The Washington Commanders will face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Commanders skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 16 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Jayden Daniels, QB
Jayden Daniels has 10 top 12 finishes this season and his ability to maximize the high-leverage spots is what has my eye.
Over his past four games, Daniels is 11 of 13 with seven touchdowns when throwing inside the red zone. His athleticism and instincts can result in big plays, but if he’ s consistently dominating these situations with his ability to make quick/accurate reads, we are talking about a true week winner.
Daniels leads the league with six games this season with at least 30 pass and seven rush attempts. I suspect we’ll see plenty of him out in space in this spot against an Eagles defense that is second best at limiting WR YAC.
Brian Robinson Jr., RB
Sunday was the ninth time this season Philadelphia didn’t allow its opponent to pick up more than 30% of its third downs. I’ve got my concerns about Washington’s ability to extend drives and thus maximize the value of its RB1, but that, at some level, is nitpicking.
I’m starting Brian Robinson Jr. wherever I have him. His nine top-25 finishes this season are a strong mark on his résumé, and I liked that I saw some creativity in this offense a week ago. Early on, they schemed up something of a sprint screen to get him in space.
The pass was technically thrown backward, so you don’t get a point for the reception while the play-by-play summary just flags it as a 20-yard run, but the thought that went into just one play was encouraging.
The Eagles own the fourth-lowest TD rate to running backs, and that removes Robinson from my DFS player pool, but in re-draft situations, I’m calling his number.
Noah Brown, WR
We knew that there was a rib injury to track with Noah Brown, but news emerged late last week that this situation turned into a lacerated kidney, a development that landed him on injured reserve.
Our search for a WR2 next to Terry McLaurin forges on – Brown is done for the regular season and that means he can safely be dropped in all redraft formats for any warm body.
Terry McLaurin, WR
Last week, Terry McLaurin became the first Washington receiver with a double-digit touchdown season since Gary Clark (1991), and he added a second score for good measure. That gives McLaurin three multi-score efforts this season — the first three such games by a Commanders receiver this millennium.
McLaurin has been even better than you want to give him credit for. I understand if looking at his career stats send regression chills down your spine, but I’d encourage you to fight that reflex. Sure, he has two more touchdown catches this season on 92 targets than he had on 252 over the two seasons prior, but all the math changed with a new coaching staff and rookie QB.
When the facts change, we change. That should be a life lesson, but, at the very least, something that you follow for fantasy.
Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson, Davante Adams, Mike Evans, and Stefon Diggs. Those were the only players to join McLaurin on the list of players with 1,000 receiving yards in every season from 2020-23. Without any context, that’s an impressive list, but when you consider Washington’s team passing ranks over that stretch, McLaurin’s production feels like a minor miracle.
- 26th in touchdown rate
- 28th in yards per attempt
- 28th in passer rating
- 29th in yards per completion
You’re playing McLaurin this week. He’s earned the “matchup proof” tag at this point (miss me with the “he only earned two targets on 29 routes in the first meeting” narrative). Enjoy the ride now — McLaurin will be considerably more expensive this August than last.
Zach Ertz, TE
With Noah Brown and Austin Ekeler out, the Commanders will enter Week 16 with two active players that have over 300 receiving yards this season.
Think about that. Foster Moreau has 302 this season for the Saints – he’s been the TE3 in an offense that has struggled to pass the ball for the majority of this season.
Zach Ertz turned a 21.9% target share into six catches for 47 yards and a touchdown in the Week 11 meeting with these Eagles.
I’ll happily admit that there is a wide range of outcomes to consider (five games with over a dozen points and four games with under six this season) and that this matchup isn’t ideal (PHI: fourth-lowest opponent score rate). But with backup quarterbacks largely responsible for getting TEs in this range the ball (Jacksonville, Dallas, and maybe Kansas City), Ertz is as live an option as anyone outside of a clear-cut top-seven at the position.