The Minnesota Vikings will face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 16. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding RB Aaron Jones.
Is Aaron Jones Playing in Week 16?
Jones is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Vikings’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Aaron Jones in Week 16?
Jones has not been Josh Jacobs-levels of good, but he’s been great, and fantasy managers can feel good about counting on him this week against a defense that allows the fifth-most yards per carry before contact to running backs.
Jones has multiple receptions in four straight games and at least 15 carries in six of his past eight. This isn’t the type of running back with a clean path to top-five value, but safely sliding into the top 20 seems safe, and that’ll work this time of year.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Week 16 Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Aaron Jones’ Fantasy Points Projection in Week 16
As of Sunday morning, Jones is projected to score 14.8 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 16.9 rushing attempts for 82.9 yards and 0.3 touchdowns. It also includes 1.3 receptions for 18.7 yards and 0.2 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insight on the Seahawks' Defense
The Seahawks' win streak ended with Sunday night's loss to the Packers. The defense wasn't a disaster, but it did regress slightly from the much-improved level they had shown since the Week 10 bye.
The Seahawks posted a 73.1 (C) grade, their fifth-lowest of the season and lowest since Week 11. Much of that regression came on defense, where Seattle failed to record a sack despite posting the second-best pressure rate without blitzing (52.6%) of any team in Week 15.
As a result, the Seahawks averaged their second-worst EPA per dropback (-0.51) and pass success rate (39.3%) on defense all season. Both those figures were among the bottom four for teams this week.
That weakness has unfortunately been an issue all year. Seattle ranks 10th in pressure rate but only 23rd in sack rate this season. When they do get pressure, they only bring the quarterback down for a sack 18.6% of the time, the seventh-worst pressure-to-sack conversion rate for any defense in 2024.
This unit will have extra pressure on it if Geno Smith is out for any period of time. With the Los Angeles Rams streaking and a difficult game coming up in Week 16 vs. Minnesota, the Seahawks will likely need another surge from the defense to make the Week 18 rematch vs. the Rams a meaningful one.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Aaron Jones’ Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 6:05 AM ET on Sunday, December 22. If you're in a Superflex league, make sure you check out our Weekly Consensus Superflex Rankings.
Week 16 RB PPR Rankings
1) Bijan Robinson | ATL (vs. NYG)
2) Saquon Barkley | PHI (at WAS)
3) Derrick Henry | BAL (vs. PIT)
4) Josh Jacobs | GB (vs. NO)
5) Jahmyr Gibbs | DET (at CHI)
6) Chase Brown | CIN (vs. CLE)
7) De'Von Achane | MIA (vs. SF)
8) James Conner | ARI (at CAR)
9) Kyren Williams | LAR (at NYJ)
10) Joe Mixon | HOU (at KC)
11) Jonathan Taylor | IND (vs. TEN)
12) Chuba Hubbard | CAR (vs. ARI)
13) Rico Dowdle | DAL (vs. TB)
14) Bucky Irving | TB (at DAL)
15) Aaron Jones | MIN (at SEA)
16) James Cook | BUF (vs. NE)
17) Tony Pollard | TEN (at IND)
18) Brian Robinson Jr. | WAS (vs. PHI)
19) Rhamondre Stevenson | NE (at BUF)
20) Isiah Pacheco | KC (vs. HOU)
21) D'Andre Swift | CHI (vs. DET)
22) Rachaad White | TB (at DAL)
23) Zach Charbonnet | SEA (vs. MIN)
24) Breece Hall | NYJ (vs. LAR)
25) Jerome Ford | CLE (at CIN)
26) Najee Harris | PIT (at BAL)
27) Tyrone Tracy Jr. | NYG (at ATL)
28) Tank Bigsby | JAX (at LV)
29) Kendre Miller | NO (at GB)
30) Travis Etienne Jr. | JAX (at LV)
31) Patrick Taylor Jr. | SF (at MIA)
32) Jaylen Warren | PIT (at BAL)
33) Kimani Vidal | LAC (vs. DEN)
34) Tyjae Spears | TEN (at IND)
35) Javonte Williams | DEN (at LAC)
36) Kareem Hunt | KC (vs. HOU)
37) Justice Hill | BAL (vs. PIT)
38) Tyler Allgeier | ATL (vs. NYG)
39) Cam Akers | MIN (at SEA)
40) Braelon Allen | NYJ (vs. LAR)
