Top 5 Fantasy Football Takeaways: Surprises & Disappointments

A lead running back emerged from a two-back committee. Additionally, a rookie quarterback had another stellar game in Week 16, putting him in the streamer mix in a plus matchup in Week 17. On the negative side of the ledger, two offenses have become toxic for fantasy purposes, and an efficient tight end can’t be trusted anymore.

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Top 5 Fantasy Football Takeaways

Let’s dive into the biggest takeaways from Week 16.

Fantasy Football Week 16 Surprises

Omarion Hampton is the Lead Running Back for the Chargers

Omarion Hampton rumbled for 85 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, and he secured one of two targets for 10 yards against the Cowboys. Gamers who used him should be satisfied with 95 scrimmage yards and a touchdown. Furthermore, Hampton’s underlying data was nice.

Kimani Vidal had five carries, and Hassan Haskins had four. Thus, Hampton’s carries were 64% of the backfield’s, but Haskins had the game’s final three carries in the 34-17 win. Haskins almost certainly wouldn’t have gotten those opportunities in a more competitive contest. Additionally, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Hampton’s 35 snaps and 13 routes paced the backfield, followed by Vidal’s 21 and 11 and Haskins’ six and zero. The Chargers play the Texans in Week 17. It’s not an optimal matchup, but Hampton is in the RB2 mix with his backfield role and efficiency.

Tyler Shough is Balling

Tyler Shough completed 32-of-49 pass attempts for 308 yards and a touchdown, and he added two rushes for eight yards against the Jets. He logged 17.1 fantasy points on Sunday, his fourth straight game of at least 17 fantasy points and fifth in his last six contests.

Shough is playing at a low-end fantasy QB1 level lately. He has a golden opportunity for another useful fantasy showing in Week 17. The Titans had allowed the eighth-most fantasy points per game (20.3) to quarterbacks entering Week 16, and their strong showing against the Chiefs must be taken with a grain of salt since Patrick Mahomes was out with a torn ACL. Additionally, from Week 11 through Week 15, Tennessee had permitted the second-most fantasy points per game (23.4) to signal-callers. Shough is firmly in the low-end QB1 mix in Week 17 against the Titans in Tennessee. Shough’s excellence lately is also a boon for Chris Olave‘s fantasy value, and it thrusts Juwan Johnson into the low-end TE1 mix.

Fantasy Football Week 16 Disappointments

Kansas City is Cooked

Things were already looking bleak for Kansas City’s skill-position players after Mahomes tore his ACL in Week 15. However, it’s feared that Gardner Minshew also tore his ACL.

Chiefs are concerned that QB Gardner Minshew tore his ACL, as @mattderrick also reported. There will be additional tests but Minshew could be the second Chiefs’ quarterback in two games to tear his ACL. pic.twitter.com/vDVoxOTGKb

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 21, 2025

Chris Oladokun relieved Minshew on Sunday. He was a seventh-round pick of the Steelers in the 2022 NFL Draft out of South Dakota State. He completed 11-of-16 passes for 111 scoreless yards but took four sacks. Even if Rashee Rice returns from a one-week absence while in the NFL’s concussion protocol, he’s not a no-brainer fantasy starter against the Broncos. In fact, Rice is likely a low-end Flex at best, and Travis Kelce is also a non-option after securing one reception for six scoreless yards on four targets. The Chiefs offer no fantasy options to gamers in Week 17.

The Packers are Putrid

Jordan Love played 26 offensive snaps on Saturday night before leaving the loss against the Bears with a concussion. Malik Willis relieved him. Willis played admirably, completing 9-of-11 pass attempts for 121 yards and a touchdown. He took two sacks and didn’t turn the ball over.

Unfortunately, Willis isn’t as talented a passer as Love, who will need to clear the NFL’s concussion protocol to play in Week 17. Additionally, Willis got nicked up in the game. Willis hurt his throwing shoulder, which could impact his accuracy if he’s forced to start at less than 100%.

Still, even if Love returns from his concussion to face the Ravens, it’s difficult to trust any of Green Bay’s skill-position players. According to the Fantasy Points data suite, Jayden Reed led Green Bay in route participation rate at 83.9%, but he had only 14 air yards, a 12.5% target share, 0.12 targets per route run (TPRR), three targets, three receptions, and 35 scoreless receiving yards.

Christian Watson had a 67.7% route participation rate, followed by Romeo Doubs‘ 54.8%, Dontayvion Wicks‘ 35.5% and Matthew Golden‘s 25.8% among wideouts. It’s an unpalatable wide receiver rotation.

Josh Jacobs is tough as nails, and he played through his knee injury. Sadly, he was ineffective, toting the rock 12 times for 36 scoreless yards. Emanuel Wilson had team highs for rush attempts (14) and rushing yards (82). Jacobs and Wilson were also joined in the backfield mix by Chris Brooks, who led the position group in route participation rate (32.3%). Gamers who survived Week 16 with Jacobs’ dud might not have a choice but to start him if he doesn’t suffer a setback with his knee this week, but it’s no longer a no-brainer call after watching Wilson outplay him and three backs used in Week 16.

Dalton Kincaid is Unusable

Dalton Kincaid hasn’t been a full-time player at any point this year. Instead, he’s rotated with Dawson Knox and Jackson Hawes. Kincaid made the situation work through elite efficiency.

Unfortunately, he’s working through a knee injury, and his playing time has diminished to the point of being unusable. Kincaid was out in Week 13 with a hamstring injury, and he appeared on the injury report in Week 14 with the hamstring issue and a knee injury. He was spotted sporting a brace on the knee in practice that week and had only a 41.7% route participation rate in Week 14. The third-year pro overcame the lack of route participation by securing four receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown in a shootout against the Bengals.

In another shootout against the Patriots in Week 15, Kincaid’s route participation slipped to 42.4%, and he had an underwhelming three receptions for 34 scoreless yards. Kincaid ran only 12 routes out of a possible 23 (52.2%) against the Browns and had zero receptions on one target.

Kincaid is a touchdown-or-bust tight end and has a brutal matchup in Week 17. In fact, the Eagles entered Week 16 as the toughest fantasy matchup for tight ends, permitting only 6.7 half-point per reception (half-PPR) points per game to them. Kincaid can’t be trusted in Week 17 after posting a bagel in Week 16.

Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.