Fantasy Risers for Week 16: Blake Bortles, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bilal Powell

Week 16 is the biggest fantasy week of the season. Between the traditional date of fantasy playoffs finals and many big games leading to daily fantasy significance, everyone can find fun in the second to last week of the regular season. Many of us are scouring for the right fantasy player like a last minute Christmas present. There are three position players that don’t scream excitement but are among the best fantasy plays of the week.

The Jacksonville Jaguars may have finally found their quarterback of the future with Blake Bortles. The young star does make his fair share of mistakes and overall poor decisions but he has improved with each game. Bortles is officially a QB1 with top tier potential every week but the unsexy name will leave him on the bench of fantasy playoff games and will cause daily players to skip over him when looking at the quarterbacks of the week. Believe it or not, Bortles is averaging 21.2 standard fantasy points per game and has been the fourth best quarterback in fantasy this season. The list goes: Cam Newton, Tom Brady, Russell Wilson and Blake Bortles. This week could see Bortles have an epic performance against the league-worst New Orleans Saints pass defense. New Orleans gives up free yards and points to opposing offensive stars as if it were holiday bonuses. With many of the top quarterbacks having tricky matchups, you can safely start Bortles over quite a few stars and he should be in the conversation as a top three play at his position here.

The other two players are New York Jets offensive weapons and will look to step up in a must win game against the New England Patriots. New York is desperately trying to fight for a wild card playoff spot and will need this game to stand a chance in the competitive AFC. Ryan Fitzpatrick has emerged as a viable fantasy option and has been a top ten play at the position this season due to attrition. Despite the Patriots being a tough matchup, Fitzpatrick played well against them earlier this season and will need to throw often in this game.

Bilal Powell has quietly stepped up as a fantasy relevant running back due to his role in the passing game. Over the past four weeks, Powell is averaging over twelve standard fantasy points per game. Powell has delivered an average of 49.5 receiving yards during that stretch and this is another game that will see the Jets have to throw frequently. New York will have to beat New England through the air and that bodes well for the crafty pass-catching Powell.