Welcome to an abbreviated version of the Waiver Wire Watch. It’s Week 16, and most fantasy teams have been eliminated or on cruise control, so instead of listing virtually every player available on the waiver wire, I’m just going to highlight a few players at each position that might be able to help fantasy teams in Week 16. As always, I’m going to limit my scope to those players available in at least 40% (or thereabout) of ESPN leagues. I’ll put the player’s percentage-owned next to their name.

Let’s start with the quarterback position, where I still find it amazing that Josh Freeman (69.8) is still available in 30% of leagues. Not only has he been very consistent this season, but he has a great matchup with the Seahawks in Week 16. I suspect he’ll be in my Top 12 when my rankings come out on Wednesday…Ryan Fitzpatrick (31.3) has the Patriots at home this week, and barring a snow storm, that’s shaping up to be a pretty good matchup. New England showed on Sunday night that its pass defense still leaves something to be desired…David Garrard (46.4) had a strong game against the Colts and has a terrific W16 matchup with the Redskins’ porous pass defense…Need a deep sleeper? Both Tim Tebow (4.0) and Rex Grossman (0.3) have nice matchups with the Texans and Jaguars, respectively. I wouldn’t trust either guy over a more established option, but if you’re desperate, you could do worse. These are some bad pass defenses we’re talking about.

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Welcome to another edition of Heroes and Goats, where we highlight (and lowlight) some of the best (and worst) performances of Week 15. Needless to say, we’re in crunch time now, as most leagues are holding their semifinals this week. So now is the time for studs to play like studs. Let’s see who did, and who didn’t…

HEROES

Michael Vick
Vick did next to nothing in the first half, as the Giants defense kept him contained for the first two quarters. But he had a monster second half, finishing with three pass TDs and rushing for another (along with 130 rushing yards). I had a comfortable lead in one league and Vick single-handedly erased it in the second half. Grrr.

Ray Rice
Big things were expected of Rice this week, but I don’t think his owners saw 233 total yards and two TDs coming. He ran over, around and through the Saints defense this week and is going to send more than a few fantasy teams to the finals next week.

Jason Witten
Witten owners have to be loving him right now. He caught 10 passes for 140 yards and a TD in a time where TE production has been severely lacking. He has 32 catches and four TDs in his last four games.

Santana Moss
Moss was a really iffy start this week with Rex Grossman under center, but he seemed to thrive with ‘Sexy Rexy,’ catching eight passes for 72 yards and two scores. I was fortunate that I plugged him in for Danny Woodhead just before kickoff.

Austin Collie
I doubt we’re going to see Collie again this season after he took another hard hit in the middle of the field. But boy was he good before he was knocked out. He racked up eight catches for 82 yards and two TDs.

Jamaal Charles*
I had Charles ranked #12 this week thanks to Matt Cassel’s iffy status, but with an 80-yard run late in the game, Charles sealed his status as an elite RB1 option. He finished with 153 total yards and a TD.

Brandon Marshall
Marshall has been really spotty this season and wasn’t an elite option heading into Week 15, but he caught 11 passes for 106 yards and a TD against the Bills and came up big for those fantasy owners that kept the faith.

Mario Manningham
Jeremy Maclin*
Overshadowed on their own teams, both Manningham (8-113-2) and Maclin (7-59-2) came up big for their respective teams. Manningham did have a bad fumble that helped to fuel Philly’s comeback, so Vick and Maclin owners should thank him.

Rashard Mendenhall*
In a terrible matchup, Mendy racked up 100 yards and a score, so owners who were forced to start him should be happy. This is a case where the player’s talent overcame a tough rush defense.

* Players who were goats last week

GOATS

Peyton Hillis
Really? 82 yards and zero TDs against the Bengals? The yardage was okay, but Hillis owners were expecting a TD or two from their stud this week. After running roughshod over the league this season, Hillis failed to find the endzone in the last three weeks.

Terrell Owens
He had a great matchup, but left the game without a catch with a torn meniscus. Season over.

Arian Foster
He was shaken up in the second half, but wasn’t getting much done when he was playing. He finished with 61 total yards and failed to score.

