Keepers, Sleepers, and Jeepers: Week 16

By Adam Filadelfo (@FNTSYArchitect)

For most owners, this week marks the culmination of the fantasy football season. The fantasy football championship. By now, every owner's roster should be set. Of course there's always an injury that pops up along the way and the waiver wire may just produce one more gem that can help needy fantasy owners take home the gold. For owners heading over to their waiver wire, there may just be a player or two waiting to help you win a championship.



Keepers

Joseph Randle- Running Back- Dallas Cowboys- With the hand surgery to DeMarco Murray looming over every Murray owner just in time for championship week, run to the waiver wire and add Joseph Randle right now. With one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, Randle could be the key to winning a championship. While he's clearly no DeMarco Murray, he is capable of helping Murray owners in need of a running back. The opponent for week 16 is a favorable match up for any running back as the Colts are allowing almost 26 fantasy points per week to opposing backs. In the limited playing time Randle has seen this season, he's rushed for 237 yards and two touchdowns while catching two balls on two targets for 13 yards. While he may not be PPR gold, he sure will get Murray owners out of trouble when they need him most.

Lance Dunbar- Running Back- Dallas Cowboys- For fantasy owners that weren't able to get Joseph Randle off of their waiver wire, go grab the next best thing in Lance Dunbar. While it remains to be seen whether DeMarco Murray plays in week 16 or not, it also remains to be seen which running back gets the call for week 16 as well if Murray can't go. While most fantasy owners believe it will be Joseph Randle, Lance Dunbar is the back that has more value in PPR formats. With 20 targets on the season in limited playing time, Dunbar has 16 catches for over 200 yards. As of now, the Cowboys have given no answers to the running back situation for championship week so if you can grab both Randle and Dunbar, even better. If you miss out on one, you can always grab the other. Even if you're not a DeMarco Murray owner.

Robert Griffin III- Quarterback- Washington Redskins- While the third year signal caller has been on waiver wires for most of the season, he may be ready to help fantasy owners win a championship in week 16. After coming in for the injured Colt McCoy last week, Robert Griffin III passed for 236 yards and a touchdown while rushing for another 46 yards on five attempts. He completed 66.7 percent of his passes and scored over 20 fantasy points. Of course no fantasy owner had Robert Griffin III in their starting lineup but looking ahead to week 16, there is still value in the Washington quarterback and against a Philadelphia defense that's allowing the second most fantasy points per week to opposing quarterbacks, he may just help fantasy owners fill a need at the position.

Harry Douglas- Wide Receiver- Atlanta Falcons- If Julio Jones or Roddy White were to miss week 16 for any reason, Harry Douglas can be counted on to fill the void. He was a smart play in week 15 when fantasy owners learned that top wide out Julio Jones would miss the game and Douglas came through for fantasy owners wise enough to pick him up. He scored over 13 fantasy points in week 15 and helped propel fantasy owners to their championship game. He finished with 131 yards and with a week 16 matchup versus a poor Saints defense allowing almost 38 fantasy points to wide receivers, Harry Douglas will once again come through for fantasy owners should either White or Jones miss the game to determine who wins the NFC South.

Sleepers

Doug Martin- Running Back- Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Had I wrote about Doug Martin being worth a waiver wire add a few weeks ago, I would have been laughed at. Heading into championship week, Doug Martin just may have some value yet. After just coming up short in week 15 of scoring double digit fantasy points, Martin now has two productive games in the last three weeks with the only dud in those three weeks coming against a top run defense in the Detroit Lions. In week 16, Muscle Hamster faces a Green Bay defense allowing almost 23 fantasy per game to the running back and could help fantasy owners when they need him most, championship  week.

C.J. Spiller- Running Back- Buffalo Bills- While Spiller is eligible to come off of the short term injured reserve this week, it remains to be seen if the Bills will even activate him for the week 16 game. With Fred Jackson, Anthony Dixon and Bryce Brown all on the roster and running well in the absence of Spiller, fantasy owners may be hesitant to even take a chance on adding him for the biggest game of the fantasy season. Those fantasy owners in desperate need of a running back may just want to make the move of adding Spiller as he is capable of having big games. The week 16 opponent in the Oakland Raiders doesn't hurt his value either. The Raiders are the second worst team when it comes to defending against the run and Spiller hasn't had a better matchup all season.

Jeepers

Ryan Lindley- Quarterback- Arizona Cardinals- Let's face facts here. If you're a fantasy owner looking to add a quarterback at this juncture, you probably wouldn't be in this position playing for a championship. And if you're a fantasy owner looking at Ryan Lindley, you're really in trouble. Coming in for an injured Drew Stanton last week, Lindley underwhelmed completing four of his ten passes for a measly 30 yards. The Cardinals and fantasy owners are in trouble if relying on Ryan Lindley for any amount of time.

Shonn Greene- Running Back- Tennessee Titans- At this point, adding any player from the Titans means fantasy owners are desperate and adding Shonn Greene is further proof of that. Starting tailback and rookie Bishop Sankey has been a colossal disappointment this season while Shonn Green has been nothing more than a plodder whose best game for fantasy purposes has been week three where he scored 9.3 fantasy points. If fantasy owners are completely desperate heading into week 16, Greene does have a favorable matchup versus the Jaguars who are allowing the fifth most fantasy points to the running back. Hopefully it doesn't come down to needing Shonn Greene to win a championship.

Andre Holmes- Wide Receiver- Oakland Raiders- Let's be honest, what fantasy owner would want to own any player from the silver and black? Andre Holmes had 12 targets last week and only managed to bring in five of them for 70 yards while scoring seven fantasy points in the process. It's the most fantasy points he's scored since week eight and with Derek Carr attempting 56 passes last week, still can't be trusted heading into the biggest game of the season for them. It also hurts Holmes' value in that he faces a top 12 defense when it comes to shutting down wide receivers in the Buffalo Bills.