Fantasy football Week 16: Add and drop

Each week I’ll list the best widely available free agents for fantasy football — I define “widely available” as being owned in around half of all ESPN or Yahoo leagues — and some guys who are probably better off in the free-agent pool than collecting dust on your roster.

Follow me on X (formerly known as Twitter) @UTEddieBrown if you have questions throughout the week.

Here’s my NFL Week 16 waiver wire cheat sheet for all league sizes and formats, with players you need to add, drop and stream in your fantasy football league:

ADD

— QB J.J. McCarthy, Vikings (ESPN: 31%; Yahoo: 35%): Coach Kevin O’Connell finally simplified the offense against the Commanders in Week 14, and as a result, McCarthy has played looser. He’s completed 66% of his passes for 413 yards, and five TD passes against one interception. Minnesota’s next two matchups are against the Giants and Lions, two of the bottom five teams in the league at preventing fantasy points to quarterbacks. There’s still a long ways to go in his development, but you could do worse if you just lost Patrick Mahomes, and are in a pinch. Especially when you consider his rushing upside.

— RB Blake Corum, Rams (ESPN: 30%; Yahoo: 40%): Coach Sean McVay has made an effort to involve Corum more this season, partly to keep Kyren Williams fresh for the postseason, but also because last year’s third-round pick is the more explosive option in the backfield. He’s the overall RB4 in standard formats (RB8 in PPR) since Week 13 with at least 71 rushing yards and a touchdown in three straight games.

— WR Jayden Reed, Packers (ESPN: 46%; Yahoo: 41%): Christian Watson may miss some time with a chest injury. Regardless, Reed has looked good since returning. He tied for the team lead in receiving yards (55) and targets (six) against the Broncos. Don’t worry about Green Bay’s traffic jam at wide receiver. Reed usually operates outside of that mess because of his playmaking ability, and how coach Matt LaFleur schemes up specific opportunities just for him. Obviously, he carries boom-or-bust potential, but Reed will have WR3/flex upside most weeks. Matthew Golden (ESPN: 41%; Yahoo: 32%) also had 55 yards at Denver, and would have flex appeal this week if Watson is out. The Packers play the Bears, who are allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to wide receivers this season.

— TE Darren Waller, Dolphins (ESPN: 19%; Yahoo: 37%): In Waller’s six full games this season, he’s finished as a top-5 tight end in standard formats three times. In PPR, Waller also has three finishes in the top six. This week he faces the Bengals, who have been absolutely dominated by the position this season.

— WR Luther Burden III, Bears (ESPN: 15%; Yahoo: 17%): A playmaker like Burden doesn’t need much volume to produce, but he might see a significant increase over the next few weeks with Rome Odunze likely out (foot). The dynamic rookie has at least six targets in three straight games, and at least 67 receiving yards in the last two.

— QB Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars (ESPN: 47%; Yahoo: 63%): Lawrence went off in the first round of the fantasy playoffs. He threw for 330 yards and five TD passes with no interceptions, and ran for another 51 yards and a TD against the hapless Jets. Lawrence is the overall QB2 since Week 5 with multiple TDs in eight of the last 10 games. He has at least 25 rushing yards or a rushing TD in six of the last seven games.

— WR Kayshon Boutte, Patriots (ESPN: 27%; Yahoo: 29%): Drake Maye has proven to be one of the best deep-ball throwers in the NFL and Boutte is his favorite target downfield. This week’s opponent, the Ravens, have allowed the seventh-most deep passing yards per game, and the 10th-highest deep ball completion rate, according to Fantasy Points Data. Boutte has at least one TD in four of the last six games he’s started and finished.

— RB Michael Carter, Cardinals (ESPN: 9%; Yahoo: 5%): I’m apprehensive to name Carter here, since every Arizona running back I write about seems to get hurt. Bam Knight was carted off the field with an ankle injury against the Texans on Sunday, and Carter stepped in as the lead back. This week’s opponent, the Falcons, have had their issues containing running backs this year, but it’s a matchup with the Bengals in Week 17 you should target by adding Carter. He and Emari Demercado (ESPN: 9%; Yahoo: 10%) are the last one’s left in Arizona’s backfield. Monitor Demercado’s usage against Atlanta to determine if he’ll have flex appeal against Cincinnati.

