It’s our second to last week of making bold predictions this fantasy football season. Hopefully at some point along the way, one, if not more, of the calls made by the Fantrax staff helped you get a win. We’re not done yet, though. The eyes are still on the prize. Ahead of Week 16 and the fantasy football semi-finals, our group has at least one player from every skill position that could propel you into your league’s championship.
2022 NFL Week 16 Bold Predictions for Fantasy Football
Cade Otton, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bold Prediction: 5 receptions, 65 yards, 1 touchdown
17.5 fantasy points
Fantrax Writer: Colin McTamany, @Colin_McT on Twitter
Colin’s Breakdown: After seeing just one target in Week 15, my bold prediction for Cade Otton is a big bounce-back performance in Week 16. Otton is the top tight end on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In games Cameron Brate has been healthy, Otton leads the two in snaps played in every applicable game since Week 3.
Otton gets the Arizona Cardinals’ defense this week which is the absolute best matchup for tight ends. The Cardinals are allowing the most receptions, yards, and touchdowns to the position. Furthermore, the Bucs are passing at the highest-rate across the league this season. Given his role, the high-passing volume offense, and the matchup, I think Otton plays a big part in a Tampa win in Week 16 while getting into the end zone.
Tyler Allgeier, RB, Atlanta Falcons
Bold Prediction: 15 rushes, 85 yards, 1 touchdown
14.5 fantasy points
Fantrax Writer: Lauren Auerbach, @lkauerbach on Twitter
Lauren’s Breakdown: Volume is the name of the game for Tyler Allgeier. He has double-digit carries in all but three games this season, while averaging 57.2 rushing yards per game. Allgeier is fresh off a career performance where he rushed 17 times for 139 yards and a touchdown. While another 100-yard day is unlikely in Week 16, I like the rookie running back to find pay dirt in back-to-back weeks as part of my bold prediction.
The Falcons love the ground game. They’re one of the most run-heavy teams in the league, and their 457 rushing attempts this season rank as third-most. That game plan shouldn’t change in Week 16, despite a tough matchup against Baltimore. If anything, Atlanta could lean more heavily on the ground game in this one, given a shaky Desmond Ridder under center and a less-than-ideal gameday forecast. I expect Allgeier and Cordarrelle Patterson to be force-fed the ball a ton this week.
While the Ravens are a top-five run defense, they’ve been vulnerable of late. They just allowed Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt to combine for 123 rushing yards in Week 15. Additionally, they surrendered a rushing touchdown to Najee Harris in Week 14 – the first rushing score the Ravens allowed since Week 8. Atlanta’s run-first offense should be able to expose more cracks in this defense, and I’m all-in on Allgeier in Week 16.
Diontae Johnson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
Bold Prediction: 10 receptions, 95 yards, 1 touchdown
25.5 fantasy points
Fantrax Writer: Bradlee Kilgore, @SirBradleeK on Twitter
Bradlee’s Breakdown: Diontae Johnson hasn’t had the season he had last season or the season he expected to have. However, the flashes of fantasy relevance remain. Last week he had 10 catches for a season-high 98 yards, and he left the game early dealing with turf toe. The expectation is that he’ll play through that this week versus the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Steelers are home favorites in what figures to be a cold game in Pittsburgh. While the Raiders’ defense has allowed just 11 touchdowns to wide receivers this season, they’ve allowed one to the position in three of their last four games. My bold prediction centers around Diontae Johnson scoring his first touchdown of the 2022 season. He leads the league in targets without a touchdown (120), but that all ends in Week 16. The Steelers are going to pound the rock with Najee Harris then look for Diontae Johnson through the air when the time is right.
Drake London, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Bold Prediction: 9 receptions, 88 yards, 1 touchdown
23.8 fantasy points
Fantrax Writer: Michael Quintero, @WeekendMike on Twitter
Michael’s Breakdown: Drake London is on the verge of a breakout game. My bold prediction is that it happens this week against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens haven’t been strong on defending the passing game, so London should have a huge game as the main target in Atlanta. In his last two games, he had 12 and 11 targets.
In Week 13 he had six catches for 95 yards and in Week 15 he had seven catches for 70 yards. All he’s missing is a touchdown. The touchdowns will come and I think he scores this Week 16. It is only a matter of time till London breaks out, and, if he keeps seeing the same amount of targets, he will end up in the end zone with a lot of yards. I have him as a borderline WR3 with major upside in Week 16.
Gabriel Davis, WR, Buffalo Bills
Bold Prediction: 4 receptions, 120 yards, 1 touchdown
22.0 fantasy points
Fantrax Writer: Reese Jones, @PotPharma on Twitter
Reese’s Breakdown: We’ve all been waiting for that next Gabriel Davis blow-up game. When you have a player like Davis who can boom as he can, it’s hard to sit him week after week. Well, I’m here to tell you that my left shoulder is tingling. Whenever I get that feeling in my ball-and-joint socket Gabe usually goes for 20+ fantasy points. My tingly limbs aside, Gabe Davis does have a fantastic matchup. Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills will get a Chicago Bears defense that was just brutalized by Jalen Hurts and his receiving corps.
A.J. Brown absolutely bullied this defense last week compiling 181 yards on nine catches. Number two (1B) wide receiver, DeVonta Smith had a productive day against the Bears’ pass defense, as well. He was able to eclipse the century mark himself, recording five catches for 126 receiving yards.
Josh Allen and the Bills passing attack definitely have the juice to produce a similar result this week. Gabe Davis is a sleeper cell just waiting to be activated in Week 16. I’m projecting him to build upon his 4-56-0 line from last week. It’s my bold prediction that Gabe toasts this defense for a buck-twenty and a touchdown.
Also check out our Week 16 Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | Flex Rankings