Stars of Week 16

QB: Daniel Jones, NYG: 28-42, 352 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs

RB: Kenyan Drake, ARI: 24 carries, 166 yards, 2 TDs

WR: Tyler Boyd, CIN: 9 catches, 122 yards, 2 TDs

TE: Mark Andrews, BAL: 6 catches, 93 yards, 2 TDs

It was championship week in most fantasy football leagues, and in case you started any of these folks above, there’s a good chance that you won your matchup. It’s interesting each year to see the ADPs of players who impact the fantasy football playoffs, as many are late round picks and/or waiver wire adds. With this group, we’ve got QB Daniel Jones (undrafted), RB Kenyan Drake (10th round), Tyler Boyd (7th round) and Mark Andrews (12th round). So just to put this all in perspective, the top performers at each position in the championship week were an undrafted QB, late-mid round RB, mid-round WR and late round TE. This goes to show the enormous impact that later round drafting and week to week roster management makes in a fantasy team’s success rate, especially in today’s FFL world where managers have incredible information available to them as to the early parts of the draft. The difference between the top fantasy teams and those below are essentially what transpires starting from the midpoint of the draft and on. Prep hard for the later rounds of your draft, study the waiver wire each week and set your lineups in accordance with the available stats, and you’ll be playoff bound in most seasons. Everything mentioned in the preceding sentence can be found in RealGM’s fantasy football content – so you don’t have to look far! 

Week 16 Special – Projection of First Two Rounds of 2020 FFL Draft

Each week we’ve taken a close look at noteworthy performances and sorted out what they meant for the season and beyond. With the NFL regular season nearing its conclusion, I’m mixing it up this week and throwing in a way too early mock draft for 2020 – the first two rounds of a twelve-team league. 

Round 1 

Team 1: Christian McCaffrey, RB - Car

Team 2: Saquon Barkley, RB - NYG

Team 3: Dalvin Cook, RB - MIN

Team 4: Ezekiel Elliott, RB - DAL

Team 5: Nick Chubb, RB - CLE

Team 6: Michael Thomas, WR - NO

Team 7: Josh Jacobs, RB - LV

Team 8: DeAndre Hopkins, WR - HOU

Team 9: Davante Adams, WR - GB

Team 10: Alvin Kamara, RB - NO

Team 11: Tyreek Hill, WR - KC

Team 12:  Aaron Jones, RB - GB

Comments: Run CMC will be the undisputed first pick, with significant variance to follow starting with round 2. Look for Barkley to have a better supporting cast around him, and hopefully a better coach. Expect Michael Thomas to be the first WR taken in most leagues, with Hopkins, Adams and Hill to follow in some order. Alvin Kamara drops from top 3 in 2019 to bottom of the first round in 2020. He was largely a bust this year, so it’ll be interesting to see how the fantasy community values him next year. Aaron Jones belongs in the first round, and I’d have no issue with him going in the mid-first either. 

Round 2

Team 12: Julio Jones, WR - ATL

Team 11: Austin Ekeler, RB - LAC

Team 10: Mike Evans, WR - TB

Team 9: Leonard Fournette, RB - JAC

Team 8: Derrick Henry, RB - TEN

Team 7: Chris Godwin, WR - TB

Team 6: Joe Mixon, RB - CIN

Team 5: Amari Cooper, WR - DAL

Team 4: Lamar Jackson, QB - BAL

Team 3: Odell Beckham Jr., WR - CLE

Team 2: George Kittle, TE - SF

Team 1: Chris Carson, RB - SEA

Comments:  Julio Jones starts us off in round 2, with Austin Ekeler leading the RBs off the board. We’ll need to see if QB Jameis Winston returns to the Bucs next year, but if so, expect both Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to go in the second round. Joe Mixon is a bounce back candidate for next year, presumably with LSU QB Joe Burrow taking over signal caller duties for the Bengals next year. Lamar Jackson is the first QB to go off the board, and he goes at pick 21 overall. George Kittle follows shortly thereafter as the first tight end drafted. Will be very interesting to see where Odell Beckham goes in drafts next year. He may fall into third rounds of some drafts, but the guess here is that his ADP will be in the back end of the second round.

Rapid Fire Pickups  

Each week we’ll throw out potential free agent pickups from each position for deeper leagues, in each case 1) someone who has NOT been featured above, and 2) a player available in more than 50% of leagues.

QB: Daniel Jones, NYG

RB: Kerryon Johnson, DET

RB: Rex Burkhead, NE

WR: Anthony Miller, CHI

WR: Russell Gage, ATL

TE: OJ Howard, TB

Final Note:

With the NFL regular season coming to a close, this will be my last writeup for the 2019 season. For those of you in championship matchups this week, look for my week 17 rankings, which will be up later this week. Thanks to all of you for yet another great year and for engaging with me on Twitter – it’s been a blast connecting with so many of you and to see you do so well in your leagues! I’ll be in touch on articles to come during the offseason. Until then, happy holidays!