2021 Fantasy Football Week 16 Waiver Wire: Ronald Jones, Gabriel Davis are Prime Playoff Pickups

Bolster your semifinals lineup off the Week 16 Waiver Wire.

Your boy JimboSlice is off for a few days, so I’ll be taking you through the Fantasy Football Week 16 Waiver Wire. If you’re reading this, you’re (likely) one game away from taking home a 2021 fantasy football title. Let’s find the players who could help get you there and put you in a position to take home the hardware during a COVID-riddled couple of weeks.

Let’s look back at Week 15 and see our future prospects for the fantasy football Week 16 waiver wire.

Fantasy Football Week 16 Waiver Wire Pickups & FAAB Show: Ride Gabriel Davis & Ronald Jones to Glory

Note: Roster % based on Yahoo and should hover around 50% or less

WEEK 16 WAIVER WIRE PICKUPS

START

  1. Ronald Jones, RB Tampa Bay Buccaneers (35%)
  2. Russell Gage, WR Atlanta Falcons (50%)
  3. Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR Detroit Lions (30%)
  4. Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR Green Bay Packers (41%)
  5. Duke Johnson Jr., RB Miami Dolphins (2%)

If you’re a regular at RSJ, you’d know the up-and-down love affair that I have with Ronald Jones. But with Leonard Fournette expected to miss the next two games with a hamstring injury, it’s RoJo’s time to bring you home a fantasy title. Still available in 65% of leagues, Jones is expected to be the team’s lead back in an attack that will also be down Chris Godwin and Mike Evans. Expect the Bucs to lean on its run game and Jones to become a true league-winner as the team’s RB1.

Somehow, someway, Russell Gage is still available in 50 percent of leagues. Gage has been a staple of this article and after securing eight of 11 targets for 91 yards and a score, we are begging the Wolfpack to add and start Gage in Week 16. What else does this guy have to do to gain your respect?!

Amon-Ra St. Brown is quietly turning into a fantasy football monster. Over the last three games, the rookie has seen 35 targets and has caught 26 of those for 249 yards and two touchdowns. He would be ahead of Gage, but Jared Goff was placed on the COVID list on Monday, which puts his availability in doubt for Week 16. Fantasy managers should still add St. Brown, but he would be tough to start if Goff misses this week’s juicy Atlanta matchup.

The boom-or-bust Marquez Valdes-Scantling is up to his usual ways. But, he’s booming at a higher rate than ever before due to an increased target share. MVS has seen five or more targets in four straight games and is coming off a 5-98-1 performance against the Ravens. With COVID and injuries wreaking havoc across fantasy rosters, MVS’ upside is worth the dice roll over the next two weeks.

Sunday was quite the day for friend of the program and Duke Johnson lover, Ian Hartitz. Johnson took over the Dolphins backfield and racked up 107 rushing yards and a touchdown on 22 carries, while Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed watched from the sideline. However, I am not 100 percent sold on The U’s all-time leading rusher. Gaskin and Ahmed were activated off the COVID list on Saturday after not practicing for more than a week. Then, Phillip Lindsay missed Week 15 due to COVID. Will Brian Flores really lean on Johnson over those other three solid options? Or will it be a disgusting four-headed mess? I’m going with the latter.

STASH (TOP AVAILABLE HANDCUFFS)

  1. Samaje Perine, RB Cincinnati Bengals (13%)
  2. Mark Ingram, RB New Orleans Saints (50%)
  3. Craig Reynolds, RB Detroit Lions (13%)
  4. Devontae Booker, RB New York Giants (23%)
  5. Khalil Herbert, RB Chicago Bears (17%)
  6. D’Ernest Johnson, RB Cleveland Browns (23%)
  7. KeShawn Vaughn, RB Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0%)

Samaje Perine leads the list of the top available handcuffs due to Joe Mixon’s ankle injury that could potentially keep him out of Week 16. Mark Ingram returned to the lineup and played way too many snaps behind Alvin Kamara on Sunday Night Football. Craig Reynolds toted the rock 26 times to the tune of 112 yards, but one of, if not both of Jamaal Williams and D’Andre Swift could return this week. Devontae Booker is another handcuff who could make noise due to Saquon Barkley’s injury history. Khalil Herbert has not been fantasy-relevant, yet he’s one David Montgomery injury away from a workhorse role. The Browns are riddled with COVID and injuries, which makes D’Ernest Johnson an intriguing stash at this point of the season. As noted above, the Bucs backfield is down to Ronald Jones and KeShawn Vaughn.

STREAM

  1. Gabriel Davis, WR Buffalo Bills (19%)
  2. Justin Jackson, RB Los Angeles Chargers (6%)*
  3. Jeff Wilson Jr., RB San Francisco 49ers (56%)*
  4. Tyler Johnson, WR Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1%)
  5. Philadelphia Eagles DST (49%)
  6. Jimmy Garoppolo, QB San Francisco 49ers (41%)
  7. Josh Reynolds, WR Detroit Lions (10%)
  8. Breshad Perriman, WR Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1%)

Gabriel Davis puts up numbers. With Emmanuel Sanders out of the lineup, Davis got the start and flourished, putting up 85 yards and two scores on seven targets. Over the last two games, Davis has seen 15 targets and has found the end zone in three straight. Sanders did not practice last week and should miss Week 16, leaving Davis on an island with the beatable Jalen Mills.

Austin Ekeler was added to the COVID list on Monday, leaving Justin Jackson as the team’s RB1 — for now. It is still early in the week and Ekeler could play on Sunday, but it wouldn’t hurt to add Jackson either way. Obviously, he would be more of a stash than a stream if Ekeler suits up.

Jeff Wilson Jr. finally woke up and secured the 49ers’ three-down role. In return, he accumulated 110 rushing yards and a touchdown, while adding another two receptions. Elijah Mitchell cleared the concussion protocol, but his knee is still bothering him, which puts him in doubt for Thursday’s tilt against the Titans.

With Chris Godwin done for the season and Mike Evans out for the foreseeable future, Tyler Johnson will become the Bucs’ de-facto WR1. Johnson led the team’s wideouts with 70 snaps, 50 routes run, and seven targets against the Saints. Johnson gets the Panthers and Jets to round out the season.

The Eagles DST gets the juiciest matchup of the defensive streamers against Mike Glennon’s New York Giants. Enough said.

Jimmy Garoppolo disappointed in a good matchup against the Falcons — putting up only one score through the air. However, he’s thrown for two touchdowns in five of his last seven games and gets a beatable Titans’ secondary in Week 16.

Similar to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds has cooked with Jared Goff. Reynolds put up 6-68-1 during the team’s upset of the Cardinals and gets a chance to roast the Falcons this week. But, his streaming ceiling hinges on Goff’s availability this week.

Breshad Perriman missed Week 15 with COVID-19, but he could return to the lineup as the Bucs’ WR1/WR2. We all know his speed sets him apart and he could be a valuable weapon for Tom Brady with Godwin and Evans out of the lineup. Can he replicate his 2019 league-winning stretch run?!

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