It’s now to the point in the NFL season that these games are becoming more and more interesting as they begin to shape the playoff picture. Some teams put themselves in a better position for the playoffs, while other teams were eliminated from contention, if they hadn’t been already. All the while, we anxiously watched to see how the players performed for our fantasy teams! Let’s take a look at the best and the worst of the week.

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Quarterbacks

Studs:

Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders – Daniels has been sensational for a rookie QB this season. I thought that the Commanders would be an improved team this year, but I didn’t quite expect this. Daniels has exceeded expectations and has led his team to contend for a playoff spot. In a much needed win against the Eagles, and with his team down 14-27, Daniels threw 3 of his 5 TDs of the day, including the final score with 6 seconds left, in the 4th quarter, to bring them back and win the game, 36-33. He finished the contest with 258 passing yards and added 81 yards rushing to earn the fantasy QB1 status for week 16.

Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers – Young produced his best fantasy day of his “young” career Sunday in an OT upset win against the Arizona Cardinals, 36-30. As it is with most QBs in fantasy, it’s less about how many yards you pass for, but how many TDs you pass for and how many yards and TDs you rush for. Case in point Sunday, Young only passed for 158 yards but passed for 2 TDs and rushed for 68 yards and 1 TD as well.

Jared Goff, Detroit Lions – Goff is one of the exceptions to the rule, as he is primarily a pocket passer, meaning he’s not going to rack up fantasy points by taking off running and scoring rushing TDs. He has, however, often racked up enough passing yards and TDs to make him very much a viable fantasy QB. Sunday in a convincing win over the Bears, Goff threw for 336 yards and 3 TDs.

Honorable Mentions:

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs – 28/41 passing for 260 yards and 1 TD; 33 yards rushing and 1 TD

Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks – 31/43 passing for 314 yards and 3 TDs; 2 INTS

Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 31/43 passing for 303 yards and 2 TDs; 42 yards rushing

Duds:

As much as it seems like Jalen Hurts of the Eagles should be on the list, I avoid putting players who got injured on my duds lists, even if his exit in the 1st quarter really “hurt” your chances of winning Sunday with him in your line up.

Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams – Stafford is another QB who is not going to get out and run, especially at this age, to rack up extra fantasy points. So if you start Stafford in your line up, you’re relying on him passing for a gang of yards and TDs. On Sunday, in New York against the Jets, his 110 yards and 1 TD wasn’t enough for a fantasy owner to be happy with his final fantasy score. He was also picked off once, to make his score even lower.

Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills – Allen is fresh off back-to-back fantasy QB1 weeks. He hasn’t had less than 20 fantasy points since week 5. He was said to have lost feeling in his throwing arm for a period of time, but never came out of the game. And for his fantasy owners counting on him in the playoffs, he only passed for 154 yards and 1 TD. He did add 30 yards rushing, but also diminished his score with an INT.

To get all the latest gear for these players and more, go check out the NFL Shop now!

Wide Receivers

Studs:

Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings – Jefferson saved his best fantasy performance of the year for fantasy playoffs. While he has been slightly disappointing for fantasy owners this year, Jefferson caught 10 of his 13 targets for 144 yards and 2 TDs Sunday, in a 27-24 win over the Seahawks, to earn his 1st fantasy WR1 honor of the season, this week.

Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions – When you catch an 82 yard TD in the 2nd quarter, there’s a good chance your final stat line will be pretty solid, as was the case with Williams on Sunday, who ended up catching 5 of his 7 total targets for 143 yards and said TD to help the Lions defeat the Bears 34-17.

Keenan Allen, Chicago Bears – Allen also saved his best for the fantasy playoffs eclipsing 100 yards receiving for the 1st time this season. Although the Bears lost this one, Allen did his part hauling in 9 of his 13 targets for 141 yards and 1 TD.

Honorable Mentions:

Brian Thomas Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars – 9/13 receptions for 132 yards and 1 TD

Olamide Zaccheaus, Washington Commanders – 5/8 receptions for 70 yards and 2 TDs.

Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers – 7/9 receptions for 96 yards and 1 TD; 25 yards rushing

Duds:

Cooper Kupp, Los Angeles Rams – I actually missed the fact that Kupp only had 3 targets and 0 catches last week. This week he had only had 3 targets yet again, catching all 3, but for a mere 24 yards. The Rams didn’t look like they wanted to do a lot of passing in the New York cold, and were able to pull out a W with heavy doses of RB Kyren Williams.

Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals – Harrison hasn’t had quite the year fantasy owners were hoping for. He hasn’t eclipsed 60 yards receiving for 7 straight games and only eclipsed 100 yards twice, thus far. I certainly wouldn’t count him out moving forward, as the #4 overall pick in this year’s NFL draft has plenty of potential. But for week 16, 4 receptions for 39 yards was disappointing for fantasy owners who played him in their line ups.

Running Backs

Studs:

Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts – Week 16 seemed to be a redemption game for Taylor, who got caught letting go of the football just inches before the goal line, consequently nullifying the score, last week. This week his TD celebrations were as if he wanted to really highlight the fact that he’s still got the ball in hand well after crossing the goal line. He really put the exclamation point on it all, rushing 29 times for 218 yards and 3 TDs, helping his Colts get the W against the Titans 38-30 and clearly earning fantasy’s RB1 status. In fact, Taylor was the high fantasy point scorer across the entire board.

Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers – Coming off his dud week of only 32 yards rushing last week, Hubbard redeemed himself by rushing 25 times for 152 yards and 2 TDs, including a walk off 21 yard TD gallop in OT, to help his Panthers get an upset victory over the Cardinals.

Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles – Just another day at the office for Barkley. To add to his MVP caliber season thus far, Barkley tried to help makeup for his QB, Jalen Hurts, going down in in the 1st quarter by rushing 29 times for 150 yards and 2 TDs. The Eagles still fell short, losing to the Commanders 33-36.

Honorable Mentions:

De’Von Achane, Miami Dolphins – 120 yards rushing and 1 TD; 6/7 receptions for 70 yards

James Cook, Buffalo Bills – 100 yards rushing and 1 TD; 3/3 receptions for 26 yards and 1 TD

James Conner, Arizona Cardinals – 117 yards rushing and 1 TD; 4/4 receptions for 49 yards

Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons – 94 yards rushing and 2 TDs

Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions – 109 yards rushing and 1 TD; 4/5 receptions for 45 yards

Duds:

Zach Charbonnet, Seattle Seahawks – I’m actually really surprised the Hawks did Charbonnet like that. After 3 weeks of fairly high productivity, while Kenneth Walker III was out with injury, including an RB1 title along the way, Seattle only gave Charbonnet 1 opportunity to run the ball. He unfortunately lost a yard on that carry. He also got 2 targets out of the backfield, which he caught both of, for 14 yards.

Isiah Pacheco, Kansas City Chiefs – Pacheco just hasn’t been able to really get things going since coming back from breaking his fibula in week 13. He suffered the injury in week 2, and missed the next 9 games. This week, 26 yards on 9 carries was the best he could do.

To get all the latest gear for these players and more, go check out the NFL Shop now!

Tight Ends

Studs:

George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers – In a pretty disappointing season for the returning NFC champs, Kittle has been a consistent bright spot. Closing in on 1,000 yards receiving with 8 TDs for the season thus far, Kittle currently holds the TE1 position. He also earned TE1 honors in week 16, for the 3rd time this season, with his 8 receptions on 9 targets for 106 yards, in another disappointing loss for the 9ers in Miami.

Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans – With teammate WR Tank Dell suffering a really tough knee injury during the game, Shultz stepped up, seeing more targets then usual, and brought in 5 receptions for 45 yards and 1 TD. Shultz should see more targets the remainder of the season, as Houston is running thin on pass catchers.

Sam LaPorta, Detroit Lions – Most of LaPorta’s fantasy points came from a trick play where the QB and running back pretended to have fumbled and were scrambling to recover the ball, while LaPorta streaked down the sideline. With the ball tucked and hidden, QB Jared Goff pulled away from his acting job, and fired a strike to LaPorta for a TD. LaPorta finished with 4 receptions for 43 yards and said TD.

Chig Okonkwo, Tennessee Titans – The Titans made a QB change to Mason Rudolph, and the pair have shown great chemestry in the past 2 games, with Okonkwo having double digit targets both games. This week, Okonkwo hauled in 9 of his 11 intended targets, for 81 yards and scored on a 2 point conversion.

Honorable Mentions:

Hunter Henry, New England Patriots – 4/9 receptions for 39 yards and 1 TD

Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders – 11/13 receptions for 99 yards

Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens – 4/6 receptions for 37 yards and 1 TD

Duds:

Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals – McBride has eclipsed 10 targets in each of the past 4 contests, and hasn’t had less than 50 receiving yards since week 3. He’s 3rd in receiving yards among TE’s at this point in the season. But for some reason, in an eventual 30-36 loss to the Carolina Panthers, who give up the 2nd most fantasy points to TE’s in the entire NFL, McBride only had 4 targets. In watching this game, it looked to me that McBride had some open looks but QB Kyler Murray went for deeper home run shots that resulted as incomplete or an INT.

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs – The aging TE has been held under 45 receiving yards now for 3 straight weeks. He had a 3 week stretch earlier in the season, where he had double digit targets in each game, racking up 354 yards and 2 TDs within those 3 games. That seems like ages ago at this point. In week 16, in a win against the Texans, Kelce had 5 catches for 30 yards.

Defense/Special Teams

Studs:

Atlanta Falcon’s DB Jessie Bates III returning an INT 55 yards for a TD

Atlanta Falcons – The Falcons D helped their rookie QB, Michael Penix Jr. with his first NFL start on Sunday by scoring 2 TDs and only allowing the NY Giants to score 7 points. For fantasy owners, they recorded 3 sacks, 2 INTs, both of which was returned for a TD, and a fumble recovery as well.

Duds:

San Francisco 49ers – For a team that has been know for their excellent defensive play over the past handful of years or so, this defensive units has had it’s ups and downs over the coarse of the season in 2024. In week 16, the 9ers gave up 29 points in a loss to the Miami Dolphins, while recording no other defensive statistic.

That’s a wrap on another thrilling week of NFL football. Thanks for checking out my weekly edition of studs and duds in the fantasy world. I always enjoy hearing your thoughts and opinions, so feel free to leave a comment below. Good luck with all your fantasy football endeavors!