Well, I hope that you guys had as profitable of a week as we did here at Create-A-Rank. If you read our NFL Week 15 DFS Picks article, you would have been all over Chris Carson as our must start of the week. He came in with a huge performance and scored two rushing touchdowns. We were also on Saquon Barkley and Chris Godwin. We swung for the fences with our value play of Isaiah Ford, which unfortunately did not work out. This week we have some strong looks and some matchups that we will be able to exploit. Here are our NFL Week 16 DFS picks!
Quarterback: Dwayne Haskins, Washington Redskins $4 700
First of all, this price point is absolutely ridiculous for a starting quarterback. It is literally too good to be true. Haskins has not had the best year since taking over for the Washington Redskins. Nonetheless, he is going up against one of the worst secondaries in the NFL. That secondary actually got worse when they cut cornerback Janoris Jenkins. In their first game without Jenkins, they allowed Ryan Fitzpatrick to put up 279 yards and two touchdowns.
Haskins, on the other hand, is coming into this game off of his best performance of the year. Against a bad Eagles secondary, he was able to take advantage with the help of fellow rookie Terry McLaurin. McLaurin was open deep often, and I don’t expect that to change against the Giants. The one aspect that makes Haskins such a good DFS quarterback is his ability to run the ball. He put up 24 yards last week for a solid floor. I can see another 290-yard game with two TDs. The Giants have the fifth best-run defense in the NFL, so you have to beat them in the air. Washington loves to run the ball, but if they want the win here, it’ll need to be with Haskins’ arm.
Value Play: WR Golden Tate, New York Giants $4 800
Golden Tate went from WR1 for this Giants team to an absolute non-factor. He’s now caught just one pass in each of the last two games, which is obviously not ideal. The fantasy results were there against the Dolphins due to a 51-yard touchdown catch, but one catch against them is extremely worrisome. Now, Tate will likely be getting Daniel Jones back at quarterback, which will probably help with his targets. Jones is willing to air the ball out more than the aging Eli Manning.
Redskins slot cornerback Jimmy Moreland was in a walking boot after last week’s game, which likely means Tate will match-up with Danny Johnson, a former undrafted free agent who’s allowed 16-of-19 passing for 186 yards and two touchdowns in his coverage over his short two-year career. This matchup is too juicy to ignore. Look for Tate to make an impact in this one against a beat-up Redskins secondary.
Must Start: TE Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles $6 400
In what is going to be the game of the week, the Dallas Cowboys will be traveling to the Philadelphia Eagles to see who will win the NFC East. It is going to be a battle of disappointing teams, with both having higher expectations at the beginning of the year. There are a number of good matchups that we will look to exploit in this one, but it starts with Zach Ertz.
With all the injuries to the Eagles pass-catchers, Ertz has stepped up and seen a massive 65 targets over the last six weeks that have amounted to 47 receptions, 464 yards, and five touchdowns. Those injuries haven’t gotten better this week. The Dallas Cowboys are allowing a 74.3 percent completion-rate against tight ends, which ranks behind only the Cardinals. The team struggles against the TE position, and the Eagles have two of the best in the league. It is rare, but I might even have a lineup this week with both Ertz and Dallas Goedert. They will likely both find the endzone. Last year, Ertz put up 145 yards and two TDs against this Dallas team. I could see him doing that again.
High Risk/High Reward: WR Amari Cooper, Dallas Cowboys
Amari Cooper has been a polarizing receiver so far this season. He is either exploding or disappearing entirely. What could help with that? A matchup against a terrible Eagles secondary. He is the number one in this Dallas offense, but only had two targets in their matchup last week against the Rams. It was an anomaly as the Cowboys ran the ball nearly 50 times in the first half of that game.
The Cowboys didn’t need to throw the ball very much last week, as the Rams failed to put up a fight. I don’t see that happening in this close divisional matchup. Against the Eagles, there will be targets. He caught 5-of-5 targets for 106 yards the first time they played. There have been 13 wide receivers who’ve finished top-20 against the Philly secondary this season, including Terry McLaurin’s 24.0-point explosion last week. The combination of Darby and Jalen Mills in the secondary have allowed 63-of-104 passing for 1,024 yards and 10 touchdowns this year.
Cooper has been battling injuries all season long, but when he is healthy he is an elite receiver. If he is 100%, and his QB Dak Prescott is also fully healthy, I expect a big game. He is a high-risk player, but his reward could win you your matchup. Dallas won’t be able to run against the Eagles excellent defensive line, so hopefully, Jason Garrett is smart enough to take advantage of this secondary in the air.
NFL Week 16 DFS Picks
Here is a look at the NFL Week 16 DFS picks that I will have in a lot of my lineups. I think it could be a solid lineup to have in both GPP and head to head contests.
| QB | D. Haskins NYG @ WAS |
15.2 | $4,700 | |||
| RB | M. Gaskin CIN @ MIA |
6.1 | $3,800 | |||
| RB | J. Mixon CIN @ MIA |
18.7 | $6,600 | |||
| WR | A. Cooper DAL @ PHI |
16.0 | $6,700 | |||
| WR | C. Sutton DET @ DEN |
15.2 | $6,200 | |||
| WR | G. Tate NYG @ WAS |
11.2 | $4,800 | |||
| TE | Z. Ertz DAL @ PHI |
15.8 | $6,400 | |||
| FLEX | P. Lindsay DET @ DEN |
14.8 | $5,300 | |||
| DST | Dallas (DAL) DAL @ PHI |
6.7 | $2,600 |
Quick Notes
A couple of little things with this lineup. Obviously the play of Cooper will rely on the health of Prescott. I also really like what Drew Lock has been able to do in Denver. Courtland Sutton is becoming a reliable WR1 and should have a huge matchup against one of the worst secondaries in football. Detroit is terrible, and the Broncos should be able to put up at least 30 points. I wouldn’t hate swapping Haskins for Lock to have that QB/WR combination.
Week 16 Rankings | QB | RB |WR | TE |
