Last minute fantasy football start/sit advice as Week 16 inactives arrive

The NFL is back for Week its penultimate week with Week 16 upon us. We get a solid split of games after a busy Saturday. With no Thursday Night Football, we got an NFL Network triple-header and it marks the only time this season we’ll get three straight days of football.

We get a fairly balanced Sunday of football with seven games in the early slot and four in the late slot. The 1:00 p.m. slot includes Saints-Titans and a must-win for the Steelers. In the 4:05/4:25 p.m. slot we get Cowboys-Eagles as the most important of the group, but also a big Cardinals-Seahawks game. The day wraps up with a potentially fun inter-conference matchup on Sunday Night Football between the Chiefs and Bears.

There are plenty of notable names on the injury reports and lineups will be dependent on 11:30 a.m. inactives, and plenty beyond. The biggest concern is the status of Derrick Henry. He was downgraded to questionable due to his hamstring injury.

If you’re trying to figure out your fantasy football lineups, this information is critical to getting the right players in the right spots. If you’ve got key players in the Sunday Night Football or Monday Night Football slots, you’re looking for any grain of information that will help you make the decision early rather than waiting until it’s too late tonight or tomorrow night.

We’re all figuring out last minute roster decisions, and that means not only who is not playing this week, but who is playing but might not be the best start in your Week 16 fantasy football lineup. We’ll provide updates on injuries, key start/sit decisions, and more leading up to kickoffs.

4:05/4:25 p.m. inactive report

TE Noah Fant: Active
RB Jordan Howard: Inactive

1:00 p.m. inactive report

Active

WR D.J. Chark
WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
WR Robby Anderson
WR Curtis Samuel

Inactive

RB Derrick Henry
TE David Njoku
WR Demaryius Thomas

Derrick Henry expected to sit

The Titans running back is not expected to play due to a hamstring injury, per Adam Schefter. Dion Lewis will start in his place and is the guy to add against an up-and-down Saints run defense.

D.J. Chark expected to play

The Jaguars receiver is expected to play in spite of an ankle injury, per Ian Rapoport. Chark missed last week, and returns as a top ten receiver in fantasy this season. Dede Westbrook takes a bit of a hit, but both have value against a bad Falcons defense.

Kerryon Johnson expected to have a sizable workload

Johnson returns from injured reserve in Week 16 and Ian Rapoport tweeted that Johnson is “expected to get his full share of carries along with Bo Scarbrough.” This is a tough situation to sort through given how long Johnson has been sidelined. He would seem to be the better fantasy start if you need one of them.

Curtis Samuel expected to play

Samuel was a mid-week addition to the injury report with a knee injury. He is expected to play in spite of that, according to Ian Rapoport. The switch to rookie QB Will Grier raises big questions, but he and D.J. Moore face a Colts defense that has given up the tenth most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers.

Nelson Agholor expected to sit

The Eagles will be shorthanded at wide receiver with Agholor expected to sit due to his knee injury, per Ian Rapoport. They will roll out Greg Ward and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside as their top two pass-catching options.

Alexander Mattison expected to sit in Week 16 MNF

The Vikings have clinched a wild card berth and Adam Schefter is reporting they are likely to rest Mattison and start Mike Boone on Monday Night Football. Dalvin Cook is already out due to a shoulder injury.

Jordan Howard expected to be inactive

The Eagles will sit Howard once again, per Chris Mortensen. Miles Sanders will get the start with Boston Scott getting third down work and Jay Ajayi serving as a complementary option.