This is it for many, the fantasy football championship. As is the case every week of the NFL season, several players carry questionable injury designations into the weekend. One such player on Saturday’s slate is Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. While he’ll be considered by some fantasy managers, his presence will also impact the projections for those around him. So, we ask, is Matthew Stafford playing in Week 16?
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Is Matthew Stafford Playing in Week 16?
Lions QB Matthew Stafford (ribs, thumb) is officially active for Week 16 against the Bucs. (Kyle Meinke on Twitter)
Fantasy Impact:
Stafford was once again listed as questionable entering this one but he was always expected to play. He’ll once again be without Kenny Golladay, which certainly lowers his fantasy ceiling, but the veteran gunslinger has a good matchup against Tampa Bay. Fantasy managers should consider him a QB2 for Week 16.
Related News
- Matthew Stafford (ribs) not expected to be shut down this season
- Matthew Stafford guts out middling performance in Week 15 blowout loss
- Matthew Stafford (ribs) officially active for Week 15
Matthew Stafford’s Week 16 Projections
What the Experts are Saying
It was miraculous that Stafford was able to play last week, as it seemed like he’d miss the game due to his rib cartilage injury. With the Lions mathematically eliminated from the playoff race, we should be prepared for the Lions to sit Stafford the remaining two games. There’s this misconception that the Bucs are a team you want to avoid with quarterbacks, but it’s quite the opposite. You’d have to go all the way back to Week 6 to find the last quarterback who’s finished outside the top-16 against them. You see, teams have had no success moving the ball on the ground, and it’s led to them scoring fantasy points on strictly volume. Teams have thrown the ball 64.9 percent of the time (2nd-most) and accumulating the third-most pass attempts per game (38.6) because of it. Quarterbacks have also been able to complete 69.4 percent of their passes against them, too, which ranks as the fifth-highest number in the league. The biggest strength with the Bucs defense is the pressure they bring (rank third in average pressure rate), but that hasn’t affected Stafford too much, as he’s posted a 95.7 QB Rating while under pressure this year, which ranks second behind only Justin Herbert (who crushed this defense for 290 yards and three touchdowns). The issue is Stafford himself, as he can be knocked out of the game with one big hit. Because of that, he must remain in the middling QB2 territory, but if he were healthy, he’d be a solid streaming option. If Stafford sits, Daniel is not someone you’d want to stream and it would downgrade all of the Lions offensive weapons.
– Mike Tagliere
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