Fantasy football waiver wire: 5 wide receivers to target for Week 16

The moment of truth has arrived. Week 16 marks the championship round in fantasy football (unless you’re in one of those weird leagues that plays into Week 17), and if you’re still alive, congratulations. Lineup decisions will be more important than ever with fantasy glory just within your grasp.

The waiver wire doesn’t have as much importance at this time of year compared to the bye weeks, but fantasy owners could still stand to shore up their roster depth. In addition, dynasty/keeper league owners might want to start looking ahead to 2017 and stash potential breakout players for next year. With that in mind, here are the top waiver options at wide receiver for Week 16, owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! standard leagues.

There’s the breakout game we’ve been waiting for all year. Lockett finally broke the 100-yard mark and also scored his first receiving touchdown of the season in a Thursday night trouncing of the Los Angeles Rams. What’s more, he looks to have replaced Jermaine Kearse as the team’s No. 2 receiver. Lockett will be a more risky play against the Arizona Cardinals. He had just two catches for 13 yards in these teams’ last meeting, the infamous 6-6 tie in Week 7.

Brown has been a major disappointment all season, but he’s starting to see more targets with Michael Floyd out of the picture. He had five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints, which is easily one of his best performances of the season. Nevertheless, Brown will have a tough matchup against the Seahawks, even with the defense missing Earl Thomas.

This is more of a buy-low speculation (or an early start on 2017 if you’re in a dynasty league), but the Texans’ offense finally showed signs of life when Tom Savage replaced Brock Osweiler. Fuller’s had trouble staying healthy this year and his drop problems are well-documented, but the playmaking upside is still there. If Savage just plays competent football and gets the ball to his outside receivers (one of Osweiler’s biggest failings), Fuller could find himself back on the map in deeper leagues.

It’s been quite the roller coaster year for Meredith. He became an unlikely breakout player with Brian Hoyer, went back to an afterthought when Jay Cutler returned, and is now fantasy-relevant again with Matt Barkley slinging the ball. Meredith had his first 100-yard day since Week 6, grabbing nine catches for 104 yards against the Green Bay Packers. Seeing plenty of targets, Meredith is a quality WR3 in PPR leagues when Chicago plays Washington this week.

This ranking is more contingent on the status of A.J. Green. LaFell managed seven catches for 91 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he’s barely been used when Green has been in the lineup. If Green somehow can’t return from his hamstring injury, LaFell will be a WR3 against the Houston Texans. But if Green returns, fantasy owners can go back to ignoring LaFell.