Fantasy football waiver wire: Best running backs available in Week 16

It’s the moment of truth. Week 16 marks Championship Week in fantasy football, with league trophies and bragging rights up for grabs across the nation. Whether you made it this far, or are stuck in a consolation playoff system (or still playing into Week 17 for some reason), it’s important to still monitor the waiver wire.

Week 16 featured a handful of running back injuries that will be crucial to watch. Leonard Fournette sat out with his troublesome ankle once again, and now that the Jacksonville Jaguars clinched a playoff spot, it wouldn’t be surprising if they rested him for the final two weeks of the regular season.

Meanwhile, Rex Burkhead left with a knee injury and was almost immediately ruled out, suggesting that the New England Patriots feared something serious. He did avoid ACL damage, but this is probably the last we’ll see of Burkhead until at least the Divisional round. Fantasy owners will need to make plans.

As far as returns go, Ezekiel Elliott is back from suspension and Joe Mixon could be cleared from concussion protocol this week. Both players will be assets in the championship round.

Let’s check out the best waiver options at running back, owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

So, that was unfortunate. With the Seahawks getting blown off their own home field, going down 34-0 at halftime, Davis essentially took a seat. He finished his day with eight touches for 39 total yards as the Seahawks went completely belly-up in every phase of the game. Their 42-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams puts their playoff hopes in doubt, and everyone will need to bounce back against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16. That includes Davis, who’s been a useful RB2 otherwise since taking the starting job.

With Adrian Peterson done for the season, Williams has been doing fine work as the new lead back. He saw another 17 touches against Washington, but was held to just 61 yards as Blaine Gabbert tanked the entire offense. Williams’ workload is generally enough to put him on the flex radar, but he doesn’t catch passes and lost some snaps to Elijhaa Penny after picking up a quad injury. Williams has a good matchup with the New York Giants, but owners will need to watch his injury reports first.

With Burkhead probably done till the playoffs, the Patriots will likely drag Gillislee out of the dumpster down the stretch. Gillislee started the season as the starter, but quickly fell out of favor and has been a healthy scratch since Week 9. As always, the Patriots’ backfield is impossible to predict, but look for Gillislee to resume his role as the short-yardage back. Dion Lewis and James White are still the top Patriots backs to own.

The Packers’ running game is suddenly hard to figure out. Jamaal Williams remains the starter and got the most touches against the Carolina Panthers, but he struggled to just 30 total yards on 10 touches. Meanwhile, Jones turned four touches into 53 total yards, showing off the playmaking skills that made him a waiver wire hero in October. With the Packers falling out of the playoff picture, we don’t really know what this backfield will look like in Week 16 — especially with the Minnesota Vikings’ vicious defense on deck.