Fantasy football: Top waiver wire pickups for Week 16

Yahoo: 39% owned | ESPN: 32%

Who'd a thunk it? A player who never expected to see the field in 2020, let alone 2021, has now been thrust into a massive role and is performing better than just about anyone would have expected. Jalen Hurts wasn't just the highest-scoring quarterback in fantasy football in Week 15 against the Cardinals but the highest-scoring player. He had 338 yards, three passing touchdowns, 63 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown, And 37.82 fantasy points later, Hurts established himself as a legitimate fantasy weapon.

And if the fantasy fairy tale couldn't get any better, Hurts gets the Swiss cheese defense of the Dallas Cowboys in a must-win divisional matchup for Philly. Let's be real. You're not going to start him over stars like Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson in the fantasy championship. But how many better options truly are there?

Yahoo: 45% owned | ESPN: 22% owned

If you had been watching the Cowboys the past few weeks and wondering who was the more effective running back — Ezekiel Elliott or Tony Pollard — you weren't alone. But a surprising scratch to Elliott left us not wondering whether Pollard was better but scrambling to make sure he was available on the waiver wire so that we could use him in our championships.

Granted, we don't know for sure that Elliott will be inactive this week. And seeing as the Cowboys still have a fighting chance to win the NFC East and that Elliott is nearing the 1,000-yard mark, he may do everything in his power to suit up and take one home for Dallas against the division rival Philadelphia Eagles. But if he can't go — and this isn't news we'll know by the time your FAAB submission for Pollard will have been decided — you'll want Pollard at your disposal.

Yahoo: 34% owned | ESPN: 23%

Let's say hello to our old waiver wire friend Salvon Ahmed, who returned from a three-week absence and went off for 127 total yards and a touchdown against the Patriots. There's one key factoid to monitor here, and that's the status of fellow running back Myles Gaskin, who has missed the past two weeks while on the COVID-19/reserve list. He will be eligible to return to play should he clear all protocols and feel well enough, but that's something we may not know by Wednesday morning when waiver moves will need to have been submitted. Thus, if Ahmed is available, you should jump on him with all the FAAB you've got, seeing as he just torched the Patriots defense and posted top-10 numbers at his position and will face an even more torchable defense in the Raiders in Week 16.

Yahoo: 24% owned | ESPN: 21% owned

For our final suggestion, let's give the wide receiver position a little bit of love and roll with the Falcons' Russell Gage. Over the past five weeks, Gage has averaged more than eight targets per game from Matt Ryan, in large part due to the fact that Julio Jones has been sidelined for most of that stint. There's a good real chance that pattern continues in Week 16. Jones says he wants to get back on the field, but that will likely be a decision made much later in the week and with nothing to play for, the Falcons might not want to risk Jones' his health. What the team will do for sure in Week 16 is throw the ball a ton to keep up with the high-octane offense of the Kansas City Chiefs, putting Gage in a great position for a lot of work. He's sneakily the No. 9 wide receiver in fantasy football over the past three weeks but is fairly minimally owned as you can see above. Pick him up and plug him in for the ship if you're needy at the wide receiver position.