Lesser names carried many teams in Week 16’s Christmas-themed extravaganza, which brought a lump of coal for fantasy football gamers who suffered through low utilization by prominent running backs in Joe Mixon, Alvin Kamara, Kenneth Walker III, Travis Etienne, Tony Pollard, De’Von Achane, and Ty Chandler.
At receiver, several top names also went over as well as a child opening giftwrapped socks. A dozen targets for Cooper Kupp generated just 52 scoreless yards on a 50% reception rate. Stefon Diggs‘ struggles marched on with a 29-yard day on eight targets. Diontae Johnson had been heating up before fizzling out in Week 16, and low production by DeAndre Hopkins also put trusting fantasy managers in a hole. Davante Adams couldn’t have been much worse given that his quarterback threw for 62 total yards
Tight end once again gave us several players who saw at least six targets but did nothing of fantasy value with the opportunities. Guys like Tyler Conklin, Jonnu Smith, Jake Ferguson, Trey McBride all failed to break into double figures in point-per-reception scoring. Detroit’s Sam LaPorta was a major disappointment — a week after catching three touchdowns — by corralling as many catches in total on a trio of targets. Cole Kmet (knee) left early, and the same happened with T.J. Hockenson (knee). Travis Kelce tried his best to steal Christmas.
If you survived all of that, there’s a decent chance it was because Santa delivered the goods elsewhere on your roster. Amari Cooper single-handedly advanced teams to the next round. George Pickens, Puka Nacua, Calvin Ridley, Demarcus Robinson, Rashid Shaheed, Darius Slayton, and Gabe Davis all picked up the slack as fantasy stocking stuffers, if you will.
A third of the running backs who finished inside of the top 24 either weren’t permanent residents in fantasy lineups entering the week.
The trend continued over to tight end. Several unlikely names managed to cross that 10-point threshold. Chigoziem Okonkwo finally scored a TD, though it came from the hand of Derrick Henry. New Orleans’ Juwan Johnson turned seven targets into a 4-48-1 line. Logan Thomas produced 36 yards and a score on his five snags. Seattle’s Colby Parkinson (3-17-1) and Miami Dolphins tight end Durham Smythe (5-56-0) also mustered relevant results. Kylen Granson hauled in five of seven looks for 62 yards with Michael Pittman Jr. (concussion) out. Los Angeles Chargers tight end Gerald Everett fits that same profile, and his uptick in targets has largely coincided with the heel injury that has cost Keenan Allen time.
We’re one week away from wrapping up what usually constitutes the fantasy football season, and offensive transitions toward the youth movement will continue as more teams have fallen out of the playoff race. Given that most fantasy lineups are more or less locked into place, use the next few weeks to evaluate prospective fantasy talent for the 2024 season.