Week 16 Thursday Fantasy Football Start/Sit Decisions: Matthew Stafford, Chris Olave, Derek Carr, Puka Nacua, Taysom Hill, Cooper Kupp and More

Week 16 of the NFL season is nearly here, so it’s time to start addressing some start/sit questions.

We’ll start with trending players on the FantasySP “Who Should I Start?” tool from Thursday’s game between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints.

Also be sure to check out the Thursday night game outlook and preview/bet/prop stories that were published earlier.

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Quarterback Debate

New Orleans’ Derek Carr and especially Los Angeles’ Matthew Stafford are part of trending decisions as the Thursday game nears.

Stafford has been on fire lately, throwing multiple touchdowns in four straight games. He’s had at least 225 passing yards in those contests, and only thrown one interception in that span.

Carr is coming off arguably his best game of the season, when he threw for 218 yards, three scores and no interceptions. He’s got multiple touchdowns in each of the past two games.

Carr is part of a trending decision with Cincinnati Bengals’ Jake Browning. Stafford is part of trending decisions with Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Baker Mayfield, Detroit Lions’ Jared Goff, Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa, Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray, Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott, Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love and Browning.

Mayfield has the best matchup on paper, while Love has the toughest. In the weekly projections, Tagovailoa is the highest ranked at No. 4, while Carr comes in last at 19th.

At this point of the season, I try to stick with the players that have carried me to this point, but you also cannot ignore the matchup.

Prescott has been the best of the bunch this season, and in a pretty average matchup against the Dolphins this week, I’m comfortable taking him first. I like Murray’s matchup with the Chicago Bears enough to take the Cardinals’ QB second. I’d then roll with Goff against the Minnesota Vikings.

Give me Mayfield fourth coming off a big week and with a favorable matchup ahead with the Jacksonville Jaguars. I’d then take Tagovailoa against the Cowboys, followed by Stafford against the Saints. I’d wrap things up by taking Carr against the Rams, Love against the Carolina Panthers and Browning against the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Wide Receiver Debate

Los Angeles’ Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp and New Orleans’ Chris Olave are popular names at the wide receiver position.

Nacua has been the Rams’ top wideout this season, catching 87-of-134 targets for 1,163 yards and four touchdowns. He’s had seven or eight targets in each of the past four weeks. Nacua has topped 50 yards in each of the past three games and scored once over that span.

Kupp has dealt with a few injuries, but is shining of late. He’s caught 49 of the 77 passes thrown his way for 658 yards and four scores this season. Kupp has between 8-10 targets the past three weeks, with a touchdown in each of those games and back-to-back 100+ yard outings.

Olave looks like he’ll return to the field after missing week 15. Olave has been the team’s top pass catcher most of the season, making 72 grabs on 116 targets for 918 yards and four touchdowns. In his past three games played, his targets have dipped from nine to eight to five. Over his past four games played, he’s topped 90 yards three times, scoring twice in that span and three times in the past five games.

Olave is part of trending decisions with Nacua, Cincinnati Bengals’ Tee Higgins, Miami Dolphins’ Jaylen Waddle and Tennessee Titans’ DeAndre Hopkins. Nacua is also in decisions against Las Vegas Raiders’ Davante Adams, Indianapolis Colts’ Michael Pittman, San Francisco 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk and Philadelphia Eagles’ DeVonta Smith. Kupp is up against Adams in another trending decision.

This is a very talented group of receivers, and you would probably be best served to get as many of them in your lineup as you can. Aiyuk is the highest ranked in the weekly projections at sixth, while Hopkins is the lowest at 26th.

As for the matchups, Smith has the most favorable one, while Kupp, Nacua, Waddle and Pittman are all tied for the toughest.

I’d play the matchups a bit more with receivers, but still want to try to play the wideouts that got me to this point (although most of these guys have scored a similar amount of fantasy points). Unfortunately, a couple of them are banged up, and a few others have injury question marks around them that make determining the best starters right now a bit of a challenge. I’m just going to go with my gut regarding some of the injuries to the players or their teammates.

I like Olave as the best option among this group of receivers - the matchup is good and he should be targeted heavily. Give me Smith next against the New York Giants, followed by Hopkins against the Seattle Seahawks.

I like Kupp next, then Pittman is his clash with the Atlanta Falcons. I’d take Nacua here and then Waddle against the Cowboys. I’d wrap things up with Aiyuk against the Ravens, Adams against the Kansas City Chiefs and finally Higgins against the Steelers. 

I explained this a bit in my Thursday night game outlook story, but I like Kupp over Nacua based on the stats each has produced over the most recent games. As for the low ranking for Aiyuk - who has been one of the top fantasy wideouts most of the season - I see that contest as a low-scoring one, and without a touchdown, I see Aiyuk with a very average fantasy outing. For my top options, I tried to take players with the highest floors, as a dud showing now can be enough to end your fantasy season.

Tight End Debate

New Orleans’ Taysom Hill shows up in a few trending decisions at the tight end spot.

The do-it-all tight end has rushed for 347 yards and four touchdowns, caught 27-of-34 targets for 233 yards and a score and completed 5-of-9 passes for 72 yards and one touchdown.

Hill has topped 50 combined rushing and receiving yards in seven games this season, although he’s coming off a game in which he had just 5 yards. After scoring four times over a three-game span in the middle of the season, Hill has just one touchdown in the four games since.

Looking at defensive rankings against tight ends doesn’t really apply to Hill because he isn’t strictly a tight end. The Rams’ defense slows the run pretty well, is average in slowing receivers and struggles against tight ends. I’d say it’s a slightly-above average matchup for Hill, and expect him to excel most as a pass catcher.

Hill is part of trending decisions with Giants’ Darren Waller and Eagles’ Dallas Goedert. Hill is projected at six fantasy points, as are Waller and Goedert.

The Giants play the Eagles, which sets up as a pretty average matchup for Waller and below-average matchup for Goedert.

Waller and Goedert haven’t delivered consistently all season, and because Hill can do so many things on the field, I’d take him first because of his upside. I’d give Waller the nod over Goedert based on the matchup, but really it’s a coin flip between those two.

Best of luck in week 16!