Week 16 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Options at QB and RB: Baker Mayfield, Jake Browning, Derek Carr, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Chase Brown and More

Week 15 of the NFL season is almost in the books, so it’s time to start looking ahead to waiver wire options for week 16.

Because a number of fantasy leagues have started the playoffs now, I’m going to bump the own percentage to 70 or below for this discussion. We’ll focus on quarterbacks and running backs first.

Explore the best in-season tool to manage lineup/start decisions including predictive waiver analytics to help prioritize waiver pickups, projections, auction values, trade suggestions, trade value charts, rest of season rankings, power rankings, and tons more with Fantasy Assistant. Use our fantasy football trade analyzer to break down trade scenarios.

Quarterback Options

Las Vegas Raiders’ Aidan O’Connell, Indianapolis Colts’ Gardner Minshew, New Orleans Saints’ Derek Carr, Cleveland Browns’ Jake Browning, Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield, and Cleveland Browns’ Joe Flacco are the guys I want to discuss this week.

O’Connell lit it up on Thursday night, throwing for 248 yards and four touchdowns, while avoiding any turnovers. It was his first multi-touchdown performance across eight games.

O’Connell has the Kansas City Chiefs in week 16. He threw for 248 yards and a touchdown (without an interception) three weeks ago in the team’s first matchup.

Minshew tossed three touchdowns and no picks while going for 215 passing yards on Sunday. Turnovers have really been his only negative this season, otherwise he’s been an average fantasy QB or better.

Minshew will have a tougher test against the Atlanta Falcons in week 16.

Carr finally delivered a big-time showing for the Saints in their win over the New York Giants. Carr was 23-of-28 for 218 yards and three touchdowns. He avoided any turnovers.

Carr will battle the Los Angeles Rams in week 16, which sets up as a favorable matchup on paper.

Browning was electric again for Cincinnati in their overtime win over the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday. He threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns, while tossing one pick.

Browning will next face the Pittsburgh Steelers. They met a few weeks ago, with Browning tallying 227 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Mayfield torched the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, completing 22-of-28 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns. He lost a fumble, but didn’t throw a pick.

Mayfield will be taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 16. That’s a really favorable matchup for him on paper.

Flacco threw for 374 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, but also threw three interceptions. He’s over 250 yards and has at least two passing touchdowns in all three of his starts for the Browns.

Flacco takes on the Houston Texans in week 16, which is another favorable matchup.

I like a lot of these quarterbacks for week 16, with the favorable matchups being a big reason why. I’d target the best matchups if I was after a streaming option.

After his huge outing Sunday and with a great matchup ahead, I’d try my luck with Mayfield first. I’d roll with Carr next, and then Flacco. I’d take Minshew next, Browning after that and O’Connell to round things out.

Running Back Options

There aren't very many running backs that fit the 70% or less criteria. Kansas City’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Jerick McKinnon, Las Vegas’ Zamir White, Cincinnati’s Chase Brown and Arizona Cardinals’ Emari Demercado are the top options.

Edwards-Helaire only rushed for 37 yards on 13 attempts in week 15, but added 64 receiving yards and a touchdown on four catches and targets.

McKinnon tallied 30 total yards on seven touches. He scored as a pass catcher.

Those two are getting more work because of the injury to Isiah Pacheco. The Chiefs’ lead back is expected to be back for week 16.

If Pacheco is back, Edwards-Helaire and McKinnon’s roles will decrease significantly. McKinnon will probably retain a bigger role because of his pass-catching ability, but CEH also showed he can help in that department.

The Chiefs play the Raiders this coming week, which sets up as a pretty favorable matchup for whatever Chiefs’ backs play.

White led the Raiders’ backfield with Josh Jacobs out for the week. He rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown on 17 attempts, while catching 3-of-4 targets for 16 yards.

If Jacobs is back, then White would only serve a complimentary role against the Chiefs, who are an average run defense. We likely won’t know the status of Jacobs until later in the week, so you’ll want to add White now in case Jacobs is ruled out later in the week.

Brown continued to be involved for the Bengals in week 15. He rushed seven times for 23 yards and caught all three of his targets for 28 yards. He’s now had over 50 scrimmage yards in the past three games.

Brown will continue serving as Joe Mixon’s top backup, but he’s getting enough work to consider as a possible flex option in week 16. He’ll be taking on a Steelers’ defense that is average in slowing opposing backs.

Demercado only got five touches in the team’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but they went for 70 total yards and a touchdown. 

With the Cardinals now eliminated from postseason contention, it would make sense for them to utilize Demercado a bit more down the stretch. The Cards will face the Chicago Bears in week 16. Chicago’s defense is below average in slowing opposing RBs.

I don’t anticipate any of these five backs getting the majority of their team’s RB touches in week 16, so I’d prioritize the guys I think get the biggest workloads. 

Give me Brown first, followed by Demercado. I’d take McKinnon next, followed by White and finally Edwards-Helaire.