{"id":259611,"date":"2025-12-19T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T14:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=259611"},"modified":"2025-12-18T19:51:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T00:51:38","slug":"fantasy-football-rankings-top-quarterbacks-for-week-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/12\/19\/fantasy-football-rankings-top-quarterbacks-for-week-16\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Football Rankings: Top Quarterbacks for Week 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, you’ve made it! If you’re still reading this Week 16 quarterback rankings article, that hopefully means that you’re still playing in your season-long fantasy football league. For most leagues, making it to Week 16 means that you’ve made it to the final 4, and hopefully, that means you aren’t scrambling for a quarterback for this week’s semi-final matchup. Some of us aren’t quite so lucky, as we suffered an unimaginable loss in Week 15 when Patrick Mahomes went down with just 20 seconds remaining in the Chiefs’<\/a> loss to the Chargers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To make things even more difficult, there are a few more teams that have joined the Chiefs in the dreaded “See you next year society,” including the Dolphins<\/a>, who have decided to bench Tua in favor of rookie Quinn Ewers. I’m sure there is at least one poor soul out there who has Tua sitting on his bench in case something happened to Mahomes, and their first thought after the injury news was, “At least Tua has a good matchup against the Bengals<\/a>.” If you don’t have another viable backup on your roster, the waiver wire probably is filled with a bunch of names like Brady Cook, Tyler Shough, Gardner Minshew, Shadeur Sanders, Quin Ewers, Kenny Pickett, and Philip Rivers.<\/p>\n

Yeah, that’s how bad things are in the league right now. All of those guys are actually being counted on to lead a football team’s offense this weekend. If those are your choices, you have my condolences, but I would suggest taking a shot on Minshew or Shough from that list. If any of C.J. Stroud, Kirk Cousins, Bryce Young or even Aaron Rodgers are out there, they would make better band aids than the aforementioned lot. OK, that’s enough of the negative stuff. Let’s focus on the positives for this week and take a look at the top ten options for week 16 at the quarterback position.<\/p>\n

Week 16 Quarterback Rankings<\/h2>\n

1) Jalen Hurts vs. Commanders<\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hurts basically played half the game last week vs. the Raiders<\/a> and still got us 22.9 fantasy points, which was good enough for him to finish as the overall QB9 for the week. The Commanders<\/a> offer a similarly weak defense but with a much better offense, which Marcus Mariota has been doing a solid job leading for the past few weeks. This is the type of matchup we love, so get Hurts in there. I highly doubt that you are deciding between Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts, but if you are, I would lean toward Hurts for this week.<\/p>\n

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For more help with your fantasy football playoff lineups, check out our Week 16 Start’Em Sit’Em<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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2) Josh Allen vs. Browns<\/h3>\n
\"Josh
Photo Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you have Josh Allen and you’re still reading this, congratulations. You nailed this pick, and Allen has likely been carrying your team all season long. You don’t need me to tell you to start him. The weather in Cleveland is supposed to be a balmy 31 degrees with 16 miles per hour winds. Usually, we start to worry about the wind when it gets over 15 mph, but let’s face it, they can play this game at the bottom of the ocean, and you’ll still be starting Allen. The Browns<\/a> are still #1 in the league against the pass, but they’ve been getting run on a bit as of late. Let’s hope that Allen can get us a rushing score or two in the early part of the game, as I don’t expect this to be much of a contest.<\/p>\n

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3) Drake Maye vs. Ravens<\/h3>\n
\"Week
Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The dream fantasy season continued last week as Maye was able to post a nice and easy 20.5 fantasy points against the Bills<\/a>, finishing the week as the QB13 in fantasy. That broke a string of four straight games where he finished the week as a top 12 option, a feat he has accomplished in all but 3 of his 13 starts this season. He’s had an amazing year, and this week he gets a soft Baltimore<\/a> pass defense that is still ranked 26th in the league against the pass, despite holding Joe Burrow to basically nothing last week.<\/p>\n

4) Justin Herbert vs. Cowboys<\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: Corey Perrine\/Florida Times-Union<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Herbert has not eclipsed 20 fantasy points in a game since November 2, against the Titans<\/a>. Over those last five games, he has actually failed to even surpass 15 fantasy points, and it includes a total stinker of a game back in week 12 against the Jaguars<\/a>, where he gave us a big fat 4.34 points. His offensive line is in shambles, and the running game isn’t even close to what it was earlier in the season. Add in the fact that Father Time has caught Keenan Allen and the clock has struck 12 on Quenten Johnston, turning him back into a pumpkin that can’t catch, and you have to wonder why on Earth I would advocate for starting Herbert in this all-important fantasy week. It’s pretty simple. It’s the Cowboys<\/a>. So far this year, every single quarterback has surpassed his projected point total when he’s faced the Dallas defense. This week, I expect Herbert to play like the guy who was a top 4 quarterback in the league for three straight weeks before things went south back in week 10.<\/p>\n