41) Gus Edwards | LAC (vs. DEN)
42) Isaiah Davis | NYJ (vs. LAR)
43) Raheem Mostert | MIA (vs. SF)
44) Devin Singletary | NYG (at ATL)
45) Kenneth Gainwell | PHI (at WAS)
46) Blake Corum | LAR (at NYJ)
47) Alexander Mattison | LV (vs. JAX)
48) Antonio Gibson | NE (at BUF)
49) Ty Johnson | BUF (vs. NE)
50) Roschon Johnson | CHI (vs. DET)
51) Ameer Abdullah | LV (vs. JAX)
52) Israel Abanikanda | SF (at MIA)
53) Will Shipley | PHI (at WAS)
54) Jeremy McNichols | WAS (vs. PHI)
55) Ray Davis | BUF (vs. NE)
56) D'Onta Foreman | CLE (at CIN)
57) Jaylen Wright | MIA (vs. SF)
58) Audric Estimé | DEN (at LAC)
59) Cordarrelle Patterson | PIT (at BAL)
60) Sean Tucker | TB (at DAL)
61) Kenny McIntosh | SEA (vs. MIN)
62) Kenneth Walker III | SEA (vs. MIN)
63) Ezekiel Elliott | DAL (vs. TB)
64) Chris Rodriguez Jr. | WAS (vs. PHI)
65) Emanuel Wilson | GB (vs. NO)
66) Khalil Herbert | CIN (vs. CLE)
67) Chris Brooks | GB (vs. NO)
68) Mike Boone | CAR (vs. ARI)
69) Dare Ogunbowale | HOU (at KC)
70) Samaje Perine | KC (vs. HOU)
71) Hunter Luepke | DAL (vs. TB)
72) Dameon Pierce | HOU (at KC)
73) Kyle Juszczyk | SF (at MIA)
74) Jamaal Williams | NO (at GB)
75) Pierre Strong Jr. | CLE (at CIN)
76) Trey Sermon | IND (vs. TEN)
77) Hassan Haskins | LAC (vs. DEN)
78) Ty Chandler | MIN (at SEA)
79) Tyler Goodson | IND (vs. TEN)
80) Ke'Shawn Vaughn | SF (at MIA)
81) Michael Burton | DEN (at LAC)
82) Eric Gray | NYG (at ATL)
83) Darrynton Evans | BUF (vs. NE)
84) Alec Ingold | MIA (vs. SF)
85) Dylan Laube | LV (vs. JAX)
86) Carson Steele | KC (vs. HOU)
87) C.J. Ham | MIN (at SEA)
88) Keilan Robinson | JAX (at LV)
89) Craig Reynolds | DET (at CHI)
90) Patrick Ricard | BAL (vs. PIT)
91) DeeJay Dallas | ARI (at CAR)
92) George Holani | SEA (vs. MIN)
93) Rasheen Ali | BAL (vs. PIT)
94) Adam Prentice | NO (at GB)
95) Julius Chestnut | TEN (at IND)
96) Travis Homer | CHI (vs. DET)
Vikings at Seahawks Trends and Insights
Minnesota Vikings
Team: Minnesota has won their past two games by a total of 39 points -- their first five wins during this streak came by a total of 27 points.
QB: For the first time this season, Sam Darnold failed to throw multiple touchdown passes in a true home game (and it came in his highest attempt effort of the season).
Offense: The Vikings picked up third-and-10 (or more) three times in the first half on Monday night against the Bears, the first time they've done that since Week 3, 2012 (vs. 49ers).
Defense: One week after allowing the Falcons to pick up 53.8% of third downs (their worst defensive showing of the season), the Vikings posted their best mark of 2024 against the Bears on Monday night (one-of-12, 8.3%).
Fantasy: Darnold was intercepted in the second quarter on a fourth down pass that the Bears didn't have a chance to advance -- Chicago would have gained more from letting the pass fall incomplete, but instead, they made a play that added two (in most scoring formats) to their total and subtracted two from that of Darnold.
Betting: Overs are 11-1 in Minnesota’s past 12 games played on short rest.
Seattle Seahawks
Team: Seattle has a pair of NFC North games over the next two weeks. This season, they are 0-2 against the North (-30 point differential) and 8-4 against the rest of the NFL (+32 point differential).
QB: Geno Smith and Jameis Winston are tied for the most end zone interceptions thrown this season with four – Smith had three in his career prior to this year.
Offense: The Seahawks scored a touchdown on just one-of-12 drives during their loss to the Packers last week – their 8.3% TD rate being their loss of the season (they are 6-1 this season when finding paydirt on over 20% of their drives this season)
Defense: Sunday night against Green Bay was the third time this season that Seattle had a higher blitz rate (32.1% of dropbacks) than pressure rate (28.6%) and its third game without a sack.
Fantasy: DK Metcalf was on the field for 92.9% of Seattle’s snaps on Sunday night but saw just 27 air yards worth of targets, the second-lowest mark of his career.
Betting: Five of the first six Seahawk games this season went over the total, and the unders have been 6-2 since.