— TE Colby Parkinson, Rams (ESPN: 11%; Yahoo: 4%): Parkinson had his best game of the season with five receptions for 75 yards and two TDs on seven targets in a big win over the Lions. He’s the overall TE4 across most fantasy formats since Week 10 with at least one TD in five of the last six games.

— QB Aaron Rodgers, Steelers (ESPN: 24%; Yahoo: 27%): Rodgers has three top-8 weekly finishes this season. Pittsburgh travels to Detroit this week in a must-win for both teams. The Lions are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season.

— RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Commanders (ESPN: 48%; Yahoo: 48%): “Bill” took advantage of a premium matchup with Chris Rodriguez Jr. sidelined with a groin injury. Croskey-Merritt finished with 96 yards and a TD on 18 carries in a victory over the Giants. Washington’s next two matchups are against the Eagles and Cowboys at home, two of the bottom 12 teams in the league at preventing fantasy points to running backs.

— QB Bryce Young, Panthers (ESPN: 12%; Yahoo: 18%): Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Dak Prescott, Jacoby Brissett and Young are the only quarterbacks averaging at least 20 fantasy points since Week 11. Carolina has a huge matchup against Tampa Bay at home this week. The Buccaneers are allowing the third-most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season.

— WR Jalen Coker, Panthers (ESPN: 4%; Yahoo: 5%): Coker has at least four receptions, 60 yards and a TD in two straight games with weekly finishes of WR14 and WR24 in Week’s 13 and 15, respectively.

— QB Marcus Mariota, Commanders (ESPN: 19%; Yahoo: 10%): In Mariota’s last four starts, he finished as the weekly QB13, QB9, QB3 and QB23. He draws the most premium matchup in championship week, where he’ll face Dallas at home. The Cowboys are allowing the most fantasy points to quarterbacks this season.

— WR Darius Slayton, Giants (ESPN: 22%; Yahoo: 41%): Slayton has at least 53 yards or a TD in four of his last five games. He had 10 targets against the Commanders on Sunday, and he would’ve had a much bigger day if his hands hadn’t betrayed him.

— D/ST Bills (ESPN: 44%; Yahoo: 54%): Buffalo is the sixth-highest scoring defense in fantasy since Week 8 with three double-digit scoring efforts in its last eight games. The Bills travel to Cleveland this week to take on a Browns’ offense allowing the second-most fantasy points to opposing defenses.

— D/ST Chiefs (ESPN: 30%; Yahoo: 57%): Even with Patrick Mahomes done for the season, and the playoffs out of reach for the first time since 2014, I don’t anticipate Kansas City just rolling over at Tennessee. The defense is still mostly intact, and the Titans’ offense is still allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing defenses despite looking better the last month.

— D/ST Saints (ESPN: 10%; Yahoo: 17%): New Orleans faces the Jets and Titans in Weeks 16 and 17, two teams in the bottom eight of the league at preventing fantasy points to opposing defenses.

— D/ST Giants (ESPN: 6%; Yahoo: 5%): Speaking of favorable schedules during the fantasy playoffs: the G-Men face the Vikings and Raiders, two of the three worst teams at preventing fantasy points to opposing defenses.

DROP

— QB Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs: Mahomes had successful surgery Monday night in Dallas to repair tears in his left ACL and LCL. The three-time Super Bowl MVP will likely miss Kansas City’s offseason program, and his availability for the start of next season is up in the air.

— QB Jayden Daniels, Commanders: Washington decided to shut down Daniels for the rest of the season after he aggravated his dislocated left elbow against the Vikings in Week 14. It’s something the organization should have done in the first place.

— RB Bhayshul Tuten, Jaguars: Tuten will have surgery to repair a broken finger and miss several weeks.

— WR Xavier Worthy, Chiefs: Worthy wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire with Mahomes. I don’t believe that will change with Gardner Minshew under center.

— TE Cade Otton, Buccaneers: Otton missed the Thursday night matchup with the Falcons last week with a knee injury. Even if he’s good to go this week, he’ll slide down the pecking order for targets with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan all healthy now.