5) Joe Burrow vs. Dolphins<\/h3>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Last week could have gone better for Joe Cool and the Bengals. They were “officially” eliminated from the playoff race after suffering their 10th loss. Yeah, I know how silly that sounds. Burrow doesn’t seem like he’s into playing these games, but coach Zach Taylor insists that the team wants to win these last three games to get back on track for next season. If the desire to do well is still there, the Dolphins offer a pretty nice matchup for Burrow to put up points. The game will also be played in a much warmer environment than most of the other games, so there’s a decent chance that the Bengals go out there and just play to pad stats. Ja’Marr Chase is 26 receptions shy of the Bengals’ record that he set just last year, so there’s a chance that he goes out there this week and piles up 10+ grabs to make breaking that record a real possibility over the final two games. It’s not the ideal situation, but Burrow is still the best play out of the rest of the QBs available.<\/p>\n

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6) Jared Goff vs. Steelers<\/h3>\n
\"Jared
Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The game is at home, so that’s a huge plus. The game is coming after a Lions<\/a> loss, another plus. Goff gets the take on a Steelers<\/a> defense that is ranked 27th in the league against the pass, which makes three! Fire him up and hope that Aaron Rodgers can do some damage against Detroit’s banged-up secondary, forcing the Lions to stay in attack mode all game long.<\/p>\n

7) Lamar Jackson vs. Patriots<\/h3>\n
\"Lamar
Photo Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lamar didn’t need to do very much last week against a Bengals team that basically just didn’t show up to play. This matchup isn’t ideal, but it isn’t bad either, as New England<\/a> ranks 15th against the pass, but a slightly weaker 19th in the league against the QB position in fantasy this season. If you’ve made it this far with Jackson as your quarterback, that means you did a great job drafting the rest of your team. Leave him in your lineup as he still has top 5 potential thanks to his legs making a bit of a comeback over the last two games. If he gets us 7+ rush attempts, he’s going to have a solid fantasy day. You’re playing with your fantasy life on the line, don’t bench Lamar unless you have a very strong second option.<\/p>\n

8) Dak Prescott vs. Chargers<\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dak struggled last week with a very tough Minnesota<\/a> defense, and this week he gets a Chargers team that is ranked #2 in the league overall and 3rd against the pass. The matchup isn’t the best, but Dak is going to have to chuck the ball close to 40 times as he does every week. Last week was just the third time all season that Prescott failed to throw a TD pass, and I think he manages to throw more than one this week.<\/p>\n

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9) Matthew Stafford vs. Seahawks<\/h3>\n

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Stafford has been the single best late-round pick in fantasy this year. His owners have to love how Sean McVay has been running the Rams<\/a> offense, especially with how often they throw the ball when they get in the red zone. Stafford should be ranked much higher, but I am a bit worried about this matchup on a short week in Seattle in the rain. The Seahawks<\/a> have a tough defense, and Stafford will most likely have to get through this game without Davante Adams. The last time these two teams played, Stafford had one of his worst fantasy games of the season, finishing the contest with just 13.2 fantasy points.<\/p>\n

10) Jacoby Brissett vs. Falcons<\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This guy basically saved the season for those of us who drafted Kyler Murray and made it a dream season for those of us who drafted Trey McBride. If you drafted Kyler in the middle to late rounds of this year’s draft, he did ok through the first five games of the season, averaging just over 16 fantasy points per game with seven total touchdowns. He also had the decency to get hurt at the very end of the Tennessee game, so his owners didn’t get a single-digit day hung on them. Since Brissett took over in Week 6, he has not finished a week lower than the QB12 and has averaged 20.5 fantasy points per week. If we combine the two players into one, we have the overall QB7, ranking just behind Jalen Hurts.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind, all of this is assuming the Kyler owners have the foresight to grab Brissett when Murray went down. Either way, if you have the Cardinals<\/a> QB, fire him up this week. My one word of warning here is that I think the Cardinals have a great shot at winning this game. As great as Brissett has been in fantasy, the Cardinals are 1-8 in his nine starts, and the game they won was against the Cowboys and their league-worst pass defense. There’s a chance that he struggles to put up a top 12 week in a game that Arizona may actually find themselves running out the clock in the 4th quarter. Don’t worry too much about that since Arizona doesn’t have much in the way of a running game to lean on.<\/p>\n

Some other solid starts for this week are Bo Nix against the Jaguars, Baker Mayfield against Carolina<\/a>, and Jordan Love against the Bears. Be careful with Trevor Lawrence this week against a tough Denver<\/a> defense, as well as Jaxson Dart against a Vikings defense that hasn’t allowed a single passing touchdown over their last five games. Good luck!!<\/p>\n

For more great fantasy football analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, you’ve made it! If you’re still reading this Week 16 quarterback rankings article, that hopefully means that you’re still playing in your season-long fantasy football league. For most leagues, making it to Week 16 means that you’ve made it to the final 4, and hopefully, that means you aren’t scrambling for a quarterback for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":259622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,33912],"tags":[2320,31910],"class_list":["post-259611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-fantasy-rankings","tag-nfl-schedule","tag-quarterback-rankings"],"modified_by":"Doug Henderson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259611"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":259625,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259611\/revisions\/259625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}