Fantasy Football Week 16 Waiver Wire: Best Pickups At Each Position

Hello there, and congratulations.

If you’re reading this — unless you’re just a real fantasy football nut — you’re probably in the championship of your fantasy football league. Good stuff!

Conversely, we’re also sorry if you’re here, because that means you have some level of desperation that has forced you to hit the waiver wire.

So, here are the players you’ll want to eye this week on the wire (based on players available in 65 percent or fewer of Yahoo! leagues).

Quarterback: Marcus Mariota, Las Vegas Raiders (1 percent owned)
That’s right, just one percent owned!

You know the story by now: Mariota came in after Derek Carr suffered a groin injury and shredded the Los Angeles Chargers (even though the Raiders ultimately lost). Well, Carr is expected to miss at least this week for Las Vegas, meaning Mariota should be back under center.

All the other quarterbacks available right now are largely known commodities, but Mariota looked really good against the Chargers, and maybe he keeps it up against the Miami Dolphins this week. It’s a gamble, to be sure, but apparently the ceiling is pretty high.

Other quarterbacks to target: Matthew Stafford (DET), Kirk Cousins (MIN), Baker Mayfield (CLE)

Running back: Giovani Bernard, Cincinnati Bengals (53 percent owned)
With Joe Burrow done for the year, Bernard is seeing an increased workload, and he looked pretty good against a Pittsburgh Steelers team that’s struggling

He got a whopping 26 touches and carried the ball for 83 yards, and he found the end zone twice (once on the ground and once in the air) against Pittsburgh.

Also, the Bengals offense is so limited it might not have any choice but to keep feeding Bernard, so go wild — especially with a matchup against the Houston Texans awaiting him.

Other running backs to target: Adrian Peterson (DET), J.D. McKissic (WFT), Tony Pollard (DAL)

Wide receiver: Russell Gage, Atlanta Falcons (24 percent owned)
He’s certainly made use of his opportunities as the Falcons’ de facto No. 2 wideout with Julio Jones sidelined.

In Week 15, he made five catches for 68 yards with a touchdown in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Though he only has three touchdowns this season, two have come in the last three weeks, and he actually gets a pretty healthy target share.

Not a whole lot of guys on the wire can say that.

Other wide receivers to target: Keke Coutee (HOU), Travis Fulgham (PHI), Nelson Agholor (LV)

Tight end: Tyler Higbee, Los Angeles Rams (50 percent owned)
There are few tight ends you can rely on weekly, but Higbee occasionally will pop.

Such was the case in Week 15, when he grabbed four of his five targets for 67 yards and a touchdown. That, of course, was against the New York Jets, and the Los Angeles Rams lost that game, so make of it what you will.

Still though, it was his second touchdown in his last three games, so that’s something at least.

Other tight ends to target: Austin Hooper (CLE), Logan Thomas (WFT), Hayden Hurst (ATL)