NFL: Saquon Barkley, Lamar Jackson Among 5 Best Fantasy Football Performers in Week 16
At last, the fantasy football championship round has arrived for many fantasy owners across the platform. The most crucial time of the year saw many of the usual stars step up with enormous performances that fueled many teams to win a fantasy football title on Sunday. There are still plenty of matchups on the line with Monday’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings yet to play, but here are the biggest individual performances from Week 16 action.
5. Lamar Jackson
ESPN: 29.8 PTS
In the biggest game of the season, Jackson once again showed out for fantasy owners to prove why he may be the MVP in not only the NFL but also in fantasy leagues all over. Despite getting off to a slow start, he picked it up late in the second quarter posting 138 passing yards and two touchdown passes just right before halftime.
Jackson finished the game completing 20 of 31 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns along with rushing for 103 yards on 17 attempts in the win over the Cleveland Browns. He was arguably the most consistent quarterback in the league, notching double-digit fantasy outputs every week while reaching more than 20 points all but twice this season.
4. Kenyan Drake
ESPN: 33.4 PTS
In the days heading into Sunday’s game, Drake was coming off the best performance of the season, and he once again balled out in Week 16. The Cardinals running back torched the Seattle Seahawks defense for 166 rushing yards with a pair of touchdowns along with three catches for 18 receiving yards. The Seahawks had no answer to stop Drake as he second straight 100 rushing yard performance that topped at least 130 yards.
He has stepped firmly into the starting role with Arizona in what has been a strong finish to the season and could be an extremely viable fantasy option moving forward. Sunday’s performance marked the second straight 30-point outing for him, and the third time he has tallied north of 20 fantasy points.
3. Tyler Boyd
ESPN: 33.8 PTS
The Cincinnati Bengals have been a dumpster fire throughout the year, falling to one of the worst records. One of their bright spots has been Boyd’s play, in which he put forth a strong outing in the thrilling overtime loss over the Miami Dolphins recording nine catches for 128 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
It was easily his biggest performance of the year, while also marking his fourth 100 receiving yard outing and fourth time with at least one receiving touchdown. In what has mainly been a frustrating season for Boyd with the Bengals, he put out his best game in the most critical time for fantasy owners.
2. Daniel Jones
ESPN: 35.3 PTS
It has been a messy type of rookie campaign for Jones as he has dealt with inconsistent play and struggles with a nagging injury. He worked past all of that in Week 16 by torching the Washington Redskins for a huge performance with 352 passing yards and a career-high five passing touchdowns along with 12 rushing yards.
Jones had the Redskins’ defense playing on their heels throughout the contest. It marked his third game this year with at least four touchdown passes, as well as the third time he posted north of 30 fantasy points.
1. Saquon Barkley
ESPN: 43.9 PTS
In the months heading into the 2019 season, Barkley was the consensus No.1 overall pick in fantasy football. He was coming off an impressive rookie campaign, where he showcased to be the complete package with his all-around play, but he has struggled with injuries for significant stretches of this season.
Barkley finally moved past all of that as he recorded a season-best outing with a season-high 189 rushing yards on 22 carries with a touchdown along with four catches for 90 receiving yards and a touchdown. Barkley hit the ground running in the game, putting up more than 100 rushing yards in the first quarter against the Redskins.
His play over the last couple of weeks has been promising, as it marked his second straight 100 rushing yard outing while surpassing more than 30 fantasy points. All that said, Barkley should be in line once again to be one of the top choices in fantasy football next season.