Maurice Jones-Drew
He has been on a tear of late, gaining 100+ yards in six straight games, so of course he’d have a big game against the Colts, who always struggle against the run, right? Wrong. He posted just 68 total yards without a score. Sigh.

LeSean McCoy
Ahmad Bradshaw
Given the way these two were playing recently, fantasy owners had to be expecting more than 157 total yards and zero TDs combined from this duo.

Tim Hightower
My deepest apologies to anyone who started Timmy on my advice this week. (I had him at #19 or #20 for most of the week.) He got a ton of carries last week and had a great matchup with the Panthers’ defense, but only saw nine touches all day.

Knowshon Moreno
Moreno had a great matchup and looked like he was primed for a big day, but left the game early with an injury to his side. Ugh.

Every week, I highlight a few players to start and a few players to sit at each position. I’m a firm believer in starting your studs, so I won’t suggest you bench Drew Brees or Arian Foster because they have tough matchups – just go ahead and keep them in your lineup. Instead, I’ll focus on the borderline guys – players you’ll only start under the right circumstances.

As usual, I’ll discuss these players within the context of my weekly positional rankings, so remember — everything is relative.

Jon Kitna has played pretty well since taking over for Tony Romo, and this week he has a nice matchup with the Redskins, who have struggled mightily against the pass this season…Josh Freeman should continue to put up solid fantasy lines the rest of the way. This week he has the Lions, who did play well against Aaron Rodgers for a half last week. Still, this is a secondary that has given up 20+ to Jon Kitna, Donovan McNabb and Mark Sanchez in the last eight weeks, so Freeman should finish with good stats…Jason Campbell is probably available on your waiver wire (or was earlier in the week) and has a terrific matchup with a reeling Broncos defense that has given up 1.8 pass TDs per game this season.

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The strategy behind DTBWW is that each week you pick up a defense that is playing against a bad offense (preferably at home). And each week you get pretty good numbers out of your DT position.

Last season, my top pick averaged 9.8 fantasy points per game. My second pick averaged 9.1 and my third pick averaged 7.3. On the whole, DTBWW averaged 9.3 fantasy points per game, which equate to DT5 numbers — all for the price of a few waiver wire pickups. In 2008, my top two picks averaged DT6-type numbers. (Note: To calculate fantasy points, I use this scoring system.)

Unlike Defensive Team By Committee (DTBC), which is for those owners who prefer low maintenance teams, DTBWW strategy allows fantasy owners to virtually ignore DTs on draft day and focus on picking up an extra RB/WR flier instead.

To be eligible, defenses have to be available on the waiver wire in at least 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues.

Let’s see how my Week 14 picks fared:

#1 Falcons: 10 PA (6) + 5 SK + 1 INT + 1 FR = 13 fantasy points
#2: Patriots: 7 PA (6) + 2 SK + 2 INT + 2 FR + 1 RET TD = 18 fp
#3: Bills: 6 PA (8) + 1 SK + 1 INT + 2 FR = 12 fp

Now that’s more like it. DTBWW has been a little spotty this season, but it came through in a big way in the first week of the fantasy playoffs. Truth be told, W14 was the best scoring week for defenses around the league — 14 DTs scored 10+ points, which was the most of any week this season.

On the season, my picks are averaging 8.0 | 8.9 | 7.6 (1st, 2nd, 3rd) for an overall average of 8.2 fantasy points per game. Those are DT6 numbers when you account for each team’s bye week.

Let’s take a look at my Week 15 picks keeping in mind that to be eligible, defenses must be available in at least 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues. There are five DTs that I really like this week, so I’m going to list all five and hope that my readers can find at least one on their waiver wire this week:

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It’s playoff time!

After checking out our Waiver Wire Watch, you can post your questions here, and unless you say differently, I’m assuming your league has a standard (non-PPR) scoring system.

If you are wondering who to start in a standard scoring league, please wait until later this week (Wednesday) when I’ll release my official Week 15 rankings.

And if you’re a regular visitor, please take a moment to rate my advice at Fantasy Pros (under Member Rating). I’d appreciate it.

Also, follow me on Twitter @fantasytips.