This article is part of our On Target series.
It's championship week, and you have to make tough calls – that is just the nature of our activity. It is very likely that if you have Gabriel on your roster, he helped get you to and through the fantasy playoffs, but he simply is not an option this week. He played less than 20 snaps last week and ran hot to get a touchdown that he didn't deserve, and cannot be projected for this game against the Panthers. Nail him to your bench in all reasonably sized leagues (12 teams and smaller).
Before the last Seahawks game, news broke that Lockett was warming up with the 1's and was likely to start/play more snaps than Jermaine Kearse, and he made Pete Carroll look like a genius with 130 yards and a touchdown on eight targets. The Seahawks are not in an obviously great spot this week against the Cardinals, but Arizona's defense has been giving up explosive plays and conceding over their expected Vegas total consistently down the stretch. Lockett is a WR2 quality play this week.
Walker is the only tight end in the league who is tied or leading his team in targets as of this moment. Of course that is a result of Rob Gronkowski being lost for the year and Jordan Reed being in and out of the Washington lineup, but Walker's volume totals are inspiring at the tight end position. In daily fantasy contests he is a
It's championship week, and you have to make tough calls – that is just the nature of our activity. It is very likely that if you have Gabriel on your roster, he helped get you to and through the fantasy playoffs, but he simply is not an option this week. He played less than 20 snaps last week and ran hot to get a touchdown that he didn't deserve, and cannot be projected for this game against the Panthers. Nail him to your bench in all reasonably sized leagues (12 teams and smaller).
Before the last Seahawks game, news broke that Lockett was warming up with the 1's and was likely to start/play more snaps than Jermaine Kearse, and he made Pete Carroll look like a genius with 130 yards and a touchdown on eight targets. The Seahawks are not in an obviously great spot this week against the Cardinals, but Arizona's defense has been giving up explosive plays and conceding over their expected Vegas total consistently down the stretch. Lockett is a WR2 quality play this week.
Walker is the only tight end in the league who is tied or leading his team in targets as of this moment. Of course that is a result of Rob Gronkowski being lost for the year and Jordan Reed being in and out of the Washington lineup, but Walker's volume totals are inspiring at the tight end position. In daily fantasy contests he is a bargain, and he's someone that I will be starting without regret in one fantasy championship.
The Chargers have the matchup to end all matchups this week against the Browns, and only three touchdowns stand between Gates and the all-time tight end record. My supposition is not that Gates is a capital-L Lock to get all three of those touchdowns in Week 16, but both coach Mike McCoy and quarterback Philip Rivers have told the media they want to get Gates those touchdowns this year and that it will be a factor in their play-calling. If you are an underdog in your championship or are having trouble selling yourself on another mid-range tight end, Gates in this cupcake matchup has to be interesting.
Brandin Cooks / Michael Thomas
I have touched on these two receivers countless times in this space, but after last week's heroics from Cooks, I feel the need to do so again. Thomas is simply the better player and better week-to-week fantasy option. It's entirely possible that Cooks outscores Thomas this week against the Bucs and even over the remainder of this year, BUT… fantasy is a weekly game. You don't get to carry over Cooks' 40 pointer from last week to this week, and you are more likely to get a positive result from Thomas than from Cooks against Tampa Bay due to total target volume and red zone prowess
The emergence of Tom Savage under center was huge for Hopkins' fantasy value. Chances are, if you are in a fantasy championship, Hopkins is not on your roster, or if he is, you made it there in spite of him. If you held on all season long, your reward is coming this week against the Jaguars. The Texans don't have an insane team total or any other overwhelming indicators other than the fact that Savage is not going to play scared the way that Brock Osweiler did. Osweiler's inability to throw down the field or make challenging throws to the sideline killed Hopkins' value, and that will not be holding him back this week.
