Fantasy Football Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em: Week 16 Predictions

With Christmas falling on a Sunday, fantasy football championship week is going to have a decidedly different feel this year. While Week 16 kicks off with the typical Thursday night game, there will be 12 games on Saturday, just two on Christmas day, then back to normal with "Monday Night Football" to conclude the week. Ultimately, the altered schedule shouldn't have a major impact on how you fill out your lineup, but it's still going to feel a little weird watching championships play out on Saturday. Either way, I'm here to help. Whether you're looking to take home a season-long championship, or you're looking for daily fantasy football sleepers and fades, you can click through the gallery for some of my favorite under-the-radar players to start, as well as potential busts to leave on the bench during the most important week of the year. You can also read here for more fantasy analysis and strategy. (Getty)

Start: Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

Opponent: at Cleveland Browns

With a championship likely on the line, the idea of starting Rivers, who has committed 13 turnovers over his past five games, is obviously a little unnerving. Still, he has thrown for multiple passing touchdowns in seven straight, while the Browns are 30th in the NFL in yards per pass allowed and have allowed multiple passing touchdowns in all but three games this season. Rivers has been a frustrating roller-coaster ride this season, but this is the perfect spot for him to reward owners who have stayed with him. (Getty)

Sit: Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Opponent: vs. Detroit Lions

Over the last four games, here are Prescott's weekly QB finishes (Yahoo standard scoring): 8th, 23rd, 26th, 6th. Two top-10 finishes may seem encouraging, but they also may be slightly misleading as each one has been aided by a rushing touchdown. The Lions, meanwhile, are playing excellent defense and haven't allowed a single Top-10 QB finish in their last seven games. It's tough to completely write off Prescott because of how well he has played for most of this season, but with the matchup and Dallas' ability to lean on the ground game, he's more of a high-end QB2. (Getty)

Start: Matt Barkley, Chicago Bears

Opponent: vs. Washington Redskins

This is admittedly more for two-quarterback leagues, but if you've been streaming QB's and are looking for a deep sleeper, Barkley is your guy. Though he has struggled a bit with interceptions, he has thrown for 1,082 yards, 7.36 yards per attempt and six touchdowns in his four starts, and now he gets a Washington defense that has allowed at least 300 passing yards to Sam Bradford, Aaron Rodgers, Carson Palmer and Carson Wentz since Week 10. (Getty)

Sit: Andy Dalton

Opponent: at Houston Texans

Dalton is expected to get A.J. Green back, which certainly improves his outlook, but it's still unclear how effective he'll be after missing four games, plus this is a difficult matchup. While the Texans have allowed some big performances over the last month, they're still No. 4 in the NFL in yards per pass allowed (6.6), and they've still given up just one Top-10 QB performance in seven games at home. Dalton is 13th among signal callers in fantasy points this season, but he's more in the 16-to-18 range this week. (Getty)

Start: Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams

Opponent: vs. San Francisco 49ers

Here's your weekly reminder to start all running backs against the 49ers, who are last (by far) in fantasy points allowed to the position, last in rushing yards allowed, last in yards per carry allowed and last in explosive running plays (10-plus yards) allowed. The Rams are actually one of just two teams not to have a running back tally at least 100 yards from scrimmage against the 'Niners, but that was back in Week 1, and for as bad as Gurley has been, he's still getting a healthy workload and has to be used against this atrocious run defense. (Getty)

Sit: Dion Lewis, New England Patriots

Opponent: vs. New York Jets

After receiving 8, 10, 9 and 4 touches in his first four games back from injury, Lewis exploded for 104 yards on 20 touches (18 carries, two receptions) against the Broncos on Sunday. He's clearly capable of producing when given a significant workload, so there will be a temptation to start him given what he did last week. But Bill Belichick's RB rotation is extremely difficult to project, and when the Pats played the Jets in Week 11, LeGarrette Blount played 37.0 percent of the snaps, James White played 35.6 and Lewis played 31.5. At the most important time of the year for fantasy football players, it's hard to be confident in Lewis' role. (Getty)

Sit: Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings

Opponent: at Green Bay Packers

The idea of starting a player of Peterson's, who you likely nabbed for free off the waiver wire, may be alluring, but you should look elsewhere for RB help. He was mostly ineffective in Week 15 (six carries for 22 yards and a fumble), he's averaging 1.9 yards per carry in three games this season, there's no reason for the Vikes to push his workload with the playoffs almost out of reach, the offensive line isn't opening any running lanes and the Packers are 12th in the NFL in yards per carry allowed. I would stay away from this situation even in the deepest of leagues. (Getty)

Start: DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans

Opponent: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

If you made it this far with Hopkins as your likely first-round pick, congratulations are in order, because he is the No. 34 scoring wide receiver on the season. Fortunately, a QB change may have been exactly what he needed, as Tom Savage replaced Brock Osweiler last week and proceeded to throw it Hopkins' way on an astounding 42 percent of his throws, resulting in season-highs in targets (17) and catches (eight) to go with 87 yards. With Savage set to start Week 16, Hopkins is back in play as a WR3. (Getty)

Sit: Terrelle Pryor, Cleveland Browns

Opponent: vs. San Diego Chargers

Since Robert Griffin III has returned under center, Pryor has racked up a whopping 11 targets, five receptions and 22 yards in two games. Now dealing with a torn ligament in his finger, the explosive former QB figures to see a lot of Casey Hayward, who just dominated Amari Cooper and has been one of the better shut-down corners this season. No, thanks. (Getty)

Start: Tyler Lockett, Seattle Seahawks

Opponent: vs. Arizona Cardinals

Lockett is coming off a monster seven-catch, 130-yard, one-touchdown performance against the Rams in Week 15, but he had been trending up for a while. He has received at least six targets in five of the last six games (with many of those being high-value targets), he has looked explosive after battling injuries earlier in the season and he should again be one of Russell Wilson's go-to players if Patrick Peterson spends his time on the outside with the likes of Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse. (Getty)

Sit: Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs

Opponent: vs. Denver Broncos

Hill has scored 10 times on the year and six times in the last four weeks, with many of those being of the spectacular variety. He's obviously capable of taking it to the house on any given touch, but he saw just three targets and one touch last week, and his volume is significantly lower with Jeremy Maclin in the lineup. He's not going to score a long touchdown every week, and it feels like regression is coming, especially with the Denver Broncos' elite secondary--first in the NFL in yards per pass allowed, fewest explosive passing plays allowed--on tap. Hill torched Denver in Week 12, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was held in check here. (Getty)

Start: Ladarius Green, Pittsburgh Steelers

Opponent: vs. Baltimore Ravens

The top-scoring tight ends in Week 15 were Dion Sims, Cameron Brate, Charles Clay, Erik Swoope and Hunter Henry. The position is a mess and really difficult to predict, but I like Green, who has established himself as Ben Roethlisberger's No. 3 option with 25 targets over the last three weeks. Moreover, the Ravens have given up a Top-10 TE week in three of their last four games. This is, of course, contingent on his health, as he is starting the week in the concussion protocol. (Getty)