Sneaky Starts: Week 16

Dec 20, 2013

Welcome to the final Sneaky Starts of the season. My colleague, Pat Fitzmaurice, will cover a few plug-and-play possibilities in his Week 17 Waiver Wire Watch so if your league continues through Week 17, be sure to check it out next week.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you, gentle 4for4 subscriber, for another outstanding year. We realize that you have a choice in where you get your fantasy football information and we thank you for your business. (Man, I sound like a flight attendant.)

On to the sneakiness…

Last week our Sneaky Starts included Matt Cassel (QB4), Matt Flynn (QB5), Kirk Cousins (QB6), Ryan Tannehill (QB8), E.J. Manuel (QB9), Jay Cutler (QB11), Matt Asiata (RB2), DeAngelo Williams (RB4), Rashad Jennings (RB5), Rashard Mendenhall (RB8), Andre Ellington (RB15), Jordan Todman (RB16), Greg Jennings (WR2), Julian Edelman (WR4), Doug Baldwin (WR14), Danny Amendola (WR15), Cordarelle Patterson (WR23), Andrew Quarless (TE4) and Delanie Walker (TE8).

At 4for4, we use Adjusted Fantasy Points Allowed (aFPA) by position heavily in our rankings and analyses. I'll include the matchup and the positional aFPA ranking in parenthesis after each player's name.

Note: These recommendations do not override our weekly rankings, which are updated throughout the week and weekend.

Let's take a look at some of the best Sneaky Starts for Week 16:

Redskins QB Kirk Cousins (vs. DAL, 30)
Cousins has two career starts under his belt. In Week 15 of last year, he threw for 329 yards and 2 TDs against the Browns. Last week, he tossed three TDs to go along with 381 yards passing against the Falcons. This week, he has the Cowboys. There’s always some risk in starting a relatively unproven player, but all signs point to a nice game for Cousins.

Titans QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (@ JAX, 27)
Since taking over in Week 10, Fitzy is the #3 QB in fantasy football. He has disappointed in big spots before — as recently as Week 14 against the Broncos — but he should be able to post a nice fantasy line against the Jaguars this week.

Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill (@ BUF, 10)
Tannehill is quietly the #12 QB in fantasy. He has tossed six TDs in the last two weeks and threw three TDs against the Bills back in Week 7. Buffalo is not a great matchup and the weather is a concern, but Tannehill is playing good football right now.

Browns QB Jason Campbell (@ NYJ, 20)
He’ll likely be without Jordan Cameron, but Campbell has a pretty nice matchup against the Jets and is throwing to Josh Gordon, who is arguably the hottest WR in the league right now.