Fantasy Football Week 16 Wide Receiver Start/Sit: Xavier Worthy, Jaylen Waddle and More

It's Week 16, otherwise known as the fantasy football semifinals! This article will break down three wide receivers to start and three to sit in this all-important week.

But first, I'd like to take a look back at Week 15 for some accountability (or in this case, victory-lapping).

Really, I'll just let my Week 15 picks speak for themselves. My three start selections of Jauan Jennings (17.2 half-PPR points), Michael Wilson (13.9), and Jakobi Meyers (9.6) all finished as top-36 options, with the first two in the top 20. My three sit picks finished back to back to back as the WR67 (Christian Watson, 4.4 points) and WR67/68 (Michael Pittman Jr. and Stefon Diggs, 4.1 each). 

I genuinely can't ask for better results than that, so let's keep it rolling as we head into Week 16. It's the fantasy playoffs and the holidays, so let's just get started.

For more help with your toughest Week 16 start/sit decisions, check out FantasySP's start/sit tool!

Wide Receivers to Start Week 16

WR Jauan Jennings, San Francisco 49ers

Jennings just keeps racking up the points. Since Brock Purdy's return in Week 11, he has averaged 12.3 half-PPR points per game on a 19% target share and a 30% air yards share. His outlook for Week 16 only gets better with Ricky Pearsall potentially sidelined.

Matchup is also on Jennings' side this week, as the 49ers face the Colts on Monday Night Football. Indianapolis ranks as the fourth-softest opponent for fantasy receivers, and they will likely be without both Charvarius Ward (on IR with a concussion) and Sauce Gardner (DNP all of last week without a concussion). The only potential concern is that the 49ers won't have to do much to stay ahead of Philip Rivers and Co., but I still trust third and Jauan to get his along the way. 

WR Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs

Rashee Rice was placed in the concussion protocol early this week. That means Kansas City's WR1 will likely be out for their Week 16 matchup with the woeful Titans. In Rice's absence, Worthy should step up as the Chiefs' WR1. 

The second-year speedster had two healthy games prior to Rice's return from his suspension to start the season. In those games, Worthy averaged an 18% target share, a 31% air yards share, and 17.7 half-PPR points per game.

Of course, things aren't quite the same in Kansas City now as they were then. The Chiefs have been eliminated from the playoffs, and Patrick Mahomes' season is over thanks to a torn ACL. There is some risk here that, with Gardner Minshew under center and nothing to play for, the Chiefs will simply go through the motions for the next few weeks.

But, as much as we often predict otherwise, NFL players (and teams) usually try to win games. Worthy is still a young player with plenty of question marks about his future in the league. I'm sure he wants to make the most of this chance to prove he can be the team's go-to option when necessary. He's not a must-start given the questionable situation, but I like his chances to come through with at least a solid game.

WR Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Someone who is a must-start is Evans. In his first game back on the field last week, Evans immediately looked dominant. He was in a part-time role, only running 26 routes. But he racked up 10 targets (a 26% target share) on those routes. Thanks to his usual high ADOT, Evans finished with a 48% air yards share, 132 yards on six catches, and 16.23 half-PPR points.

This week, the Buccaneers face the Panthers. This is a hugely important matchup for the NFC South standings, so you can bet that Baker Mayfield will look to his go-to guy early and often. Really, the only reason I felt the need to mention Evans is that he is currently being started in just over a third of ESPN leagues — that number needs to be much, much higher. 

 Wide Receivers to Sit Week 16

WR Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Unfortunately, Evans' immediate return to dominance means something has to give in the Buccaneers' offense. Last week, that something was the role of their first-round rookie, Egbuka. 

Egbuka did see seven targets (a 21% share), but he posted just a 55% route participation rate. That was behind both Evans and Chris Godwin (93%), and only slightly ahead of Jalen McMillan (48%), who was also in his first game back. 

If Evans (or even McMillan) sees his role expand further in his second week back, Egbuka will quickly become a complete fantasy non-factor. In fact, it's fairly easy to argue that he's already unplayable at a 55% route rate — he wasn't even producing when he was the focal point of this offense with 30%+ target shares.

If you have any other options, I'd bench Egbuka this week. 

WR Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins

I'm less out on Waddle than I am on Egbuka. After all, his role should still be excellent — as much as I love Malik Washington, the Dolphins really don't have a difference-making WR2. He also has a tempting matchup against the Bengals (although Cincinnati's defense is actually a below-average opponent for WRs, allowing the fifth-fewest points to the position).

But Miami has officially benched Tua Tagovailoa, opting instead to start seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers. Maybe this is the start of Ewers' rise to stardom a la Tom Brady (or more realistically, Purdy). But the history of rookie QBs with bad draft capital in their first NFL starts is not pretty. 

Even at home against arguably the league's worst defense, Miami has just a 20.75-point team total. And I bet a lot of those implied points are either going to come from De'Von Achane (who is a fantasy machine) and Darren Waller (the Bengals are historically weak against tight ends).

Talent and role are the two most important factors in fantasy football, and they're on Waddle's side. But everything else is against him, so he's a very risky option this week. 

WR Michael Pittman Jr., Indianapolis Colts

We got our first taste of the 2025 Philip Rivers experience last week, and it wasn't pretty. The 44-year-old grandfather passed for just 120 yards. Of those yards, 46 (38%) went to running backs. Rivers' ADOT was just 5.3 yards, and his net yards per attempt was 4.21. 

It's tough to overstate how bad those numbers are. If Pittman had accounted for literally all of Rivers' yards thrown to non-RBs, he would have had 74 receiving yards … he eclipsed that number four times this season. Even in a fine matchup with the 49ers, I don't want any Colts WR in my lineup this week.