Vikings fantasy football outlook: Is Jefferson a safe bet against Saints?

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve advanced to the championship of your fantasy football league. Congratulations. But there’s still work to be done.

We’re here to assist you on the tough decisions in your lineup.

Each week, we take a look at the players with fantasy value on the Minnesota Vikings and their opponent. Player matchups are graded on a 1-5 scale of football emojis, from “don’t even think about starting him” (🏈) to “you’re a fool if you bench this guy” (🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈).

Here’s how Week 16 shakes out:

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

QB Kirk Cousins: 🏈

Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 254 yards and three touchdowns last week against New Orleans. Cousins … is not Pat Mahomes. Before the former MVP went off last week, the Saints hadn’t allowed a quarterback to throw for multiple scores since Week 8. Cousins will not be leading the Vikings to the playoffs this season, and he’ll also not be delivering your fantasy team a championship.

RB Dalvin Cook: 🏈🏈🏈

This is very unfortunate. Cook has guided your team to the fantasy championship. But now, he faces one of his toughest matchups yet, as the Saints are allowing the fewest fantasy points to running backs. New Orleans didn’t surrender a running back TD from Week 5 to Week 13, but the Saints have coughed up three scores to the position over the past two weeks. You’re never benching Cook, just don’t expect him to carry the squad this week.

WR Adam Thielen: 🏈🏈

Thielen has five catches for 60 yards in his last two games combined. That’s not great. The good news is New Orleans has surrendered four touchdowns to wideouts over the last three weeks, and Thielen is Cousins’ favorite target in the red zone. Just like last week, a touchdown should bail out Thielen from a tough matchup.

WR Justin Jefferson: 🏈🏈🏈

Minnesota is all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. So, what is there to play for? Jefferson is chasing Randy Moss’ franchise rookie record of 1,313 receiving yards. To achieve it, he’ll need to gain 131 receiving yards – an average of 65.5 yards per game. It won’t be easy against New Orleans, as just four receivers have logged 75+ yards in the last six contests. But we’re not benching Jefferson.

TE Irv Smith Jr.: 🏈🏈

With Kyle Rudolph sidelined for the past two games, Smith has taken over as the Vikings’ TE1. He played a season-high 82% of the snaps last week against Chicago and has seen four targets over his last two games apiece. New Orleans is a middle-of-the-road defense against tight ends. We’d expect Smith to post somewhere between 30-40 yards, with a touchdown as a bonus. As usual, Smith is a touchdown-dependent start.

Vikings D/ST: 🏈🏈

Minnesota has been without its top four defensive players — Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter and Michael Pierce — for the last three weeks. Even if Kendricks returns from his calf injury, we’re still shelving Minnesota’s defense in championship week. There’s no way we trust this unit against Alvin Kamara.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

QB Drew Brees: 🏈🏈🏈

Brees made his return last week and fared well, considering he was playing against Kansas City’s talented secondary, throwing for 234 yards and three scores. Just a shell of his former self, Brees is averaging fewer than seven yards gained per pass attempt over his last four contests. However, he should be able to dink and dunk his way down the field against the Vikings defense, so he has a safe fantasy floor.

RB Alvin Kamara: 🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈

Brees’ tendency to dink and dunk down the field favors Kamara. This is a juicy matchup. Kamara has tallied at least 100+ total yards or scored in his last three games against Minnesota. The Vikings have coughed up four scores to the position over the past three contests. Like we said, juicy.

WR Emmanuel Sanders: 🏈🏈🏈

Minnesota has coughed up a touchdown to wide receivers in five straight games. Although Sanders won’t catch a deep ball from Brees, he has a high floor against Minnesota with 12 catches over his last three contests.

TE Jared Cook: 🏈🏈🏈

Surprisingly, the Vikings haven’t been too shabby against tight ends with Kendricks out, although Jacksonville’s Tyler Eifert and James O’Shaughnessy went off for a combined 10 catches for 86 yards in Week 13. Like all of the other Saints skill players, we feel good about Cook’s floor, we’re just hoping for a score.

Saints D/ST: 🏈🏈🏈🏈

New Orleans ranks fifth in the NFL with 21 takeaways this season, including 13 interceptions. We know Cousins can get a bit careless with the ball at times. The Vikings have coughed up the football 23 times, which is the fourth-most in the league. Be wary of garbage time points, but the Saints line up awfully good against Minnesota’s offense this week.