Alvin Kamara is dealing with a groin injury and is unlikely to play on Monday against the Packers and could be out for the season. Kendre Miller is in line for a big workload after getting 19 touches the last two games upon his return off the injured reserve.

David Montgomery was ruled out earlier in the week with an MCL injury, setting up Jahmyr Gibbs as the top-ranked running back for most of our rankers. Nick Chubb and Sincere McCormick were also ruled out for the season.

Kenneth Walker was a full participant in practice Thursday after missing the last two games with a calf injury, while Zach Charbonnet was limited with an oblique injury.

As always, continue to grind the waiver wire and even if you don’t need to start these running backs, add them to block your opponent.

Chargers Light Up Thursday Night Football: A fun game ended with the Chargers coming back to defeat the Broncos, 34-27. Justin Herbert threw for 284 yards, 2 TDs, and ran for 28 yards. Bad beat alert: Herbert was tagged with -17 rushing yards on three rushing plays trying to run out the clock. Hope that doesn’t cost any fantasy managers who started Herbert a shot at the finals.

Ladd McConkey (6-87) was the leading receiver on a night when 20 different pass catchers registered receptions (10 on each team). Gus Edwards was planted on many fantasy benches with 68 rushing yards and a pair of trips to the painted area. His 14 rush attempts outpaced the rest of the LA RBs, who combined for 6 totes. Bo Nix passed for 263 yards and 2 TDs, rushing for 25 more yards, still helping anyone who started him.

What else is in today’s newsletter?

1. Week 16 Start/Sit: Start this rookie in the semis?

2. Watercooler: It’s way over time for Trey McBride.
   

A Must-Start RB in Tennessee

By John Laghezza and Gene Clemons

Welcome back to your favorite Start/Sit column, where John Laghezza and Gene Clemons dig deep into a fantasy football bag of tricks with non-obvious, outside-the-box lineup advice. John's a numbers guy (who writes our newsletter), and Gene is a literal football coach (who is on both our LG show and SiriusXM shows).

Let's jump in.

Have a Start/Sit dilemma of your own? Consult our data-backed Start/Sit tool with your custom league settings for the best answer!

Laghezza's Week 16 RBs To Start

Jets (vs Rams)—We successfully faded New York all year, rightfully trashing them the whole time—only for me to turn around and recommend Jets in a most critical spot last week. Well, somehow it actually worked—and now we may need to go back to the well. Ah, the poetic cruelty of fantasy football.

Don’t look now but in perfect Jets’ fashion, we may finally be seeing the offensive continuity promised at the outset. Right on time, too (eye roll). Someone apparently yelled “Contact!” and manually spun the Jets’ propeller when the calendar hit December. After not scoring +24 points all season, NYJ just dropped +27 in three of four. Woohoo. Aaron Rodgers not only posted his two best passing games of the year (628-4-0), the old man looked pretty spry … even rushing for 45 yards!

It’s been rough sledding for Breece Hall, posting just a single RB1 finish since Week 8.  But he brought me to the party and we’re dancing together. Hall and the Jets surprised the fantasy world with a start last week, in which he scored but most importantly finished healthy. Worth noting, backup Braelon Allen left the game with a back injury that I highly doubt he’ll return from Sunday. Backfield opportunities narrowing down to a lone pair of tailbacks anywhere, let alone a potential shootout suddenly gets very interesting in a tight spot.

Hard not to love the LAR matchup to boot—the Rams’ interior defense couldn’t stop a snail race with a salt shaker on the ground this month. The Rams are 30th or worse in defensive EPA/rush (-0.07), rushing yards/game (155.8), yards/carry (5.6), yards before contact/rush (2.25), and +20-yard carries (4). In desperate need of double-digit touches? Queue up dual-threat backup Isaiah Davis as well.

Gene’s Bold Prediction: Start Michael Penix Jr.

Atlanta is turning to Penix looking for better, more consistent performance from the QB position. Penix was the Falcons’ first-round pick for a reason—he's a big-arm quarterback who has a level of athleticism that he never showed off at Washington while he established himself as one of the best passers in college. Look for him to immediately upgrade the vertical game. His arm strength, anticipation, and willingness to throw it deep has to be exciting for fantasy managers of all the Falcons skill position players. He is stepping in to lead a team with legit weapons at receiver and running back. If you're still alive in the playoffs but you do not feel good about your quarterback, Penix could be a great alternative, especially when you consider the team faces the Giants defense—they're missing several key members of their starting lineup, especially in the secondary.

RELATED CONTENT

• Chris Allen trusts Davante Adams in the Week 16 WR matchups.

• 32 teams, 32 facts. Ian Hartitz breaks down everything you need to know.

The Best Sweat in Fantasy Football Just Got Sweatier.

Playoff Guillotine League contests are now LIVE.

The latest analysis and insights from our merry band of football nerds:

🤝 Get caught up on everything you need for Week 16 … the cheat sheet is live.

🤷🏻 Is this the week Trey McBride scores? Ian, Dwain, and Freedman discuss.

❤️ No invitation necessary for Matthew’s Week 16 Love/Hate. Come as you are.

💸 Which players are close to hitting incentives or milestones? Geoff is keeping track so you can take advantage.

👀 Freedman has a new mock NFL Draft … and you’ll want to see what QB the Browns are drafting.

🕹️ Chiefs-Texans Madden NFL Cast on Peacock? Patrick Daugherty and Kyle Dvorchak have the inside scoop.

🔮 Rachaad White will find the end zone Sunday. Geoff says so here.

🏆 Fortune favors the bold, and those who started Justin Herbert on TNF. 

Welcome back! As always, below is the answer to yesterday’s question (After Rams-49ers in Week 16, what three other teams have played a game without scoring a touchdown?):

A: Steelers twice (Week 11 vs. Ravens; Week 1 vs. Falcons), Commanders (Week 2 vs. Giants), Vikings (Week 12 vs. Jaguars)

Now … let’s get into today’s Fantasy Life Trivia question!

Q: Joe Burrow threw his 36th touchdown pass of the season on in Week 16, breaking his own franchise record. Who are the two other quarterbacks who have thrown at least 30 touchdown passes with the Bengals?

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