5 Daily Fantasy Football Matchups to Exploit in Week 16

Carolina Panthers Passing Offense

We couldn't have an entire discussion on heartbreak without spreading some dap to Cam Newton, right? He burned season-long investors this year, and he has torched those who have trusted him in DFS time after time. That run of despair may come to an end in Week 16.

Newton and the Panthers will be going up against the Atlanta Falcons, a defense we have targeted with regularity throughout the season. They rank 26th against the pass, and that includes the time when they had cornerback Desmond Trufant healthy. Trufant is on injured reserve, further dinging an already-struggling defense.

The Falcons' past four games have come against Carson Palmer, Alex Smith, Jared Goff, and Colin Kaepernick, all of whom rank 19th or worse in Passing NEP per drop back. Both Palmer and Smith -- while playing in Atlanta -- threw for at least 270 yards, Goff had 235 yards passing, and Kaepernick threw for a pair of touchdowns. Newton has been largely awful this year, but he's good enough to be on par with those other guys.

The other perk of Newton is that he could finally be hitting his stride offensively. He finished Week 15's bout with Washington with 7.30 Passing NEP. That really isn't a huge number, but it's actually Newton's highest mark since Week 2 and his second-highest mark of the season. Now, Newton's at home and facing a defense that ranks a bit worse than Washington's. It's entirely possible that's an outlier, but we know what Cam can do when he's hot.

Additionally, Newton seems to be getting back to his chuck-and-pray ways. Over the past three weeks, he has averaged 8.3 deep attempts per game (defined as passes at least 16 yards past the line of scrimmage). In the five games before that, he averaged just 4.6 deep attempts per game, maxing out at six in that span. This helps give him an extra bit of upside, something that isn't usually a concern for Newton regardless.

When it comes to Newton, you don't necessarily need to stack him due to his ability to generate points with his legs. But when Ted Ginn Jr. is just $4,800, you probably should.

Since the Panthers' Week 7 bye, no player on the team has more targets than Ginn. He and Greg Olsen are tied with a 21.81% market share over that time, and Kelvin Benjamin is a bit behind at 20.99%. However, Benjamin will cost you $6,700, and Olsen's at $6,800. Although Ginn's a frightening choice for cash games, he's hard to pass up in tournaments.

That said, there is merit to Olsen, as well. He has at least seven targets in six of the past seven games, and he has topped 80 yards through the air in back-to-back outings. The main lingering concern is health.

Check back on injury reports throughout the week, but if Olsen's able to go, he should find himself on a few of your lineups.