Fantasy football projections, Week 16: Broncos vs. Chiefs featuring Emmanuel Sanders, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, more

The Week 16 matchup between the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs is a divisional matchup with huge implications. We have the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Coming off of one of his best performances of the season, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders delivered a disappointing box score against the New England Patriots in the fantasy semifinals last week. He finished the game with three catches on six targets for 48 yards.

The good news is that Sanders delivered the best game of his 2016 campaign against the very same Chiefs he faces this week. He caught seven of 10 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown against Kansas City in Week 12. While that’s reason for optimism, this time Sanders must face the same defense on the road. For that reason, fantasy owners should curb their enthusiasm and assume he’s less likely to reach his projections on Championship Sunday.

Fantasy owners who have Demaryius Thomas at their disposal would be smart to bet on him instead. He’s been targeted at least 10 times in eight of the past nine games. Last week, he turned 12 looks into seven catches for 91 yards. It was just the second time this season that Thomas put together at least two consecutive 90-plus-yard efforts. He caught five passes for 60 yards in the team’s loss to the Chiefs earlier this season. Hopefully a few extra targets this week will allow him to get closer to 100 yards — and get fantasy owners closer to a title.

Wide receiver Tyreek Hill has to be regarded as one of the breakout fantasy players of the 2016 season. No matter the circumstances, he seems to have found ways to produce, especially in the second half of the year.

Despite not catching a single one of his three targets against the Tennessee Titans in Week 15, Hill still helps his fantasy owners cash in. He rushed for a 68-yard touchdown out of the backfield. He now has four touchdowns in his past four games, one of which was a kick return against the Broncos. Denver will certainly be watching closely this time around, but Hill’s speed is second to none. Don’t be surprised to see him deliver another electric performance in Week 16.

If Hill is held in check by the Broncos on Sunday, Travis Kelce would be the next man up. He finally cooled off in the team’s loss to the Titans last week, catching just three passes for 41 yards. The performance snapped a streak of four straight games with 100 or more receiving yards. It had to come to an end eventually, of course, but unfortunately, it’s the wrong time for that.

The good news is that the Broncos have good cornerbacks, which makes opposing teams want to throw the ball up the middle. Kelce was targeted 15 times in Week 12 and turned those opportunities in the eight catches for 101 yards. Hopefully he can deliver a repeat performance with fantasy supremacy on the line.