Week 16 Waiver Wire Express Guide For Fantasy Football Playoffs Semi-Finals

If you're reading this Week 16 waiver wire column, you've earned a "congratulations" ... for now. You've made it to the semi-finals round of the fantasy football playoffs, and only two wins separate you from immortal glory. It's this point in the season when the waiver wire not only gets more important, but who you drop can become more and more uncomfortable, seeing that you have to go all-in on a week-by-week basis.

With the holidays around the corner, Christmas shopping in full swing and holiday PTO starting to take effect, we've put together a comprehensive but efficient list of waiver wire adds for Week 16 that gives you everything you need to know in under 60 seconds. These waiver wire adds are derived from Kendall Valenzuela's favorite waiver wire pickups, Dwain McFarland's Week 16 Utilization Report and Jonathan Fuller's top-three DST streamers for the week.

Additionally, you can get custom-tailored waiver wire advice with our fantasy football waiver wire tool—which allows you to add specific players you are considering on the waiver wire and breaks down which is the best add based on the data.

Note: Rostership percentages represent Yahoo Fantasy Football league numbers.

I promised 60 seconds or less, so let's not waste any more time ...

Week 16 Waiver Wire Adds To Target

See below for Kendall Valenzuela's recommended waiver wire targets for Week 16, sorted positionally, all rostered in 40% or fewer of Yahoo leagues (outside of one ...).

Quarterbacks To Add For Week 16 Fantasy Football

Marcus Mariota, Commanders (10% rostered)
Tyler Shough, Saints (9% rostered)

Running Backs To Add For Week 16 Fantasy Football

Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Commanders (45% rostered)
Michael Carter, Cardinals (5% rostered)
Isaiah Davis, Jets (3% rostered)
Jawhar Jordan, Texans (1% rostered)
Malik Davis, Cowboys (1% rostered)
Rasheen Ali, Ravens (0% rostered)

Wide Receivers To Add For Week 16 Fantasy Football

Darius Slayton, Giants (40% rostered)
Luther Burden, Bears (17% rostered) - Be sure to monitor Burden's injury status ahead of Week 16 kickoff.

Tight Ends To Add For Week 16 Fantasy Football

Colston Loveland, Bears (40% rostered)
Dawson Knox, Bills (3% rostered) - Knox is one of many players chasing their 2025 NFL Contract Incentives.

DSTs to Add For Week 16 Fantasy Football

Below are Jonathan Fuller's top three DST Streamers for Week 16:

Buffalo Bills DST (54% rostered)
New Orleans Saints DST (17% rostered)
San Francisco 49ers DST (50% rostered)

Curious what the masses are thinking? There's no better way to see what the consensus is up to than to browse CBS' roster trends page, where you can see the most viewed players. To preview some of them for Week 16 ....

Most Viewed:

Jaylen Warren, RB, Steelers
Michael Carter, RB, Cardinals
Jawhar Jordan, RB, Texans
Colby Parkinson, TE, Rams
New Orleans Saints DST
Devin Neal, RB, Saints
Darren Waller, TE, Dolphins
Woody Marks, RB, Texans
Davante Adams, WR, Rams
Jayden Reed, WR, Packers

Dwain McFarland's Favorite Week 16 Waiver Wire Pickups

Similarly, below are Dwain McFarland's waiver wire adds from his Week 16 Utilization Report. You'll notice some duplicate names, highlighting just how strong they are as adds with both Kendall and Dwain on board.

Marcus Mariota, QB, Commanders (10% rostered)
Michael Carter, RB, Cardinals (5% rostered)
Jawhar Jordan, RB, Texans (1% rostered)
Malik Davis, RB, Cowboys (1% rostered)
Adonai Mitchell, WR, Jets (16% rostered)
Matthew Golden, WR, Packers (32% rostered)
Colby Parkinson, TE, Rams (4% rostered)