QB Jameis Winston, CLE
It would be a disgrace in coaching to take Jameis Winston out of this weekend’s game against the Bengals. They’re allowing the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season, and Winston is still averaging 40 attempts per game even after last week’s abomination against the Chiefs.
Chances are that you don’t have to stream a quarterback this week – but Patrick Mahomes is week-to-week with his ankle injury. We’ve seen Winston’s ceiling, and it was his first real stinker of the year last week. Outside of Week 15, Winston scored at least 13 points in every game he’s started – and sprinkled in four top-12 finishes. As long as he starts, he’ll be a fringe QB1.
RB Tyjae Spears, TEN
Spears saw his highest snap share (55%) and route participation (68%) of the season, and that led to Spears’ best fantasy day as a pro. But the carries stayed in Tony Pollard’s favor even with Pollard re-aggravating his ankle injury, as he took 68% of them to Spears’ 15%.
A lot of that had to do with the game being a blowout. The Titans were shellacked by halftime, and with Pollard leaving the game, it made even more sense for Spears to be on the field given the negative game script. He came through on his opportunity and gave us a glimpse of what he could be should Pollard miss any time – which is a real possibility with his ankle injury.
Spears isn’t the top option on the waiver wire this week, or even number two… but he could fit in fantasy lineups as a nice flex play if Pollard would be out or limited moving forward.
RB Jerome Ford, CLE
One of the priority additions this week with Nick Chubb suffering a season-ending broken foot. The numbers in this game don’t stand out since Chubb actually played a majority of the game before exiting, but Ford’s role in the receiving game remains perfectly intact with a potential increase in the ground game on the horizon.
The fact that Cleveland has been playing from behind in a lot of games has worked wonders for getting Ford on the field, especially over Chubb. And in five games earlier this season from Weeks 1-5 where Ford was healthy without Chubb in the lineup, he averaged 14 opportunities and 12 PPR points per game. That was with D’Onte Foreman in the lineup, who essentially had no role in the passing game.
He’s not a slam dunk add or play this week or moving forward because of the pass-happy nature of the Browns' offense and the low quality of it, but he should have a solid floor as a nice flex play each week.
TE Brenton Strange, JAX
Did we know that Strange’s role would increase with Evan Engram out? Yes. But Mac Jones was the quarterback, for crying out loud – how could we expect him to support not only Brian Thomas Jr. to a top-5 finish but also Strange? Strange had a 28% target share in the game this past weekend (12 targets) and played a season-high 84% of snaps.
That role and utilization will more than likely normalize a bit, but even once that happens, it’s a role that qualifies Strange as a low-TE1 in Week 16. Strange wound up corralling 11 passes and with nobody else on the offense challenging BTJ for work, there’s plenty of room for him to step in as a potential clear No. 2 target for Mac Jones.