top-10 defenses in the NFL.”
– Bobby Sylvester (FantasyPros)
Thank you to the experts for naming their top waiver targets. Be sure to give them a follow on Twitter if you’re not already doing so and check out our latest podcast below for more great advice.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | TuneIn | RSS
