Fantasy Football Week 16 - Championship Edition

So, week 16 is finally here.  Millions of people around the country will be playing either in the coveted championship round or those dreaded consolation games.  Well no matter which of the two you are playing this week I'm here to help you out.  I'm not going to say I'm a fantasy expert, but I believe I'm near that level.  Since this is the first week I'm doing this, I'm going to give you two players at each position to start.  Also, anyone can say Mike Vick or Tom Brady is going to have a good week.  So, I'm looking at players in the position who you could go to if your in a bind or maybe he is your only option.

Quarter backs:

John Skelton:  The first quarterback I'm taking this week is John Skelton.  Skelton hasn't done that bad in the last couple of weeks in relief of Kevin Kolb (concussion).  The Cardinals quarterback looks like he will get to improve on his week 15 stats: 313 yards passing, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception.  The Bengals have a pretty decent defense, but I'm sensing that these two teams might be getting into a shootout.  For this week though feel good in starting him and look for him to pass the three hundred yard mark again.  I'm feeling around 350 yards passing, 2-3 touchdowns and one interception.

Kyle Orton:  Getting waived from Denver, to beating Green Bay last week Orton is back in the fantasy world.  Last week, even though he didn't have any touchdowns, he threw for a respectable two hundred and ninety nine passing yards.  I look for him to get over three hundred again and possibly even add a couple of touchdowns.  Let's face it, the Raiders rushing defense is pretty good.  If the Chiefs saw how the Lions carved up the Raiders defense, they will look to air it out with Orton.  Look for him to get over the 350 passing mark and scoring two touchdowns in the process.

Running backs:

Sammy Morris:  Well if there is one thing that we have learned over the season, its that Felix Jones is an explosive running back, but he also gets injured a lot.  Last week, after only being signed for three days Morris got twelve carries for fifty three yards.  Look for Morris to get even more carries this week because Felix Jones is nursing a hamstring injury.  Also the other thing that is looking good for the Cowboys running backs, is they are facing a bad rushing defense, the Eagles.  Even though they have been doing better recently on defense, they still gave up seventy three yards on the ground to Shonn Greene last week.  I see Morris getting possibly close to a hundred yards and even making it into the end zone as he gets more familiar with the playbook.

Kahlil Bell:  I am a huge Kahlil Bell fan, I mean how can't you be?  That name is just awesome.  Well back to relevant facts.  After Matt Forte went down a couple of weeks ago, you figured Marion Barber would be running away in this back field.  But, after Barber was Tebowed it looks like Bell is the better option and is getting more touches in this offense.  Last week, Bell had fifteen carries for sixty five yards and five passes for forty three yards and a touchdown.  Not only is Bell starting to get more carries then Barber, but Bell is also the primary third down back.  Go with Bell this week when they face a really bad defense in Green Bay.  Look for Bell to easily get over one hundred yards and at rack up some passing yards.

Wide Receivers:

Darrius Heyward-Bey:  DHB as they call him in Oakland looks to be back to the number one receiving threat in this offense.  He started out of the gates pretty fast with Jason Campbell and slowed recently with Carson Palmer under center, but he is starting to show the skills of a first round draft pick.  Last week against Detroit he had one hundred and fifty five yards and a touchdown.  He had some impressive catches burning a defender for a huge gain.  Look for DHB to get into the end zone again this week and rack up one hundred and twenty five yards against Kansas City.

Santonio Holmes:  I was a big fan of Santonio coming in this year.  He put up pretty solid numbers last year, despite missing four games to start the season.  So after drafting him in two of my leagues this year I was totally disappointed.  He hasn't been as big of a factor as I thought with dropping some easy touchdown passes and his QB missing some wide open throws in his direction.  Though I have a feeling he is going to step up this week against the Giants.  I'm feeling Holmes gets over seventy five yards and gets a touchdown.  He doesn't dissapoint his owners this week as he has done in the past.

Tight Ends:

Vernon Davis:  I can't believe that I am putting him in this fantasy must start list.  I personally don't like Davis at all, because he has let me down to much this year.  I had him on one team, but I haven't started him since week 5.  This tight end is also very inconsistent in real life, but also for me in madden.  To my suprise he actually showed up last week with six receptions for seventy two yards and a touchdown.  I think he will most likely be in the fifty to seventy yard range again.  I have a feeling he might walk away at the end of the game with one or two touchdowns.

Brent Celek:  I'm not sure where he has been all season, but it seems like he's starting to heat up.  After torching the Jets for five receptions and one hundred and fifty six yards Celek is in for another huge week.  Not only does Dallas not have a secondary, they will be focusing on Jackson, Maclin, McCoy, and Vick more then him.  He should be wide open all day and get close to a hundred yards.

Kickers:

Sebastian Janikowski:  I love this guy.  Not only has he been the best kicker in the league for the last couple of years.  I believe he might be one of the best kickers ever.  He has one of the biggest legs I have seen in a while.  So far this year, he has hit six field goals of fifty yards or more.  The person leading in that category is the next person up in my fantasy breakdown.    He attempted a sixty five yarder this weekend and if it didn't get blocked, it was probably going in.  He would be my number one kicker this week.  I love me some Sea Bass.

David Akers:  This is the man who is leading the NFL in fifty plus yarders made.  Also on Monday he passed Jerry Rice as the 49ers all time leading score in a season.  The stats speak for themselves.  Akers is having a great first season, coming from the east coast to the west coast.  Your starting Akers if you have him on your team.

Defense:

Washington Defense (Vs. Minnesota):  What is not to love about this team, well I mean besides Rex Grossman as there quarter back.  But lucky for us, sexy rexy doesn't play on the defensive side of the ball.  The redskins defense is filled with play makers.  The defense is the main reason why they have been in a number of games this season and why they beat the Giants last week.  I'm starting this defense and I'm feeling good about it.  Christian Ponder is a little banged up and he only threw for one hundred and twenty yards against the Saints last week.  I thought everyone could move the ball against the Saints.  Well getting back on track, the Redskins defense should have a easy time against Ponder and with an ailing Peterson.  I'll take this defense all the way.

Philadelphia Defense (Vs. Dallas):   Lets stay in the NFC-East by picking the Eagles.  Their defense was atrocious early on in the season, but they finally were able to right the ship.  This Eagles team looks completely different and is rushing the quarter back really well.  Jason Babin is a sacking machine as he looks to add on to his league leading 18 sacks.  Tony Romo is a pretty solid quarter back, but he reminds me of turnover machine Rex Grossman.  I think the Eagles are going to get around two to three turn overs and another five plus sacks.  Look for the Eagles to put the nail in the coffin early in this game.

Hope you enjoyed my fantasy preview for this week.  I will have a shorter one next week because most people don't play into week 17.  If you have any questions on who to start, just comment on this post and I will get back to you.  Good luck this weekend.  Hopefully the more fortunate will come away wins in there championship games.